Poltergeist is an unreleased song by the Mountain Goats. It was originally intended to be included on Devil in the Shortwave.
Lyrics[]
I can't stand it when you tell our infant son That he was born beneath a bad sign And I can't stand it when smiles up at you Just because you're his mother And I can't stand the bitter thing that I've become Between the four walls that hold up our ceiling And I wonder when the house gets real quiet Who between us will be the first one to give into the feeling And I know, I know you don't want me to hurt you tonight And I, I don't want you to hurt me the way you do I can't stand it when you put the boy to bed and you Sing him those songs I used to sing to you Yeah I can't stand to hear you sing those songs When you know you don't mean them And I can't stand the way my body still remembers How much we used to mean to one another way back when And I can't stand going back to seek the shelter of your arms And then I can't stand it again And I know, I know you don't want me to hurt you tonight And I, I don't want you to hurt me the way you do
Comments by John Darnielle About this Song[]
- "It's another one of those songs where you got -- not sure -- one person? And you got your other person, and you have your once-shining beacon of romantic love that was an example to the neighbors and a vision of hope to the young, and it has somehow or other become a thing that kills you if you look at it. It's a very bad scene. Sorry that I do these things to these people." -- 2001-08-03 - 40 Watt Club - Athens, GA
- "This is a song about marriage. pause Not mine, though." -- 2003-06-06 - Triple Rock Social Club - Minneapolis, MN
Things Referenced in this Song[]
Live Shows this Song Was Played at[]
- 1998-04-04 - Duke Coffeehouse - Durham, NC
- 1998-04-23 - Black Watch Pub - Claremont, CA
- 1998-05-15 - The Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL
- 1999-01-23 - High Hat Blues Club - Athens, GA
- 1999-01-27 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC
- 1999-01-30 - CD Exchange - Bloomington, IN
- 2000-02-17 - VPRO Session - Amsterdam, Netherlands
- 2000-10-15 - Go! Rehearsal Studios, Room 4 - Carrboro, NC
- 2000-10-19 - WFMU Session - WFMU Studios - Jersey City, NJ
- 2001-04-21 - The Olde Club - Swarthmore, PA
- 2001-08-03 - 40 Watt Club - Athens, GA
- 2002-03-08 - The Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL
- 2002-12-07 - Amstel Festival - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- 2003-06-06 - Triple Rock Social Club - Minneapolis, MN
- 2003-08-23 - Breadstretchers - Springfield, IL
- 2008-11-05 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC
- 2015-04-09 - Webster Hall - New York, NY
- 2017-11-08 - Calvin Theatre - Northampton, MA
- 2017-11-12 - Brooklyn Steel - Brooklyn, NY
- 2019-07-18 - Ottobar - Baltimore, MD
- 2022-09-21 - Bijou Theatre - Knoxville, TN
- 2022-11-11 - Columbia Theater - Berlin, Germany