From the album The Sunset Tree (2005)

This song is about escapism. With poignancy and daft lyrical narration, John Darnielle (aka The Mountain Goats) weaves a tale of domestic violence and a troubled life on the skids. The only outlet for the song’s protagonist is the volume knob on his stereo and the “dance music” it amplifies, which he uses to elude the strife in his life.

The beautiful part of this song however, is its clear-as-day construction. With unadorned instrumentation and a simple verse-chorus-verse structure, Dance Music is classic Mountain Goats. What else would you expect from “America’s best non-hip-hop lyricist“?

[audio:070525DanceMusic.mp3]

What I Love: It’s peppy and sad at the same time.

PS- John Darnielle maintains a blog at Last Plane to Jakarta.