We Shall All Be Healed is an unreleased song by the Mountain Goats. In the times it has been performed, its lyrics and format have changed drastically; this can be attributed to John Darnielle initially playing it while saying it was "unfinished". While it shares a title with the album We Shall All Be Healed, it does not appear on that album. It is also known as Rose Quarter Drifting.
Lyrics[]
Left home in a blur Arrived in the night Everything is going to be alright Came back to the place Where it all flared out Just to check if the reservoir Still bore the mark of the drought Up to 13th and Taylor, check my pulse You weren’t there, and neither was anybody else Stared down demons, came back breathing No real point in ever leaving Tracy and Ivory and Brad and me too We will see some great miracle before the night is through Slipped in through the entrance Stood in the hall Left my fingerprints on the elevator wall Went down to my old room Stood outside it a minute Wondering if parts of me Were still there in it Who can say it won’t be me You are gone now and I am free Wesley and Quinn and Devon and you We will all be fixed up as good as new And I stared at the number 10 on my old apartment’s door That’s one ghost that can’t bite me anymore And someday we will all feel at home in our new skin And someday we will never be alone again When the sun comes up and the night has passed We shall all be healed at last, at last, at last
Comments by John Darnielle About this Song[]
- "That song doesn't actually really exist, I found the lyrics to it in a notebook about a month ago, and then I threw some chords down above it, and I played it, like, as this quasi-ad lib in Lawrence, Kansas a couple of weeks ago. And then I found it in my notebook again so I was, 'Hey Matt, if you're like following me on this thing, it's in G.' And Matt is game. He's never heard a note of that before just now." -- 2015-10-04 - Saturn - Birmingham, AL
- "But my second-favorite thing to do is write a title track and then not put it on the record.... This is a song, it's called, um, uh, 'Rose Quarter Drifting,' but its other title is 'We Shall All Be Healed.'" -- 2016-12-04 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC
- "This song goes by various titles and will never be finished. Somebody asked me for it again on the internet and I thought, man, that's the kind of request I like because it's a song that lets me get a little lost in old things." -- 2019-11-15 - O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire - London, England
Things Referenced in this Song[]
- "13th and Taylor" refers to one of two possible intersections in Portland, Oregon Southwest Taylor Street and Southwest 13th Avenue; or Southeast Taylor Street and Southeast 13th Avenue.
- In one of the song's two titles, "Rose Quarter" refers to a section of inner Northeast Portland.
- The line "Stared down demons, came back breathing" also appears in another unreleased song, You Were Cool.
Live Shows this Song Was Played at[]
- 2010-06-15 - Gothic Theatre - Denver, CO
- 2011-12-16 - Troubadour - Los Angeles, CA
- 2015-09-09 - Lawrence Arts Center - Lawrence, KS
- 2015-10-04 - Saturn - Birmingham, AL
- 2016-12-03 - The Pinhook - Durham, NC
- 2016-12-04 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC
- 2016-12-05 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC
- 2017-05-22 - X-Posure - Radio X Session - London, England
- 2017-06-04 - Crystal Ballroom - Portland, OR
- 2017-10-13 - De Helling - Utrecht, The Netherlands
- 2019-11-15 - O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire - London, England