Prana Ferox

Prana Ferox
Album	Sweden
Released	1995
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	4:05
Previous Track	"FM"
Next Track	"Cold Milk Bottle"

Prana Ferox is the 18th song on the album Sweden.

Lyrics

I went down to the basement 
To check up on the sour mash 
I looked down to the nonreactive ceramic tub 
It was bubbling
I had stirred up the dust on the stairs coming down
I saw the dust devils swarming around
Incoming sun beams cut them apart
And I watched a shadow pass across my heart
You were upstairs in the kitchen with your head against the sink
Trying to cool down
Trying to cool down

I know you don't believe me, but I could hear you breathing 
I looked into the tub and there the mixture was seething 
With new life
New life all around
I had stirred up the dust on the stairs coming down
You were upstairs in the kitchen with your head against the sink
Trying to cool down
Trying to cool down
Yeah

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song

• "You know when were in love, and the person with whom you were in love was also in love? And then, one or both of you depending on who you ask about the subject years later was possessed by demons and began to change in the blackest and most horrible ways, but not so much so that they didn't recognize that what was happening was horrible beyond description, but yet there was some magnetic pull to the relationship so nobody ever left?" -- 1999-10-09 - Crossing Border - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• "This is a song about alcohol, and the wondrous things it can, you know, the ways it can bring a relationship to a place that it mightn't've gone before. Right? A bad place, but a place that it mightn't've gone before." -- 2003-06-27 - Mains D'oeuvres, Mofo Festival - Paris, France
• "Lotta early Mountain Goats songs seem to take place in a cellar someplace, where two people who either should or shouldn't be sleeping together, and are, or aren't, are trying to map out the coordinates of the room. This is one of those. " -- 2021-12-16 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC

Live Shows this Song Was Played at

• 1994-08-22 - The Middle East - Cambridge, MA
• 1995-01-15 - The Chameleon - San Francisco, CA
• 1995-04-12 - Simplon - Groningen, The Netherlands
• 1995-04-15 - Underground - Cologne, Germany
• 1995-04-20 - Magasin 4 - Brussels, Belgium
• 1995-04-22 - Fast Forward Festival - Dooroosje Club - Nijmegen, The Netherlands
• 1996-09-11 - Argo - Denton, TX
• 1996-11-11 - Schauspielhaus - Bochum, Germany
• 1996-11-13 - Dreikonigkeller - Frankfurt, Germany
• 1997-06-20 - The Black Cat - Washington, D.C.
• 1997-06-21 - Tokyo Rose - Charlottesville, VA
• 1997-06-26 - The Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL
• 1997-11-14 - University of Wisconsin Student Union - Madison, WI
• 1997-12-06 - The Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL
• 1998-04-12 - Brownie's - New York City, NY
• 1998-05-15 - The Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL
• 1999-10-09 - Crossing Border - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• 2000-09-17 - The Make-Out Room - San Francisco, CA
• 2001-10-19 - Mission Space - Baltimore, MD
• 2002-03-10 - The Green Room - Iowa City, IA
• 2002-03-11 - The Maintenance Shop - Ames, IA
• 2002-11-08 - Go! Rehearsal Studios, Room 4 - Carrboro, NC
• 2002-12-07 - Amstel Festival - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• 2003-06-06 - Triple Rock Social Club - Minneapolis, MN
• 2003-06-27 - Mains D'oeuvres, Mofo Festival - Paris, France
• 2004-02-26 - The Maintenance Shop - Ames, IA
• 2004-03-05 - T.T. the Bear's - Cambridge, MA
• 2004-03-31 - ICA - London, England
• 2006-12-02 - Pitzer College - Claremont, CA
• 2009-02-25 - Swedish American Hall - San Francisco, CA
• 2010-12-14 - Castro Theater - San Francisco, CA
• 2017-06-21 - Welcome to Night Vale Birthday Party - The Bell House - New York, NY
• 2017-07-03 - The Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL
• 2017-09-13 - Englert Theatre - Iowa City, IA
• 2019-11-10 - Rockefeller - Oslo, Norway
• 2021-09-24 - Gateway City Arts - Holyoke, MA
• 2021-09-26 - Musikfest Cafe - Bethlehem, PA
• 2021-10-14 - Cannery Ballroom - Nashville, TN
• 2021-10-15 - Manchester Music Hall - Lexington, KY
• 2021-10-18 - The Fillmore Silver Spring - Silver Spring, MD
• 2021-10-19 - The Fillmore Philadelphia - Philadelphia, PA
• 2021-10-20 - Royale - Boston, MA
• 2021-10-22 - College Street Music Hall - New Haven, CT
• 2021-10-23 - White Eagle Hall - Jersey City, NJ
• 2021-10-25 - Brooklyn Made - New York, NY
• 2021-12-15 - The Jefferson Theater - Charlottesville, VA
• 2021-12-16 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC
• 2023-10-28 - Longhorn Ballroom - Dallas, TX
• 2024-07-29 - District Music Hall - Norwalk, CT

Videos of this Song

• 1995-04-12 - Simplon - Groningen, The Netherlands
• 2003-06-27 - Mains D'oeuvres, Mofo Festival - Paris, France
• 2009-02-25 - Swedish American Hall - San Francisco, CA