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
Track #8 from The Mountain Goats‘ thirteenth studio album All Eternals Deck.
John Darnielle:
Like so many good songs, this takes place in Cambodia in 1979.
The four-year reign of the Khmer Rouge ended early that year when Vietnam invaded Cambodia and deposed dictator Pol Pot, whose followers murd...
[Verse 1]
Gather jewels from graveyards
When I get home, bury them again
Wonder if you'll ever get the chance
To ask me why I turned you in
[Verse 2]
I saved my own skin but I live to fight
I live to fight another day
Still remember how brave you were
When they came to take you away
[Chorus]
And I feel guilty
But I can't feel ashamed
Prowl through empty fields
Great Cain
[Verse 3]
Thought I'd seen a ghost up on the boulevard
Between the broken bits
It's hard to tell gifts of the spirit
From clever counterfeits
[Verse 4]
Sleepwalk through my days
And mark the hours until these dark times fade
Like a caterpillar crawling out
Along the surface of the blade
[Chorus]
And I feel guilty
But I can't feel ashamed
Prowl through empty fields
Great Cain
[Bridge]
Rummage through the gutted storehouse now
And lick the sweat from my brow
[Verse 5]
Saw the trucks roll out this morning
Not sure when, they're coming back again
Feel the prickings of my conscience in my chest
Every now and then
[Verse 6]
Sometimes a great wave of forgetfulness
Rises up and blesses me
And other times the sickness howls
And I despair of any remedy
[Chorus]
And I feel guilty
But I can't feel ashamed
Prowl through empty fields
Great Cain
Prowl Great Cain was written by John Darnielle.
Prowl Great Cain was produced by John Congleton.
The Mountain Goats released Prowl Great Cain on Tue Mar 29 2011.
John Darnielle at Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, NC on April 8, 2011:
“This is a song about betrayal. A lot of songs about betrayal are about betrayal and redemption. Not this one.”