The Mountain Goats
“Etruscans”
Our First 100 Days
There are a lot of artists commenting on President Trump’s 100 days on this compilation, but the outstanding song to me is The Mountain Goats, “Etruscans”. First of all, this is a stripped-down version, just John Darnielle and his guitar. Second, Darnielle evokes the Etruscans, the society the Romans conquered 2300 years ago to become the supreme force in the Mediterranean World. The whole identification of pre-Trump America with Etruscan civilization is ballsy and requires education and knowledge to truly understand, but The Mountain Goats has always been a thinking-man’s band. The stripped-down really brings to mind early recordings and is a wonderful protest song. It is the same in-your-face as Bright Eyes’ “Let’s Not Shit Ourselves (To Love and to Be Loved)” and Kimya Dawson’s anti-Bush songs. It’s wonderful that protest is not dead. What a great song.