The Anglo-Saxons | |
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Album |
The Basement Tapes: Live Recordings at KSPC 1989-1995 |
Released |
1995 |
Artist |
the Mountain Goats |
Length |
1:49 |
Previous Track |
"Evangenline Falls" (Ruby Falls) |
Next Track |
"Evergreen" |
The Anglo-Saxons is the fifth song on the compilation The Basement Tapes: Live Recordings at KSPC 1989-1995. It was re-released on the compilation Ghana.
Lyrics
They used to paint their bodies blue A couple of them might be distantly related to you According to Caesar, they shaved their entire bodies Except for the upper lip and the head Yeah the Anglo-Saxons Yeah the Anglo-Saxons A sub-literate bunch of guys Though some sources say otherwise Yeah the Anglo-Saxons Yeah they were men on a mission Preserving their poetry by an oral tradition Yeah oral tradition was all you'd get Until Saint Augustine brought them the alphabet Yeah the Anglo-Saxons Yeah the Anglo-Saxons Yeah in 1065 they were ragin' But 1066 brought the Norman Invasion Yeah the Anglo-Saxons Go!
Comments by John Darnielle About this Song
- "Large amounts of the historical data provided in this song are inaccurate, so you should not, if you get quizzed on Pre-Norman Conquest British England, take your answers from this song." -- 1994-XX-XX - Columbus, OH
- "Well, unlike in my home...you all will probably be able to recognize the vast historical inaccuracies in this song. Most of it's based in truth, but you all probably know the difference between the Anglos, the Picts, and the Jutes, and then the people who followed them, and this sort of mixes all the history up, because one: I didn't really know what I was talking about when I wrote it, and two: I'm willing to sacrifice truth for a good song." -- 1996-03-20 - The Garage - London, England
Things Referenced in this Song
Live Shows this Song Was Played at
- 1994-xx-xx - Stache's - Columbus, OH
- 1996-03-20 - The Garage - London, England
- 1997-04-04 - Duke Coffeehouse - Durham, NC
- 2003-04-04 - Macrock Festival - Court Square Theatre - Harrisonburg, VA
- 2013-06-09 - Higher Ground Ballroom - South Burlington, VT
- 2017-12-14 - Holocene - Portland, OR
- 2018-09-04 - The Lyric Oxford - Oxford, MS
- 2021-04-18 - The Jordan Lake Sessions: Volume 3 (Encore)
Videos of this Song
Ghana |
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Track list: "Golden Boy" • "Pure Gold" • "Papagallo" • "Song for John Davis" • "Stars Around Her" • "Going to Port Washington" • "Blood Royal" • "The Only Thing I Know" • "Raja Vocative" • "Hatha Hill" • "Going to Kirby Sigston" • "Please Come Home to Hamngatan" • "The Last Day of Jimi Hendrix's Life" • "Orange Ball of Peace" • "Standard Bitter Love Song #8" • "Chino Love Song 1979" • "Wrong!" • "Going to Jamaica" • "Alpha Gelida" • "Wild Palm City" • "The Anglo-Saxons" • "Flight 717: Going to Denmark" • "The Admonishing Song" • "Anti-Music Song" • "Going to Hungary" • "Earth Air Water Trees" • "Creature Song" • "Pure Sound" • "Going to Maine" • "Noctifer Birmingham" • "Leaving Home" |