The Sunset Tree

The Sunset Tree
Studio album by the Mountain Goats
Released	April 26, 2005
Recorded	Praire Sun, Cotati, California November 4, 2004 – November 15, 2004
Genre	Folk-rock
Length	39:20
Label	4AD
Producer	John Vanderslice
the Mountain Goats chronology
We Shall All Be Healed (2004) The Sunset Tree (2005) Get Lonely (2006)

The Sunset Tree is the ninth studio album by the Mountain Goats, released on April 26, 2005 by 4AD.

Notes

While We Shall All Be Healed focused on Darnielle's years as a teenager involved with other methamphetamine users, The Sunset Tree focuses on his childhood, and a recurring theme is domestic violence. The album title refers to a hymn Ernest sings as a toddler in a scene in Samuel Butler's The Way of All Flesh; in the novel, Theobald beats Ernest for being unable to pronounce a hard C when singing the hymn.

Darnielle dedicates the album to his stepfather, by whom the album was "made possible". Many lyrics refer to Darnielle's abusive childhood – especially in the songs "This Year", "Dance Music", and "Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod". The tone of the album is somber, dealing with Darnielle's longing for escape and his feelings of powerlessness, building up to the song "Lion's Teeth," which Darnielle has described as a "revenge fantasy".

The album is summed up in the final two songs: "Love, Love, Love," in which he notes the virtue and folly of doing things for reasons of love, and "Pale Green Things," in which he recalls a time his stepfather took him out to watch horses at a racetrack. Darnielle closes the song and the album with a lyric about his sister calling him to inform him of his stepfather's death.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Blender	[2]
Pitchfork Media	(7.2/10)[3]
Robert Christgau	[4]
Rolling Stone	[5]

Pitchfork Media placed The Sunset Tree at number 102 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.^[6]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by John Darnielle. 

No.	Title	Length
1.	"You or Your Memory"	2:15
2.	"Broom People"	2:44
3.	"This Year"	3:52
4.	"Dilaudid"	2:10
5.	"Dance Music"	1:57
6.	"Dinu Lipatti's Bones"	3:18
7.	"Up the Wolves"	3:27
8.	"Lion's Teeth"	3:25
9.	"Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod"	3:22
10.	"Magpie"	2:00
11.	"Song for Dennis Brown"	3:57
12.	"Love Love Love"	2:48
13.	"Pale Green Things"	4:19
Total length:		39:20

Come, Come to the Sunset Tree - bonus limited edition demos LP
No.	Title	Length
1.	"You or Your Memory"	2:30
2.	"Up the Wolves"	3:43
3.	"Dilaudid"	2:07
4.	"Collapsing Stars"	2:21
5.	"Dinu Lipatti's Bones"	2:30
6.	"Love Love Love"	2:32
7.	"High Doses #2"	3:02
8.	"Lions Teeth"	3:55
9.	"This Year"	3:44
10.	"Song for Dennis Brown"	3:01
11.	"Hawaiian Feeling"	3:31
Total length:		32:56

Personnel

• John Darnielle - vocals, guitar
• Peter Hughes - bass, backing vocals
• Erik Friedlander - cello
• Alex Decarville
• Franklin Bruno - piano
• John Vanderslice - production
• Scott Solter - engineering
• Aaron Prellwitz - engineering
• Timin Murray - engineering

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ Blender review
3. ^ Pitchfork review
4. ^ Robert Christgau review
5. ^ Rolling Stone review
6. ^ Pitchfork staff (September 28, 2009). "The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 200-151". Pitchfork Media. http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7707-the-top-200-albums-of-the-2000s-150-101/5/. Retrieved October 1, 2009. 

External links

• "Listening Party" - interview with John Darnielle about the release of The Sunset Tree
• The Sunset Tree at MusicBrainz
• Come, Come to the Sunset Tree at MusicBrainz