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in: Internet releases, Unreleased songs, Video

Sign of the Crow 2

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Sign of the Crow 2 is an unreleased song by the Mountain Goats. John Darnielle put up a demo of the song on his website's forums to apologize to some fans who did not receive their pre-ordered copy of Heretic Pride.

Lyrics[]

These roses are the pleasures of the flesh
These ones here they are the pleasures of the spirit
And tucked behind a pornographic picture in a frame
The troops found the pierced heart and they all gathered near it

And the dust clouds bloomed in the dark
And the face gazed up from the frame
Roomful of French troops in a Franciscan abbey
History does not recall their names

Of the several things that you have to do today
You're gonna regret one
This generation asks for a sign
It isn't gonna get one

Bertha took the pictures to the priest
And the priest fell on his face upon the floor
And the story lived on for a decade or two
But no one really knows it anymore 

But the blessed heart is seen in the airbrush
And the blessed heart is beating on the wind
And the bodies of the faithful stacked by dozens by the roadsides
Stripped and scourged and skinned

Of the several things that you have to do today
You're gonna regret one
This generation asks for a sign
It isn't gonna get one

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song[]

  • "here for you is a song I wrote yesterday afternoon. As a demo it's not even done, there's a prepositional phrase I stumble over toward the end (I think I need an "in" instead of a "by" in the line that I flub) and it's pretty funny but on the whole I'm pretty fond of the jam and plus if I know my people you will enjoy the extra rawness. The subject of the song is the origin of this image, which is a rad story I will tell you more about someday but meanwhile there's plenty of info in the jam itself. Here is the song, written and demo'd 20 February 2008 in Anchorage, AK." -- Forum post
  • "This is a song about, uh, about a picture that you have all seen of, uh, Jesus with thorns on his heart, um, which you know, as a Catholic, you see that and you go, 'Fuck yeah, suffering. Hot damn, he feels like I feel, he wants to suffer so bad, he's going to get it next to his body.' Uh, but this particular picture is associated with an order that worships the BVM, as we call her in school, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and, uh, uh, and there's a legend associated with the story. Who knows whether these legends have a little bit of truth of them, a great deal of truth in them, or none whatsoever. It's not the point at all, anyway, the point isn't when you hear someone singing a song, whether the story is true or not. 'Cause it's not. I don't care who it is. It's not true. Because if he was expressing his feelings to you, they wouldn't rhyme, and he probably wouldn't be in front of you, risking the possibility that you'll tell him, you know, that you need to get over yourself [inaudible] and this is the problem with emo, right. If you actually felt that way, one, it wouldn't rhyme, and two, you wouldn't tell anyone. So one and two combined, you wouldn't tell it in rhyme. Anyway, this is a fairly emo song about the Blessed Virgin Mary. Thank you." -- 2009-03-27 - The Society for Ethical Culture - New York, NY

Things Referenced in this Song[]

  • The last two lines of the chorus are likely a reference to Matthew 12:39, "He answered, 'A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.'"

Live Shows this Song Was Played at[]

Videos of this Song[]


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