Genesis 30:3 | |
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Album |
The Life of the World to Come |
Released |
2009 |
Artist |
the Mountain Goats |
Length |
3:24 |
Previous Track |
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Next Track |
Genesis 30:3 is the sixth song on the album The Life of the World to Come. It also appears as the tenth song on the 2020 live album The Jordan Lake Sessions: Volumes 1 and 2.
Bible Verse[]
Then she said, "Here is Bilhah, my servant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and I too can build a family through her." NIV Translation
Lyrics[]
For several days the visitors were here We saw them turned down and we watched them disappear Talked about the days they'd said were sure to come Had a hard time believing I remember seeing you, my tongue struck dumb When you first came here from wherever it was you came from The power in your voice Your rough touch You keeping care of me Keeping watch Open up the doors to the tent Wonder where the good times went I will do what you ask me to do Because of how I feel about you I saw his little face contract as his eyes met light Try to imagine anything so bright You only see it once and it steals into the dawn And then it's gone forever For several hours we lay there, last ones of our kind Harder days coming, maybe I don't mind Sounds kind of dumb when I say it but it's true I would do anything for you Open up the promise of the day And drive the dark things away I will do what you ask me to do Because of how I feel about you
Comments by John Darnielle About this Song[]
- "I am a feminist, but I think that story is the most beautiful love story I’ve ever heard in my life. I look at it from Rachael’s point of view. The story is about womanhood and defining womanhood through giving birth, and expressing love through that sense of family. In one sense, and this is the type of reading that can get you in trouble with people who are more strict with texts, to me it’s a love story about three people, plus the baby, and how they make that work. All the relationships in the Bible prior to that are working relationships, but there’s people and love in this story." -- Paste Magazine interview, 2009-10-15
- "So the story in this song is from the Bible, and, um, one person wants to have another child, uh, with her husband, but she has grown too old. So she sends him -- this is the one part of the story that, like, I consider it an extraordinarily sweet story except for the slavery. The part you sort of have to elide. You have to do that a lot in the Bible. This is a cool story except for the part where something horrible happens and they should know better. So, so, these people want to have another baby, she can't, so she sends her slave in to her husband, but there's no indication in the story -- I mean, you can't, it's complicated politically because if you are enslaved you can't consent to anything, so, uh, but the way the story is told if you accept it on its face value, everyone is okay with this arrangement. I know, right? But let's let the story do this thing and later we can interrogate the text..." -- 2013-10-13 - People's Place - Amsterdam, Netherlands
- A man, a woman, another woman, and then the child who belongs to all three of them, come screaming and beautiful into a some cool dawn several thousand years ago. When I was a kid I remember noticing that the colors on the Sunday comics pager were actually made up of thousands of individual color-dots: I would hold the paper up close to my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things. I wasn't. The last frame I ever saw whole before learning the truth was a picture of Pruneface, one of Chester Gould's finest. It seared itself into my memory, and then all total pictures were gone, collapsed into limitless oceans of infinite constituent parts. Still, one tries to hold onto the picture before it breaks apart. You only get to see it once." -- 7/29/2009 - The Life of the World to Come: a film by Rian Johnson, liner notes
Things Referenced in this Song[]
Live Shows this Song Was Played at[]
- 2009-09-18 - Ithaca College - Ithaca, NY
- 2009-10-05 - Soundcheck - WNYC Session
- 2009-10-09 - Paradiso - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- 2009-10-10 - Queen Elizabeth Hall - London, England
- 2009-10-11 - Ruby Lounge - Manchester, England
- 2009-10-13 - Point Ephemere - Paris, France
- 2009-10-15 - Magnet - Berlin, Germany
- 2009-11-04 - Ladies Literary Club - Calvin College - Grand Rapids, MI
- 2009-11-05 - The Metro - Chicago, IL
- 2009-11-06 - High Noon Saloon - Madison, WI
- 2009-11-07 - Cedar Cultural Centre - Minneapolis, MN
- 2009-11-14 - The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA
- 2009-11-15 - Henry Fonda Theater - Los Angeles, CA
- 2009-11-19 - Granada Theater - Dallas, TX
- 2009-11-20 - Mercy Lounge - Nashville, TN
- 2009-11-27 - 9:30 Club - Washington, D.C.
- 2009-11-29 - Wilbur Theatre - Boston, MA
- 2009-12-01 - Webster Hall - New York, NY
- 2009-12-19 - Live Wire Radio - Portland, OR
- 2010-03-11 - Memorial Union Building - University of New Hampshire - Durham, NH
- 2010-04-08 - Kings Arms - Auckland, New Zealand
- 2010-04-09 - San Francisco Bath House - Wellington, New Zealand
- 2010-04-11 - The Zoo - Brisbane, Australia
- 2010-04-16 - Fowlers Live - Adelaide, Australia
- 2010-06-02 - The Rickshaw Theatre - Vancouver, British Columbia
- 2010-06-04 - Neurolux - Boise, ID
- 2010-06-05 - The Badlander - Missoula, MT
- 2010-06-12 - Blue Moose Tap House - Iowa City, IA
- 2010-06-15 - Gothic Theatre - Denver, CO
- 2010-06-16 - Urban Lounge - Salt Lake City, UT
- 2012-06-23 - Columbia City Theater - Seattle, WA
- 2012-07-01 - McCabe's Guitar Shop - Santa Monica, CA
- 2012-09-07 - Hopscotch Festival - Fletcher Opera Theater - Raleigh, NC
- 2013-05-01 - Legends Club at Appalachian State University - Boone, NC
- 2013-06-16 - Space - Evanston, IL
- 2013-06-17 - Lincoln Hall - Chicago, IL
- 2013-10-07 - St. Georges - Bristol, England
- 2013-10-08 - Union Chapel - London, England
- 2013-10-10 - Arches - Glasgow, Scotland
- 2013-10-12 - Handelsbeurs - Ghent, Belgium
- 2013-10-13 - People's Place - Amsterdam, Netherlands
- 2013-10-19 - Caprichos de Apolo - Barcelona, Spain
- 2014-06-07 - Kilby Court - Salt Lake City, UT
- 2015-09-08 - Off Broadway - St. Louis, MO
- 2015-09-12 - Maximum Ames Festival - First United Methodist Church - Ames, IA
- 2015-10-09 - Colonial Quarter - St. Augustine, FL
- 2015-11-05 - Big Arts Schein Performance Hall - Sanibel Island Writer's Conference - Sanibel, FL
- 2016-04-06 - Asbury Hall - Buffalo, NY
- 2016-10-25 - eTown Hall - Boulder, CO
- 2017-07-07 - The Current - Minnesota Public Radio Session - St. Paul, MN
- 2018-05-29 - Old Town School of Folk Music - Chicago, IL
- 2018-11-15 - Ars Cameralis Festival - Kinoteatr Rialto - Katowice, Poland
- 2019-09-01 - Bing Crosby Theater - Spokane, WA
- 2019-11-18 - St. Luke's - Glasgow, Scotland
- 2020-10-22 - The Jordan Lake Sessions - Pittsboro, NC
- 2021-08-15 - Meow Wolf - Santa Fe, NM
- 2021-09-09 - City Winery - New York, NY
- 2021-09-23 - The Queen - Wilmington, DE
- 2024-01-24 - Tower Theatre - Oklahoma City, OK
Videos of this Song[]
- 2009-11-06 - High Noon Saloon - Madison, WI
- 2009-11-15 - Henry Fonda Theater - Los Angeles, CA
- 2010-06-15 - Gothic Theatre - Denver, CO
- 2013-06-16 - Space - Evanston, IL
- 2013-10-08 - Union Chapel - London, England
- 2013-10-13 - People's Place - Amsterdam, Netherlands
- 2020-10-22 - The Jordan Lake Sessions - Pittsboro, NC
The Life of the World to Come |
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Track list: "1 Samuel 15:23" • "Psalms 40:2" • "Genesis 3:23" • "Philippians 3:20-21" • "Hebrews 11:40" • "Genesis 30:3" • "Romans 10:9 " • "1 John 4:16" • "Matthew 25:21" • "Deuteronomy 2:10" • "Isaiah 45:23" • "Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace" |
The Jordan Lake Sessions: Volumes 1 and 2 |
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Track list: "The Plague" • "Aulon Raid" • "Cry for Judas" • "Amy AKA Spent Gladiator 1" • "Until I Am Whole" • "Younger" • "Heel Turn 2" • "Southwestern Territory" • "The Diaz Brothers" • "Genesis 30:3" • "1 Samuel 15:23" • "Heretic Pride" • "Estate Sale Sign • "Getting Into Knives" • "Lion's Teeth" • "This Year" • "No Children" • "Lovecraft in Brooklyn" • "Tollund Man" • "Cotton" • "Pigs That Ran Straightaway into the Water, Triumph Of" • "In League with Dragons" • "Southwood Plantation Road" • "Lakeside View Apartments Suite" • "Tallahassee" • "My Little Panda" • "Love Cuts the Strings" • "International Small Arms Traffic Blues" • "Stabbed to Death Outside San Juan" • "Damn These Vampires" • "Foreign Object" • "Golden Boy" • "See America Right" • "Up the Wolves" • "This Year" • "Spent Gladiator 2" |