The Diaz Brothers

The Diaz Brothers
Album	Transcendental Youth
Released	2012
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	2:46
Previous track	"Night Light"
Next track	"Counterfeit Florida Plates"

The Diaz Brothers is the eighth song on the album Transcendental Youth.

Lyrics

Cops and robbers, strictly bargain line
Spend the wet night tracking visions through the pines
Draw my arms into my hospital gown
See the sky open up and rain down
Rain down

Mercy for the Diaz brothers
Mercy for the Diaz brothers

Hear my rivals on the western wind
Hard to know who might or might not be your friend
Work by the plutonian light
Forbidden rosary prayers all night
All night

Mercy for the Diaz brothers
Mercy for the Diaz brothers

Beam of a flashlight
All night in the woods
Hunt us like dogs
And then string us up for good

Keep one step ahead of enemies
Foretell worse things than such frightful nights as these
Lead us to the beach by our hands
And bury us there in the sand

Mercy for the Diaz brothers
Mercy for the Diaz brothers
Mercy for the Diaz brothers
Mercy for the Diaz brothers

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song

• "Frank tells Tony he has to respect the Diaz brothers, and Tony tells him to eff the Diaz Brothers, and by the time we do see them, they're dead. I'm obsessed with people we never got to know but who we know about, because you have a sense of who they were and what became of them since they died, but they're essentially blocking characters in this story we all know. And we're all basically blocking characters in life, when you think about it." -- Mountain Goats' John Darnielle Discusses the 'Satan Record' (Rolling Stone)
• "This song is about how it is extraordinarly important that we have mercy on the Diaz Brothers. It's called 'The Diaz Brothers.'" -- 2012-01-31 - Visulite Theatre - Charlotte, NC
• "This song was written while watching the film Scarface with a 3-month-old baby in my arm. I would do it again. It was written because when these particular characters were mentioned, the baby smiled. And I thought, well, I should do something with that, so I wrote a song about paranoid visions in a hospital. I encourage all new parents to do the same." -- 2012-12-14 - The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA

Things Referenced in this Song

• The titular Diaz Brothers were minor characters in the 1983 movie Scarface.

Live Shows this Song Was Played at

• 2012-01-19 - Antone's - Austin, TX
• 2012-01-20 - Fitzgerald's - Houston, TX
• 2012-01-21 - Tipitina's - New Orleans, LA
• 2012-01-23 - Club Downunder - Tallahassee, FL
• 2012-01-24 - The Social - Orlando, FL
• 2012-01-25 - The Crowbar - Tampa, FL
• 2012-01-27 - Cafe Eleven - St. Augustine, FL
• 2012-01-28 - The EARL - Atlanta, GA
• 2012-01-30 - 40 Watt Club - Athens, GA
• 2012-01-31 - Visulite Theatre - Charlotte, NC
• 2012-02-02 - The Grey Eagle - Asheville, NC
• 2012-02-04 - The Haw River Ballroom - Saxapahaw, NC
• 2012-05-01 - The Bakery - Perth, Australia
• 2012-05-04 - The Zoo - Brisbane, Australia
• 2012-05-06 - The Metro - Sydney, Australia
• 2012-05-08 - The Clarendon - Katoomba, Australia
• 2012-05-09 - The Toff in Town - Melbourne, Australia
• 2012-05-10 - The Corner Hotel - Melbourne, Australia
• 2012-06-23 - Columbia City Theater - Seattle, WA
• 2012-07-28 - Antiwarpt Festival - St. Petersburg, FL
• 2012-09-01 - Front Porch Music Festival - Livermore, CA
• 2012-10-09 - The National - Richmond, VA
• 2012-10-10 - Ottobar - Baltimore, MD
• 2012-10-11 - Theater of Living Arts - Philadelphia, PA
• 2012-10-13 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY
• 2012-10-15 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY
• 2012-10-20 - Phoenix Concert Theatre - Toronto, Ontario
• 2012-10-24 - The Varsity Theater - Minneapolis, MN
• 2012-11-30 - The Grey Eagle - Asheville, NC
• 2012-12-01 - Mercy Lounge - Nashville, TN
• 2012-12-03 - Cain's Ballroom - Tulsa, OK
• 2012-12-04 - Granada Theater - Dallas, TX
• 2012-12-05 - Emo's East - Austin, TX
• 2012-12-08 - Crescent Ballroom - Phoenix, AZ
• 2012-12-09 - Club Congress - Tucson, AZ
• 2012-12-10 - The Irenic - San Diego, CA
• 2012-12-13 - Troubadour - West Hollywood, CA
• 2012-12-14 - The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA
• 2012-12-16 - Aladdin Theater - Portland, OR
• 2012-12-17 - The Showbox - Seattle, WA
• 2013-06-03 - 9:30 Club - Washington, D.C.
• 2013-06-04 - Strand-Capitol Performing Arts - York, PA
• 2013-06-05 - Maxwell's - Hoboken, NJ
• 2013-06-08 - Port City Music Hall - Portland, ME
• 2013-06-12 - Majestic Theatre - Detroit, MI
• 2013-06-14 - Taft Ballroom - Cincinnati, OH
• 2013-06-15 - Buskirk-Chumley Theatre - Bloomington, IN
• 2013-06-16 - Space - Evanston, IL
• 2013-06-17 - Lincoln Hall - Chicago, IL
• 2013-06-19 - The Record Bar - Kansas City, MO
• 2013-06-20 - Old Rock House - St. Louis, MO
• 2013-06-22 - The Bottletree - Birmingham, AL
• 2013-06-23 - High Dive - Gainesville, FL
• 2013-06-24 - Culture Room - Ft. Lauderdale, FL
• 2013-06-26 - The Charleston Pourhouse - Charleston, SC
• 2013-06-27 - New Brooklyn Tavern - West Columbia, SC
• 2013-06-28 - The Soapbox - Wilmington, NC
• 2013-10-07 - St. Georges - Bristol, England
• 2013-10-08 - Union Chapel - London, England
• 2013-10-09 - Royal Northern College of Music - Manchester, England
• 2013-10-13 - People's Place - Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 2013-10-14 - Luxor - Cologne, Germany
• 2013-10-16 - La Gaite Lyrique - Paris, France
• 2014-06-05 - Gothic Theatre - Denver, CO
• 2015-04-04 - The Jinx - Savannah, GA
• 2015-04-07 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC
• 2015-04-08 - 9:30 Club - Washington, D.C.
• 2015-04-12 - City Winery - New York, NY
• 2015-04-23 - Mr. Small's - Millvale, PA
• 2015-05-08 - Shaky Knees Festival - Atlanta, GA
• 2015-05-26 - Gothic Theatre - Denver, CO
• 2015-05-27 - Urban Lounge - Salt Lake City, UT
• 2015-05-29 - The Showbox - Seattle, WA
• 2015-06-01 - The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA
• 2015-06-03 - The Mayan - Los Angeles, CA
• 2015-06-07 - Houston Free Press Festival - Houston, TX
• 2015-06-08 - Kessler Theater - Dallas, TX
• 2015-10-03 - Neighborhood Theatre - Charlotte, NC
• 2015-10-04 - Saturn - Birmingham, AL
• 2015-10-05 - 40 Watt Club - Athens, GA
• 2015-10-07 - Culture Room - Ft. Lauderdale, FL
• 2015-10-08 - The Beacham Theatre - Orlando, FL
• 2015-10-09 - Colonial Quarter - St. Augustine, FL
• 2015-10-10 - The Orpheum - Tampa, FL
• 2015-11-12 - Brudenell Social Club - Leeds, England
• 2015-11-13 - Art School - Glasgow, Scotland
• 2015-11-14 - Whelan's - Dublin, Ireland
• 2015-11-15 - Gorilla - Manchester, England
• 2015-11-17 - Trinity - Bristol, England
• 2015-11-18 - Komedia - Brighton, England
• 2015-11-19 - O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire - London, England
• 2015-11-20 - Autumn Falls Festival - Le Botanique - Brussels, Belgium
• 2015-11-22 - Paradiso Noord, Tolhuistuin - Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 2016-04-03 - Columbus Theatre - Providence, RI
• 2016-04-04 - Port City Music Hall - Portland, ME
• 2016-04-07 - Beachland Ballroom - Cleveland, OH
• 2016-04-08 - The Blind Pig - Ann Arbor, MI
• 2016-04-09 - The Vogue - Indianapolis, IN
• 2016-04-13 - City Winery - Chicago, IL
• 2016-04-16 - Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center - York, PA
• 2016-04-18 - City Winery - New York, NY
• 2016-09-18 - Rams Head Live - Baltimore, MD
• 2016-09-22 - Buskirk-Chumley Theatre - Bloomington, IN
• 2016-09-27 - Pabst Theater - Milwaukee, WI
• 2016-10-01 - Madrid Theater - Kansas City, MO
• 2016-10-02 - The Blue Note - Columbia, MO
• 2016-10-03 - Codfish Hollow Barnstormers - Maquoketa, IA
• 2016-11-12 - Jam Room Music Festival - Columbia, SC
• 2016-12-03 - The Pinhook - Durham, NC
• 2016-12-05 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC
• 2017-04-01 - Bond Brothers Beer Company - Cary, NC
• 2017-04-07 - Fowlers Live - Adelaide, Australia
• 2017-04-09 - The Factory Theatre - Sydney, Australia
• 2017-04-12 - The Corner Hotel - Melbourne, Australia

Videos of this Song

• 2012-01-20 - Fitzgerald's - Houston, TX
• 2012-06-23 - Columbia City Theater - Seattle, WA
• 2013-06-17 - Lincoln Hall - Chicago, IL
• 2013-06-19 - The Record Bar - Kansas City, MO
• 2013-10-08 - Union Chapel - London, England
• 2014-06-05 - Gothic Theatre - Denver, CO
• 2015-04-12 - City Winery - New York, NY