Song for My Stepfather is an unreleased song by the Mountain Goats.
Lyrics[]
You have got that look in your eyes In the pinprick place where kindness goes to die I'll be six years old next year You erase me You'll be sorry, you always feel sorry later on When you come around to say so, I will be gone And in my place, meet my letter-perfect body double You erase me And a few years later, I set out on my own Learned to take the reins up all by myself Dug the spurs in clean down to the bone But all that comes later Now there's only you and me And the replica where my body used to be You can go ahead and hit him He feels no pain at all You erase me You erase me
Comments by John Darnielle About this Song[]
- "I wrote it, uh, when we were touring down the West Coast and I was writing The Sunset Tree; it was one that I wound up leaving off the album." -- 2008-10-21 - Wonder Ballroom - Portland, OR
- "I thought of another song that has the exact same chord structure [as Pseudothyrum Song], and I thought, well, that other song is about my stepfather, and so was that one. And I wrote that song fuckin' sixteen years ago, and it's taken six years to figure it out. So I'm going to play the other one for you." -- 2019-07-20 - Union Transfer - Philadelphia, PA
Things Referenced in this Song[]
Live Shows this Song Was Played at[]
- 2004-05-26 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA
- 2004-05-27 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA
- 2008-10-21 - Wonder Ballroom - Portland, OR
- 2011-04-06 - Mercy Lounge - Nashville, TN
- 2011-04-07 - Variety Playhouse - Atlanta, GA
- 2011-07-13 - 1982 Bar - Gainesville, FL
- 2012-12-13 - Troubadour - West Hollywood, CA
- 2015-04-08 - 9:30 Club - Washington, D.C.
- 2015-04-18 - Vic Theater - Chicago, IL
- 2016-04-07 - Beachland Ballroom - Cleveland, OH
- 2016-09-22 - Buskirk-Chumley Theatre - Bloomington, IN
- 2017-05-27 - White Oak Music Hall - Houston, TX
- 2017-05-31 - The Mayan - Los Angeles, CA
- 2017-06-04 - Crystal Ballroom - Portland, OR
- 2017-06-06 - Tractor Tavern - Seattle, WA
- 2017-06-21 - Welcome to Night Vale Birthday Party - The Bell House - New York, NY
- 2018-05-28 - Old Town School of Folk Music - Chicago, IL
- 2019-07-20 - Union Transfer - Philadelphia, PA
- 2019-09-13 - The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA
- 2022-05-20 - First Avenue - Minneapolis, MN
- 2022-09-16 - Paramount Theatre - Austin, TX
- 2024-10-17 - Cahn Auditorium - Evanston, IL
- 2024-10-20 - McCarter Theatre Center - Princeton, NJ