The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
This song is about sanctuary. The idea of offering someone a place to go that is safe for whoever they are and whatever has happened in their lives.
In the third episode of I Only Listen To The Mountain Goats, John Darnielle explained the creation and theme of the song,
I got an idea to tell a sto...
[Verse 1]
She came in on the red-eye to Dallas-Fort Worth
All the way from sunny Taipei
Skin the color of a walnut shell
And a baseball cap holding down her black hair
And she came here after midnight
The hot weather made her feel right at home
[Chorus]
Come on in
We haven't slept for weeks
Drink some of this
It'll put color in your cheeks
[Verse 2]
He drove in from Mexicali, no worse for wear
Money to burn, time to kill
But five minutes looking in his eyes
And we all knew he was broken pretty bad, so we gave him what we had
We cleared a space for him to sleep in
And we let the silence, that's our trademark, make its presence felt
[Chorus]
Come on in
We haven't slept for weeks
Drink some of this
It'll put color in your cheeks
[Verse 3]
They came in by the dozens, walking or crawling
Some were bright-eyed, some were dead on their feet
And they came from Zimbabwe, or from Soviet Georgia
East Saint Louis, or from Paris, or they lived across the street
But they came, and when they finally made it here
It was the least that we could do to make our welcome clear
[Chorus]
Come on in
We haven't slept for weeks
Drink some of this
This'll put color in your cheeks
Color in Your Cheeks was written by John Darnielle.
Color in Your Cheeks was produced by John Darnielle.
The Mountain Goats released Color in Your Cheeks on Tue Feb 19 2002.
John Darnielle in a Reddit AMA on June 7, 2011:
‘Color In Your Cheeks’ is just a story about safe places and acceptance."
He also described it as “a song about making new friends” in an NPR podcast.