Trick Mirror | |
---|---|
Album |
The Coroner's Gambit |
Released |
2000 |
Artist |
the Mountain Goats |
Length |
2:40 |
Previous Track |
"Elijah" |
Next Track |
Trick Mirror is the third song on the album The Coroner's Gambit.
Lyrics[]
Seventeen years ago They told me to teach him everything I know I let the fire rain down, rain down Watched it flare up inside his heart Saw it tearing him completely apart Head to toe, I know And blood will run through the streets of Rome today And roll across the ocean Fourteen years ago tonight Watched him tearing through the garden, killing everything in sight I let my curiosity get the best of me I saw the sourceless anger eating at him from inside No one around him to stem the rising tide Evil from his head down to his feet Quinine's bitter Sugar's sweet And blood will run through the streets of Rome today And roll across the ocean
Comments by John Darnielle About this Song[]
Things Referenced in this Song[]
- The Annotated Mountain Goats postulates that the song's narrator is the Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger, addressing his pupil Nero.
- Seneca's essay De Clementia ("On Mercy") addresses Nero and falls into the literary genre of "mirrors for princes", which may explain the title.
Live Shows this Song Was Played at[]
The Coroner's Gambit |
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Track list: "Jaipur" • "Elijah" • "Trick Mirror" • "Island Garden Song" • "The Coroner's Gambit" • "Baboon" • "Scotch Grove" • "Horseradish Road" • "Family Happiness" • "Onions" • "Bluejays and Cardinals" • "Shadow Song" • "There Will Be No Divorce" • "Insurance Fraud #2" • "The Alphonse Mambo" • "We Were Patriots" |