White Cedar

White Cedar
Album	Transcendental Youth
Released	2012
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	3:05
Previous Track	"Harlem Roulette"
Next Track	"Until I Am Whole"

White Cedar is the fifth song on the album Transcendental Youth.

Lyrics

Like a star come down to walk the Earth in radiant array
I saw the light of my spirit descend the other day
I was standing by the bus stop on Northeast 33rd
When I got the word
I will be made a new creature
One bright day

I don't have to be afraid
Speed that day on its way
And you can't tell me what my spirit tells me isn't true, can you?

Woke up on lockdown one more time
My visions won't ever learn
But I see the light that much clearer
Every time I return
Forge my armor in the old fire
My spirit sings loud and clear
Even in here

I'll be reborn someday, someday
If I wait long enough 

I don't have to be afraid
I don't wanna be afraid
And you can't tell me what my spirit tells me isn't true, can you?

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song

• "The song's about accepting the permanence of one's condition. The narrator is a guy who's in and out of hospitals a lot. I've worked with people who've experienced that, and I always assume there has to come a point where it's really hard, but then you try to find some way to be OK with it. There's a lot of sadness in that song." -- 2012-10-01 Pitchfork Interview
• "This is another one of those cheerful songs about how the third or fourth time you wind up in the locked ward, you begin to feel a little hopeless and you try to find something to hope." -- 2012-10-16 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY
• "This was on Transcendental Youth. It is weirdly, I think, one of the most personal songs on the record, because it's about people I used to first see on buses in Portland, and then later worked with when I was a nurse, who -- you know, sometimes, well, there's a saying in, in meditation that your mind can be your best friend or your worst enemy, and this song is about people whose minds become their worst enemy." -- 2021-09-24 - Gateway City Arts - Holyoke, MA

Live Shows this Song Was Played at

• 2011-12-16 - Troubadour - Los Angeles, CA
• 2012-01-30 - 40 Watt Club - Athens, GA
• 2012-01-31 - Visulite Theatre - Charlotte, NC
• 2012-02-02 - The Grey Eagle - Asheville, NC
• 2012-02-04 - The Haw River Ballroom - Saxapahaw, NC
• 2012-03-24 - Merkin Concert Hall - New York, NY
• 2012-04-02 - The Barbican - London, England
• 2012-05-04 - The Zoo - Brisbane, Australia
• 2012-05-06 - The Metro - Sydney, Australia
• 2012-05-08 - The Clarendon - Katoomba, Australia
• 2012-05-09 - The Toff in Town - Melbourne, Australia
• 2012-05-10 - The Corner Hotel - Melbourne, Australia
• 2012-06-10 - Halfway Festival - Białystok, Poland
• 2012-06-28 - Swedish American Hall - San Francisco, CA
• 2012-06-30 - McCabe's Guitar Shop - Santa Monica, CA
• 2012-07-03 - Folk Music Center - Claremont, CA
• 2012-07-28 - Antiwarpt Festival - St. Petersburg, FL
• 2012-09-01 - Front Porch Music Festival - Livermore, CA
• 2012-09-19 - Soundcheck - WNYC Session
• 2012-10-09 - The National - Richmond, VA
• 2012-10-10 - Ottobar - Baltimore, MD
• 2012-10-11 - Theater of Living Arts - Philadelphia, PA
• 2012-10-13 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY
• 2012-10-14 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY
• 2012-10-15 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY
• 2012-10-16 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY
• 2012-10-18 - Daytrotter Session
• 2012-10-18 - House of Blues - Boston, MA
• 2012-10-19 - The Haunt - Ithaca, NY
• 2012-10-20 - Phoenix Concert Theatre - Toronto, Ontario
• 2012-10-22 - Fine Arts Center - Calvin College - Grand Rapids, MI
• 2012-10-23 - Pabst Theatre - Milwaukee, WI
• 2012-10-24 - The Varsity Theater - Minneapolis, MN
• 2012-10-27 - The Vic Theatre - Chicago, IL
• 2012-11-29 - Terminal West - Atlanta, GA
• 2012-11-30 - The Grey Eagle - Asheville, NC
• 2012-12-01 - Mercy Lounge - Nashville, TN
• 2012-12-03 - Cain's Ballroom - Tulsa, OK
• 2012-12-04 - Granada Theater - Dallas, TX
• 2012-12-05 - Emo's East - Austin, TX
• 2012-12-08 - Crescent Ballroom - Phoenix, AZ
• 2012-12-09 - Club Congress - Tucson, AZ
• 2012-12-10 - The Irenic - San Diego, CA
• 2012-12-12 - Masonic Lodge - Hollywood Forever Cemetery - Los Angeles, CA
• 2012-12-13 - Troubadour - West Hollywood, CA
• 2012-12-14 - The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA
• 2012-12-16 - Oregon Public Broadcasting Session - Aladdin Theater - Portland, OR
• 2012-12-16 - Aladdin Theater - Portland, OR
• 2012-12-17 - The Showbox - Seattle, WA
• 2013-07-26 - Newport Folk Festival - Newport, RI
• 2015-05-30 - Wonder Ballroom - Portland, OR
• 2016-02-27 - Noise Pop 2016 - Swedish American Hall - San Francisco, CA
• 2016-02-28 - Noise Pop 2016 - Swedish American Hall - San Francisco, CA
• 2021-09-08 - City Winery - New York, NY
• 2021-09-09 - City Winery - New York, NY
• 2021-09-17 - Tower Theatre - Oklahoma City, OK
• 2021-09-18 - Liberty Hall - Lawrence, KS
• 2021-09-19 - George's Majestic Lounge - Fayetteville, AR
• 2021-09-24 - Gateway City Arts - Holyoke, MA
• 2021-10-15 - Manchester Music Hall - Lexington, KY
• 2021-10-16 - The Vogue - Indianapolis, IN
• 2021-10-22 - College Street Music Hall - New Haven, CT
• 2021-10-25 - Brooklyn Made - New York, NY
• 2021-12-17 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC
• 2022-04-29 - Ventura Music Hall - Ventura, CA
• 2022-05-11 - Aladdin Theater - Portland, OR

Videos of this Song

• 2012-12-12 - Masonic Lodge - Hollywood Forever Cemetery - Los Angeles, CA
• 2012-12-16 - Oregon Public Broadcasting Session - Aladdin Theater - Portland, OR