Satanic Messiah (Song)

Satanic Messiah
Album	Satanic Messiah EP
Released	2008
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	2:59
Previous Track	"Wizard Buys a Hat"
Next Track	"Gojam Province 1968"

Satanic Messiah is the third track on the Satanic Messiah EP.

Lyrics

I saw the posters popping up around the city
Pale blue and washed-out red
I went down to the arena pushing through
Hoping I'd run into you
Sweet freshly-scrubbed smell of the crowd
All the excitement in their eyes
We were all made young when he stepped onto the stage
Like an animal escaping from his cage

Raise the trumpet
Sound the drum
He whom the prophet spoke of long ago has come

All of us too dazed to leave when it was over
Dawdled by the vendors for a minute
Gathered underneath a summer sky
I was hoping you'd pass by
But though I didn't see you that day or the next
I'm pretty sure that you were there
Making your way among the young and happy hoard
Headed down to your reward

Raise the trumpet
Sound the drum
He whom the prophet spoke of long ago has come

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song

• "ok I really REALLY hate having to do this because it's not my style to join in interpretive discussions of my lyrics, I think it's in poor form to do so, but I simply must say that the song has nothing to do with Senator Obama, who is hardly the first person in history to be so charismatic as to seem messianic, nor with Senator McCain, whose charisma hardly resembles that of the song's protagonist

  red and blue are common colors for posters everywhere

  can't really tell where people are getting the notion that the protagonist is necessarily a political figure rather than a religious leader, motivational speaker, etc

  that's enough outta me but please, be advised that I got better stuff to write about than electoral politics, I said all I had to say on that subject in the song public radio commissioned me to write" -- 2008-10-17 Mountain Goats forum post

Live Shows this Song Was Played at

• 2018-05-27 - Old Town School of Folk Music - Chicago, IL