The Sunset Tree

The Sunset Tree is the ninth studio album by the Mountain Goats, released on April 26, 2005 by 4AD. The album's songs revolve around the house John Darnielle grew up in and the people who lived there, including his mother, sister, stepfather, friends, and enemies.^[1] The Sunset Tree received notable acclaim from critics, and was instrumental in introducing the Mountain Goats to a wider, mainstream audience. A prominent review of the Sunset Tree in the New York Times called the album 'extraordinary'^[2], and The New Yorker's rock critic, Sasha Frere-Jones, pronounced Darnielle as 'America's best non-hip-hop lyricist' in an essay in May 2005.^[3]

The Sunset Tree
Studio album by the Mountain Goats
Released	April 26, 2005
Recorded	November 4, 2004 – November 15, 2004
Studio	Prairie Sun, Cotati, California
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)

Notes

While We Shall All Be Healed focused on Darnielle's years as a teenager involved with other methamphetamine users,^[4] The Sunset Tree focuses on his childhood, and a recurring theme is domestic violence.^[5] The album title refers to a scene in Samuel Butler's The Way of All Flesh^[6] in which the character Theobald beats his son Ernest for being unable to pronounce a hard C when singing a hymn. The hymn, "The Tyrolese Evening Hymn", begins with the lines "Come, come, come, Come to the sunset tree."^[7]

In the album's liner notes, Darnielle writes:

"Made possible by my stepfather, Mike Noonan (1940–2004): may the peace which eluded you in life be yours now

Dedicated to any young men and women anywhere who live with people who abuse them, with the following good news:

you are going to make it out of there alive

you will live to tell your story

never lose hope"^[8]

Many lyrics reference 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" in an introduction to a live performance of the song.^[9]

The album concludes with the two final songs "Love Love Love", in which Darnielle 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

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	83/100[10]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
Blender	[12]
Entertainment Weekly	B[13]
The Irish Times	[14]
Mojo	[15]
NME	6/10[16]
Pitchfork	7.2/10[6]
Rolling Stone	[17]
Spin	B+[18]
Uncut	[19]

The Sunset Tree has a metascore of 83 on Metacritic based on 28 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".^[10] Pitchfork placed The Sunset Tree at number 102 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.^[20]

In 2010, the Art of Time Ensemble, featuring former Barenaked Ladies singer Steven Page, covered "Lion's Teeth" for their album A Singer Must Die.

Track listing

All tracks are written 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.	"The Day The Aliens Came"	3:31
Total length:		32:56

Personnel

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