The Sunset Tree
Studio album by The Mountain Goats
Released	April 26, 2005
Recorded	November 4, 2004–November 15, 2004
Genre	Folk-rock
Length	39:35
Label	4AD
Producer(s)	John Vanderslice
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Pitchfork Media (7.2/10) link Rolling Stone link
The Mountain Goats chronology
We Shall All Be Healed (2004)	The Sunset Tree (2005)	Get Lonely (2006)

The Sunset Tree is a 2005 album from John Darnielle's main project, The Mountain Goats. While We Shall All Be Healed focused on Darnielle's years as a teenager involved with other meth users, The Sunset Tree talks much about his childhood, and features domestic violence as a recurring theme. An alternate, limited edition vinyl, entitled Come, Come to the Sunset Tree was sold as a tour-only LP with 1000 copies. Darnielle has said the album name came from a hymn mentioned in a particularly brutal scene in Samuel Butler's The Way of All Flesh. Image File history File links Cover of The Mountain Goats album The Sunset Tree. ... A Studio Album is an album of regular studio recordings. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... April 26 is the 116th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (117th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... November 4 is the 308th day of the year (309th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 57 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... November 15 is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 46 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... Bob Dylans folk rock album, Blonde on Blonde Folk rock is a musical genre, combining elements of folk music and rock music. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the performers, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... John Vanderslice (born in Gainesville, Florida in 1967) is an American musician, formerly of mk Ultra but now performing with his own band. ... The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music, owned by All Media Guide. ... Image File history File links 4. ... Pitchfork logo Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork, is a U.S.-based daily Internet publication devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. ... Rolling Stone is an American magazine devoted to music, politics and popular culture. ... Image File history File links Description: 3 out of 5 star. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... We Shall All Be Healed is a 2004 album from John Darnielles main project, The Mountain Goats. ... Get Lonely is an album by The Mountain Goats released on August 22, 2006. ... John Darnielle is an American musician, best known as the primary (and often solitary) member of the American folk-rock band The Mountain Goats. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... We Shall All Be Healed is a 2004 album from John Darnielles main project, The Mountain Goats. ... Methamphetamine (pharmaceutically referred to as methylamphetamine or desoxyephedrine) is a psychostimulant drug used primarily for recreational purposes, but is sometimes prescribed for ADHD and narcolepsy under the brand name Desoxyn. ... It has been suggested that Domestic violence against men be merged into this article or section. ... Samuel Butler is the name of several notable persons: Samuel Butler (1612-1680), author of Hudibras Samuel Butler (1774-1839), classical scholar Samuel Butler (1835-1902), grandson of the scholar, author of Erewhon This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share... For the 1927 and 1940 films, see The Way of All Flesh (film) The Way of All Flesh (1903) is a semi-autobiographical novel by Samuel Butler which attacks Victorian era hypocrisy. ...

The album is dedicated, somewhat sardonically, to Darnielle's stepfather, by whom the album was "made possible." The evidence of Darnielle's somewhat abusive childhood is juxtaposed beautifully against an upbeat and excited backdrop of an energetically stummed guitar - especially noticeable in the songs "This Year" and "Dance Music." The tone of the album gets more somber and serious as it continues, leading to Darnielle's eventual confrontation of his stepfather in "Lion's Teeth." The real human part of this album is the longing for escape from his childhood home and the powerlessness he felt about his situation. The album is summed up in the final two songs, the first of which is "Love, Love, Love" - a song in which he extols the virtue and folly of doing things for reasons of love, and secondly "Pale Green Things" - a quiet story in which the singer recalls a time when his stepfather took him out to watch the horses at the racetrack. Darnielle closes the the song, and the album, with a lyric of his sister calling him, where "She told me that you'd died at last...at last!", seemingly exulting the fact that this menace has left his life at a far overdue time. But this is quickly followed by, "and that morning at the racetrack is one thing I remembered," leaving us with a different point of view from Darnielle, who is quietly mourning this man who caused him so much pain.

Track listing

All songs written by John Darnielle John Darnielle is an American musician, best known as the primary (and often solitary) member of the American folk-rock band The Mountain Goats. ...

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

Track listing (vinyl-only release)

All songs written by John Darnielle John Darnielle is an American musician, best known as the primary (and often solitary) member of the American folk-rock band The Mountain Goats. ...

Side A

1. "You or Your Memory"
2. "Up the Wolves"
3. "Dilaudid"
4. "Collapsing Stars"
5. "Dinu Lipatti's Bones"
6. "Love Love Love"

Side B

1. "High Doses #2"
2. "Lions Teeth"
3. "This Year"
4. "Song for Dennis Brown"
5. "The Day the Aliens Came"

External link

• "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