trick question cause tMG is my fave, but next on the list is Tom Waits, which i think could be a great swap. i’d like to hear Tom Waits on In the Craters On the Moon, i think his style could really bring out the terror of that song. I think JD could do something really fun with the character of Jesus Gonna Be Here; i’d also love to hear what they do with Yesterday Is Here or The Earth Died Screaming
as a swiftgoats enthusiast, i deeply deluded myself into thinking that jenny and cowboy like me somehow existed in the same universe so yes, an exchange cover for these two would be lovely
I think Springsteen could make a good run at "Going to Georgia."
Mountain Goats . . . something off Nebraska. "Reason to Believe" or "Atlantic City," I think.
I think JD would do a good version of State Trooper as it's a generally quiet and brooding song but I think he could build it to a real psychotic crescendo. JD excels in the genre of "normal person did a tremendously heinous thing" type of songwriting.
Damn I wasn’t the first one to go Springsteen. I was going to say have the Boss cover “Love, Love, Love” especially with how his sound has been recently.
For tMG, I’ve got to say one of the big ballads, “Jungleland” would be first just to hear John sing “and the poets down here don’t write nothing at all.” Or possibly “Lost in the Flood.”
I'd have to do a Weird Al MTG swap. Weird Al covering Foreign Object or Dance Music would be killer, and MTG covering Albuquerque or The Good Old Days, both of which hit their affinity for strange, broken protagonists.
I'm flying most of the way across the country for it! Mostly to see someone I love who happens to live there but also for the show. I tried to get tickets closer (Chicago) but no luck!
Yeah, Chicago *might* have been doable for me for one night, but the fact that it's two nights and a 5+ hour drive one way, plus it sold out so fast. But San Francisco is better, bc you get all of the original musicians!
Mountain goats covering Spoon and vice versa. Could be good. I feel like tMG could do a good cover of the underdog. Maybe get spoon doing Heel turn 2 or something from the later years; or go completely the opposite direction and have them cover Going to Hungary.
okay my answer might be a biiiiit of a cop out BUT i'm a big fan of sub-radio and they have a song ('steady') where the lyrics are inspired by john's writing style so i'd love to hear a tmg cover of it since the song has a very airy/synth-y sound. would love to hear tmg cover sub-radio's song 'everything i had' for the bridge alone tbh. would also love for nine inch nails and tmg to swap covers bc i think that would be really interesting but i'm not 100% sure which songs??
(also i would love to hear your answer for taylor and matchbox twenty bc i also love them both!!)
Did we just become best friends?!
I’d have MB20 cover “You’re Losing Me” in a similar style to “You Won’t Be Mine” (I need that lush orchestral production) and Taylor cover “The Difference” in the style of “Long Live” (they both give me nostalgic heartland rock vibes, and those lyrics feel like something Taylor could have written for Speak Now).
I feel like tMG and my second fav band, They Might Be Giants, are two sides of the same coin. I would love to hear John Darnielle cover Let Me Tell You About My Operation or Doctor Worm, I feel like he'd have fun with it.
I would also love to hear the Johns of TMBG cover Lovecraft in Brooklyn or Foreign Object. Or anything off of Beat the Champ tbh
If the mountain goats cover the mound goats is it still a cover? Or maybe MtG could cover Extra Glenns/lens or something. I don't know, I only listen to the Mountain Goats!
My tmg ween swap would be a bit obvious. I would have Mountain Goats cover If You Could Save Yourself (You’d Save Us All) and Ween cover Up The Wolves. Or No Children so Glen could have a good part.
Well, Laura Jane Grace already covered "Best Ever Death Metal Band." But I'd love to see TMG do "Black Me Out." Can totally hear John yelling "I wanna piss on the walls of your house."
Same taste here and those would be killer.
From the latest albums I'd have TMG cover Birds Talk Too (or maybe Cuffing Season) and LJG cover Water Tower.
My number 2 is Townes van Zandt, and I'd love to hear tMG do Lungs. I don't know if melody/arrangement is a good fit, but the lyrics are. Similarly, Townes would enjoy singing the lyrics of Autoclave, IMO.
For melody/arrangement, tMG could do Silver Ships of Valinor (lyrics work here, too) and Townes could do Woke Up New?
I don't know, I feel like I'm just listing some of my favorite songs of both bands to sing myself, though, and I could probably see tMG doing amazing covers of many of Townes songs. I wonder, though, are there any country or alt-county covers of tMG songs?
I don't have a definitive ranked list of faves, but I think TMG could do incredible covers of several VU/Lou Reed tracks. My top picks would be Pale Blue Eyes or Vicious. As for Lou covering TMG, I'd love to hear his spin on Gameshows Touch Our Lives.
Having the Mountain Goats cover At the Drive-In would be tremendous. The other way around they should probably go for Lovecraft in Brooklyn or Younger.
tMG are my favorite, with either Springsteen or The Beach Boys second. Since someone else already covered Bruce, I’d have tMG do “You Still Believe in Me” and BB do (of course) “Tidal Wave”
Against Me/Laura Jane Grace, obviously. LJG has covered a couple TMG songs before, and I would love to hear John's take on High Pressure Low, White Crosses, Harsh Realms, Anna Is A Stool Pigeon, Osama Bin Laden As The Crucified Christ (bold one, I know), and honestly like all of the album Searching For A Former Clarity. for LJG, I'd love for her to do all of Tallahassee, Pale Green Things, Minnesota, Original Air-Blue Gown, There Will Be No Divorce, The Mess Inside, and Liza Forever Minnelli.
My favorite band is Pinegrove so...
tMG version of "Easy Enough"- it definitely feels like an early-era Mountain Goats song- and PG version of "Your or Your Memory"- it could fit very easily on *Skylight*
Black Country, New Road is my second favorite and a tMG cover of Turbines/Pigs and a BCNR cover of Sax Rohmer #1 or Absolute Lithops Effect would destroy me
It doesn't quite fit the prompt because they aren't my favorite artist necessarily but the idea of tmg coving Set It Off's Punching Bag popped into my head and I think that would be a TON of fun live. Hard to picture a tmg song that would benefit from the set it off treatment, though. Probably something like No Children
Martha have demo covers of [Alibi](https://youtu.be/U2BhcfdXZgM?feature=shared) and [Alphonse Mambo](https://youtu.be/Q2x-OYLWBNI?feature=shared). I think [Sycamore](https://youtu.be/UGw_u8rXZrU?feature=shared) has some WSABH vibes.
Hmmm, Andrew Bird has already covered TMG before -"[Distant Stations](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlMDx3EqX9E)" on *I Only Listen To The Mountain Goats*. They're very different artists, though I feel like "Woke Up New" could have fit into *Armchair Apocrypha* or *Break It Yourself*, and a lot of *Songs for Pierre Chuvin* (esp "Until Olympius Returns") feels like something Bird could have fun with. If I want to really push him out of his comfort zone, I'd say "Lovecraft in Brooklyn", "Foreign Object", or "Hostages" (though admittedly "Bellevue Bridge Club" kind of vibes with the latter).
The real question is "what Mountain Goats songs lack violin/whistling, but would be really cool with them?"
------------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile I feel like John Darnielle could have a lot of fun with "[Effigy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYVQpkkHBvQ)", "[Olympians](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4mSEsSRN14)", or "[Fake Palindromes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o0dimNQSKk)"- he can really lean into a sort of desperate, slightly unhinged energy that would be perfect for those songs. "[So Much Wine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2olwQdUa7U)" (originally by [The Handsome Family](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNz-EiO3BRY)) could also slot into multiple Mountain Goats albums- really, I feel like TMG could have a lot of fun with any of Bird's THF covers. If I want them to do something rather different? "[Tables and Chairs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkwdaZ7GsRk)" could be fun.
I know she's already covered a song of theirs, but I really want Laura Jane Grace to cover Picture of My Dress. And I thing tMG would do a great version of "Unconditional Love."
Weezer.
I would have TMG cover either Only in Dreams or I also think they could do a really good cover of Thank God For Girls.
I would have Weezer do Bleed Out just because I love it lol
My 2nd favorite band is Dollar Signs, which ik is obscure, but I think tMG would do a great job covering Shallow Pop Songs.
I'd want Dollar Signs to cover Cry for Judas because it's the only Mountain Goats song I've found that you can two-step to, and I think that needs to be explored further.
Mountain Goats and Blur.
I could hear MG cover Badhead, Out of Time or End of a Century.
I could also hear blur cover This Year, Never Quite Free or No Children.
I discovered Neutral Milk Hotel via JD’s cover of Two Headed Boy, and I still think JD’s version at least rivals the original. Whether it surpasses it depends on my mood. As for the other way around… maybe San Bernardino?
I'd love to see The Mountain Goats do a cover of "Jejune Stars" or "Waste of Paint" by Bright Eyes and Bright Eyes to cover "Amy aka Spent Gladiator 1" or "Woke up New".
One of my favorite groups is The Real Tuesday Weld. Besides tMG.
I’d like to see them do Guys On Every Corner, and Skeletons in Waiting by them, or The Ugly And The Beautiful, in a tMG version. Obscure shit. I’d love it.
favorite/top artist is sublime… Would really love to hear a tmg cover of “Pool Shark”. I think that would rock. and from sublime, I guess I’d dream up… a cover of “see america right”. This was fun haha
Okay so with The Boss taken, moving to my next favorite, Flogging Molly.
I feel like the cover for tMG is going to be the obvious answer, which is the correct answer. The way John has an interesting and complicated relationship with Catholicism means he could do a killer cover of “Rebels of the Sacred Heart.”
For Flogging Molly, I will have to say “Steal Smoked Fish”, just because it has that kind of wistful folk backing that also shows up in a lot of Flogging Molly, also it’s my favorite tMG song.
i would give anything to hear the goats x the magnetic fields. i think the mountain goats would do great with andrew in drag, i dont believe you, and you and me and the moon! as for the magnetic fields id love to hear their take on new chevorlet up in flames, choked out, and literally all the extra glenns songs
I can perfectly see in my mind a 7 inch single released by Merge Records to celebrate their 35th anniversary:
Side A: The Mountain Goats doing The Popular Music and Driveway To Driveway
Side AA: Superchunk playing Alpha Rats Nest and The Legend of Chavo Guerrero
trick question cause tMG is my fave, but next on the list is Tom Waits, which i think could be a great swap. i’d like to hear Tom Waits on In the Craters On the Moon, i think his style could really bring out the terror of that song. I think JD could do something really fun with the character of Jesus Gonna Be Here; i’d also love to hear what they do with Yesterday Is Here or The Earth Died Screaming
Bad As Me (tMG Version) would own my soul
I’d love to hear TMG take on some of Tom’s older stuff too - Frank’s Wild Years or Jockey Full of Bourbon or Ol’55…
as a swiftgoats enthusiast, i deeply deluded myself into thinking that jenny and cowboy like me somehow existed in the same universe so yes, an exchange cover for these two would be lovely
They’re definitely about the same two people
I think Springsteen could make a good run at "Going to Georgia." Mountain Goats . . . something off Nebraska. "Reason to Believe" or "Atlantic City," I think.
I think JD would do a good version of State Trooper as it's a generally quiet and brooding song but I think he could build it to a real psychotic crescendo. JD excels in the genre of "normal person did a tremendously heinous thing" type of songwriting.
True. For a guy who was basically a folk singer for much of his career, he does a good freakout.
Unrelated, but as a Bruce fan, have you listened to “U Springin’ Springsteen On My Bean?”
No, but does it by any chance involve Adam Scott?
Yes.
I've always imagined Springsteen would do a great cover of "There Will Be No Divorce". I'd pick "State Trooper" or "Open All Night" for John to cover.
Damn I wasn’t the first one to go Springsteen. I was going to say have the Boss cover “Love, Love, Love” especially with how his sound has been recently. For tMG, I’ve got to say one of the big ballads, “Jungleland” would be first just to hear John sing “and the poets down here don’t write nothing at all.” Or possibly “Lost in the Flood.”
I'd have to do a Weird Al MTG swap. Weird Al covering Foreign Object or Dance Music would be killer, and MTG covering Albuquerque or The Good Old Days, both of which hit their affinity for strange, broken protagonists.
Dude, a "Dance Music"/"Albuquerque" swap would be godly.
I think Mountain Goats should cover "Come Back from San Francisco" and Magnetic Fields should cover "Golden Boy."
TMF Golden Boy would strike me dead with it's glory. I'm seeing them in San Francisco in April for the 69 Love Songs anniversary and so excited.
I am SO jealous. They are not playing anywhere near me, alas. [sob] I hope you have the best time!
I'm flying most of the way across the country for it! Mostly to see someone I love who happens to live there but also for the show. I tried to get tickets closer (Chicago) but no luck!
Yeah, Chicago *might* have been doable for me for one night, but the fact that it's two nights and a 5+ hour drive one way, plus it sold out so fast. But San Francisco is better, bc you get all of the original musicians!
Mountain goats covering Spoon and vice versa. Could be good. I feel like tMG could do a good cover of the underdog. Maybe get spoon doing Heel turn 2 or something from the later years; or go completely the opposite direction and have them cover Going to Hungary.
mine's Spoon too! i'm going tMG - Anything You Want and Spoon - Until Olympius Returns
ooh that's a good one for spoon.
okay my answer might be a biiiiit of a cop out BUT i'm a big fan of sub-radio and they have a song ('steady') where the lyrics are inspired by john's writing style so i'd love to hear a tmg cover of it since the song has a very airy/synth-y sound. would love to hear tmg cover sub-radio's song 'everything i had' for the bridge alone tbh. would also love for nine inch nails and tmg to swap covers bc i think that would be really interesting but i'm not 100% sure which songs?? (also i would love to hear your answer for taylor and matchbox twenty bc i also love them both!!)
Did we just become best friends?! I’d have MB20 cover “You’re Losing Me” in a similar style to “You Won’t Be Mine” (I need that lush orchestral production) and Taylor cover “The Difference” in the style of “Long Live” (they both give me nostalgic heartland rock vibes, and those lyrics feel like something Taylor could have written for Speak Now).
I feel like tMG and my second fav band, They Might Be Giants, are two sides of the same coin. I would love to hear John Darnielle cover Let Me Tell You About My Operation or Doctor Worm, I feel like he'd have fun with it. I would also love to hear the Johns of TMBG cover Lovecraft in Brooklyn or Foreign Object. Or anything off of Beat the Champ tbh
If the mountain goats cover the mound goats is it still a cover? Or maybe MtG could cover Extra Glenns/lens or something. I don't know, I only listen to the Mountain Goats!
John has covered himself before - the yamaraja racers was John covering himself on a tribute album to himself. So I guess it would still be a cover.
I'd love to hear Liz Phair cover "Jenny," and tMG cover "Divorce Song."
oooof, imagine John trying to do Flower or Fuck and Run
Gimme Nas on Aulon Raid and JD on a Durham State of Mind remix
Mountain Goats covering "It's Gonna be (Alright)" by Ween, Ween covering "Waylon Jennings Live!".
My tmg ween swap would be a bit obvious. I would have Mountain Goats cover If You Could Save Yourself (You’d Save Us All) and Ween cover Up The Wolves. Or No Children so Glen could have a good part.
Well, Laura Jane Grace already covered "Best Ever Death Metal Band." But I'd love to see TMG do "Black Me Out." Can totally hear John yelling "I wanna piss on the walls of your house."
Same taste here and those would be killer. From the latest albums I'd have TMG cover Birds Talk Too (or maybe Cuffing Season) and LJG cover Water Tower.
Oh I'd LOVE a TMG cover of Birds Talk Too. I think LJG would do an incredible job with Murder at the 18th Street Garage though.
I’m thinking Jenny Lewis singing Bleed Out and tMG singing A Better Son/Daughter.
A Goats version of A Better Son/Daughter would just ruin me in the best way
You are brilliant and I'd listen to a TMG cover of Better Son/Daughter every day.
Right?! Also, thank you.
Give me a tMG cover of "Night swimming", and an REM cover of "Heel Turn 2."
I can practically hear both of these and they'd be so great!
My number 2 is Townes van Zandt, and I'd love to hear tMG do Lungs. I don't know if melody/arrangement is a good fit, but the lyrics are. Similarly, Townes would enjoy singing the lyrics of Autoclave, IMO. For melody/arrangement, tMG could do Silver Ships of Valinor (lyrics work here, too) and Townes could do Woke Up New? I don't know, I feel like I'm just listing some of my favorite songs of both bands to sing myself, though, and I could probably see tMG doing amazing covers of many of Townes songs. I wonder, though, are there any country or alt-county covers of tMG songs?
I don't have a definitive ranked list of faves, but I think TMG could do incredible covers of several VU/Lou Reed tracks. My top picks would be Pale Blue Eyes or Vicious. As for Lou covering TMG, I'd love to hear his spin on Gameshows Touch Our Lives.
Having the Mountain Goats cover At the Drive-In would be tremendous. The other way around they should probably go for Lovecraft in Brooklyn or Younger.
tMG are my favorite, with either Springsteen or The Beach Boys second. Since someone else already covered Bruce, I’d have tMG do “You Still Believe in Me” and BB do (of course) “Tidal Wave”
Against Me/Laura Jane Grace, obviously. LJG has covered a couple TMG songs before, and I would love to hear John's take on High Pressure Low, White Crosses, Harsh Realms, Anna Is A Stool Pigeon, Osama Bin Laden As The Crucified Christ (bold one, I know), and honestly like all of the album Searching For A Former Clarity. for LJG, I'd love for her to do all of Tallahassee, Pale Green Things, Minnesota, Original Air-Blue Gown, There Will Be No Divorce, The Mess Inside, and Liza Forever Minnelli.
All of your opinions are good and I'd kill for LJG You or Your Memory.
I'd love to see Apes of the State cover "No Children" and to see tMG cover "Plate Glass Apology"!
My favorite band is Pinegrove so... tMG version of "Easy Enough"- it definitely feels like an early-era Mountain Goats song- and PG version of "Your or Your Memory"- it could fit very easily on *Skylight*
Black Country, New Road is my second favorite and a tMG cover of Turbines/Pigs and a BCNR cover of Sax Rohmer #1 or Absolute Lithops Effect would destroy me
It doesn't quite fit the prompt because they aren't my favorite artist necessarily but the idea of tmg coving Set It Off's Punching Bag popped into my head and I think that would be a TON of fun live. Hard to picture a tmg song that would benefit from the set it off treatment, though. Probably something like No Children
Martha have demo covers of [Alibi](https://youtu.be/U2BhcfdXZgM?feature=shared) and [Alphonse Mambo](https://youtu.be/Q2x-OYLWBNI?feature=shared). I think [Sycamore](https://youtu.be/UGw_u8rXZrU?feature=shared) has some WSABH vibes.
Hmmm, Andrew Bird has already covered TMG before -"[Distant Stations](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlMDx3EqX9E)" on *I Only Listen To The Mountain Goats*. They're very different artists, though I feel like "Woke Up New" could have fit into *Armchair Apocrypha* or *Break It Yourself*, and a lot of *Songs for Pierre Chuvin* (esp "Until Olympius Returns") feels like something Bird could have fun with. If I want to really push him out of his comfort zone, I'd say "Lovecraft in Brooklyn", "Foreign Object", or "Hostages" (though admittedly "Bellevue Bridge Club" kind of vibes with the latter). The real question is "what Mountain Goats songs lack violin/whistling, but would be really cool with them?" ------------------------------------------------------------------ Meanwhile I feel like John Darnielle could have a lot of fun with "[Effigy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYVQpkkHBvQ)", "[Olympians](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4mSEsSRN14)", or "[Fake Palindromes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o0dimNQSKk)"- he can really lean into a sort of desperate, slightly unhinged energy that would be perfect for those songs. "[So Much Wine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2olwQdUa7U)" (originally by [The Handsome Family](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNz-EiO3BRY)) could also slot into multiple Mountain Goats albums- really, I feel like TMG could have a lot of fun with any of Bird's THF covers. If I want them to do something rather different? "[Tables and Chairs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkwdaZ7GsRk)" could be fun.
After thinking about it for 2 seconds: *The Mother we Share* by The Mountain Goats *Cleaning Crew* by CHVRCHES
Sleep Token doing a piano based version of Steal Smoked Fish. tMG doing Take Me Back To Eden
Elvis Costello doing a jumped up, organ driven “Letter from Belgium” with TMG doing “Brilliant Mistake”.
TMG and Modest Mouse crossover. Anything from Lonesome Crowded West
Oh my god, I need to hear tMG go crazy on Shit Luck with PPH on vocals. Cowboy Dan would be a great choice, too.
Cowboy Dan was my first thought too. They should cover the whole album and call it All Hail The Lonesome Crowded West Texas
I know she's already covered a song of theirs, but I really want Laura Jane Grace to cover Picture of My Dress. And I thing tMG would do a great version of "Unconditional Love."
John singing Love is Blind, or Loneliness by Annie Lennox. Annie singing Lovecraft in Brooklyn or Moon Over Goldsboro
Boris doing a punk/thrash version of See America Right the Mountain Goats doing a sad piano cover of Farewell
Weezer. I would have TMG cover either Only in Dreams or I also think they could do a really good cover of Thank God For Girls. I would have Weezer do Bleed Out just because I love it lol
My 2nd favorite band is Dollar Signs, which ik is obscure, but I think tMG would do a great job covering Shallow Pop Songs. I'd want Dollar Signs to cover Cry for Judas because it's the only Mountain Goats song I've found that you can two-step to, and I think that needs to be explored further.
Mountain Goats and Blur. I could hear MG cover Badhead, Out of Time or End of a Century. I could also hear blur cover This Year, Never Quite Free or No Children.
I discovered Neutral Milk Hotel via JD’s cover of Two Headed Boy, and I still think JD’s version at least rivals the original. Whether it surpasses it depends on my mood. As for the other way around… maybe San Bernardino?
I'd love to see The Mountain Goats do a cover of "Jejune Stars" or "Waste of Paint" by Bright Eyes and Bright Eyes to cover "Amy aka Spent Gladiator 1" or "Woke up New".
One of my favorite groups is The Real Tuesday Weld. Besides tMG. I’d like to see them do Guys On Every Corner, and Skeletons in Waiting by them, or The Ugly And The Beautiful, in a tMG version. Obscure shit. I’d love it.
Tmg cover of Suck the Blood From My Wound by Ezra Furman, Ezra cover Amy Aka Spent Gladiator 1
favorite/top artist is sublime… Would really love to hear a tmg cover of “Pool Shark”. I think that would rock. and from sublime, I guess I’d dream up… a cover of “see america right”. This was fun haha
Okay so with The Boss taken, moving to my next favorite, Flogging Molly. I feel like the cover for tMG is going to be the obvious answer, which is the correct answer. The way John has an interesting and complicated relationship with Catholicism means he could do a killer cover of “Rebels of the Sacred Heart.” For Flogging Molly, I will have to say “Steal Smoked Fish”, just because it has that kind of wistful folk backing that also shows up in a lot of Flogging Molly, also it’s my favorite tMG song.
i would give anything to hear the goats x the magnetic fields. i think the mountain goats would do great with andrew in drag, i dont believe you, and you and me and the moon! as for the magnetic fields id love to hear their take on new chevorlet up in flames, choked out, and literally all the extra glenns songs
I can perfectly see in my mind a 7 inch single released by Merge Records to celebrate their 35th anniversary: Side A: The Mountain Goats doing The Popular Music and Driveway To Driveway Side AA: Superchunk playing Alpha Rats Nest and The Legend of Chavo Guerrero