"Sept 15 1983" (Mountain Goats Week part II)

“This is about the death of Prince Far I, one of the most unusual and awesome figures to arise from the reggae explosion of the seventies. He was murdered in his home by unknown assailants on the date which gives this song its title. Far I was by all accounts a good guy, and his songs are loving, almost paternal urgings to the listener. Early in his career, he was called ‘King Cry Cry,’ owing to his tendency to burst into tears while singing. I'm not that emo yet but one almost wishes for that kind of sincerity, you know?”

-John Darnielle, Heretic Pride press release

Prince Far I is arguably the purest character on Heretic Pride—only the kids in “San Bernardino” seem to come close—and he ends up getting shot. (“Try, try your whole life / to be righteous and be good; / wind up on your own floor / choking on blood.”) The intelligent review over at the Village Voice has this to say:

“If villains find a home on earth, heroes only suffer displacement… The only fault on Heretic Pride turns out to be having faith. Prince Far I, shot thanks to causes totally out of his control, bleeds to death on a floor and still dreams of Israel, the home God has promised for him. The meth addicts on We Shall All Be Healed were every bit as delusional, but at least they were on drugs. Here, it's hard to tell whether Prince Far I's convictions are being pitied or celebrated—actually, they're both.”

The chorus seems to be Far I's last thoughts as he drifts away to somewhere else: “The heat drifts across the land. / If I forget Israel, let me forget my right hand.” The song is full of conflicting imagery: the smell of onions from the dinner party is still in the air as the ambulance arrives, and the paramedic is both Gabriel and a man in a postal-blue uniform. Even the killers are cast in religious terms, as servants of the Pharaoh. In Darnielle's story, Far I can give his life and death meaning even as he slips further away from them. The tale of persecuted Israel, of the righteous and the wicked, provides sense for a seemingly (truly?) senseless event.

Here's Darnielle, in Paste, on religion:

“I've always envied zealots. The depth of their faith, the imagery. I find most mystical explanations of things more interesting and appealing than the true ones. I'm always interested in hearing the lie. I've always been interested in that, and cults and heresy. As a Catholic by birth, the notion of learning something is true all of the days of your life and then one day going, ‘I don't agree with that’…”

So, yes, poor Prince Far I believes the lie, but it seems that the purity of his belief more than redeems its object.

But, words aside, this is one of the nicer melodies on the album, and is another example of a song where a violent story plays out over calming music.