New Star Song

New Star Song
Album	Beautiful Rat Sunset
Released	1994
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	3:02
Previous Track	"Itzcuintli-Totzli Days"
Next Track	"Song for Cleomenes"

New Star Song is the second song on the EP Beautiful Rat Sunset.

Lyrics

I hung pictures of you from every lamp post in town
As the humidity climbed into numbers I don't care to repeat
The air was heavy and the sky was alive
And the Pacific Starlight train wasn't due in 'til 11:45

I thought about how cold you must be
I thought about things I thought that I'd soon be forgetting
I thought of you up in Canada as the lightning storms lit up
All downtown Redding

There were teenagers in mini-trucks coming around every corner
You could taste the adrenaline coming out through their skin
I came to the well-lit doorway of a sheet music store
I saw my face in the glass, sat down in the doorway and I settled in

I thought about how cold you must be
I thought about things I thought that I'd soon be forgetting
I thought of you up in Canada as the lightning storms lit up
All downtown Redding

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song

• "It's actually based on genuine experience, except for the 'you' being addressed in the song -- there was no 'you', right. But I really did spend, uh, a good fourteen hours up in, uh, far northern California and, uh, this is about that afternoon where I watched all four movies at a four-plex, and none of them were any good." -- 1998-02-06 - Cow Haus - Tallahassee, FL
• "'New Star Song' is a true story about the time I had a 10-hour layover between buses in Redding, California." -- John's Tumblr

Live Shows this Song Was Played at

• 1995-04-12 - Simplon - Groningen, The Netherlands
• 1996-03-16 - Lintfabriek - Kontich, Belgium
• 1996-09-02 - Tokyo Rose - Charlottesville, VA
• 1996-09-11 - Argo - Denton, TX
• 1996-11-22 - Slattery's - Dublin, Ireland
• 1997-03-01 - Replay Lounge - Lawrence, KS
• 1997-04-04 - Duke Coffeehouse - Durham, NC
• 1997-06-14 - Zoot's - Detroit, MI
• 1997-06-17 - Brownie's - New York City, NY
• 1997-06-20 - The Black Cat - Washington, D.C.
• 1997-06-22 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC
• 1997-07-16 - Capitol Theater - Olympia, WA
• 1998-02-06 - Cow Haus - Tallahassee, FL
• 1998-04-04 - Duke Coffeehouse - Durham, NC
• 1998-04-12 - Brownie's - New York City, NY
• 1998-05-15 - The Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL
• 1998-06-14 - Detroit, MI
• 1998-07-31 - The Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL
• 1999-01-23 - High Hat Blues Club - Athens, GA
• 1999-07-09 - Starfish Room - Vancouver, British Columbia
• 1999-12-02 - Columbus, OH
• 2001-04-21 - The Olde Club - Swarthmore, PA
• 2002-03-11 - The Maintenance Shop - Ames, IA
• 2005-06-20 - Doug Fir Lounge - Portland, OR
• 2005-06-23 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA
• 2011-06-26 - Rhino's Youth Media Center & All-Ages Club - Plan-It-X Fest - Bloomington, IN
• 2014-01-19 - Rock for Roe at the Pinhook - Durham, NC
• 2014-06-17 - Mayan Theatre - Los Angeles, CA
• 2016-03-01 - The Depot - Humboldt State University - Arcata, CA
• 2016-09-01 - The State Theatre - Falls Church, VA
• 2017-12-14 - Holocene - Portland, OR
• 2018-05-28 - Old Town School of Folk Music - Chicago, IL
• 2018-05-29 - Old Town School of Folk Music - Chicago, IL
• 2018-09-07 - Paper Tiger - San Antonio, TX
• 2018-09-10 - 191 Toole - Tucson, AZ
• 2020-02-20 - Swedish American Hall - San Francisco, CA
• 2022-09-08 - Roxian Theatre - Pittsburgh, PA
• 2023-04-12 - The District - Sioux Falls, SD

Videos of this Song

• 1995-04-12 - Simplon - Groningen, The Netherlands
• 1999-01-23 - High Hat Blues Club - Athens, GA
• 2016-03-01 - The Depot - Humboldt State University - Arcata, CA