Tianchi Lake

Tianchi Lake
Album	Heretic Pride
Released	2008
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	3:20
Previous Track	"Lovecraft in Brooklyn"
Next Track	"How to Embrace a Swamp Creature"

Tianchi Lake is the ninth song on the album Heretic Pride.

Press Kit notes

Tianchi Lake

Depending on whether you believe or not, this is a true story, sort of: there's a lake monster in China. People see it all the time. the Mountain Goats consider themselves friends to all lake and river monsters everywhere, whether they exist or not. Peter plays an upright bass here, and we tracked the guitar, bass and vocals live in the same small room at Prairie Sun. 

Lyrics

Children by the water banks laughing long and loud
Changbai’s high fine western peaks just beneath the clouds
Currents in the water churning in their course
Body of a sea-lion, head just like a horse

Preacher in the soft brown sand begins to speak his piece
High winds in the treetops, low flying winter geese
No one taking pictures, everybody still
And then the water sought its course again the way that waters will

No one at the lakeside now, moon up in the sky
Night birds in the dragon spruce, moaning long and high
Backstroking on the surface, moonlight on its face
Floats the Tianchi Monster, staring into space

Out around the temple now narcissus in bloom
Censers packed with sandalwood send smoke into the room
Children in the sand outside on their hands and knees
Sketching pictures all day long of stranger things than these

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song

• "There's nothing better in the world than unsolved mysteries." -- 2008-12-05 New Zealand Herald interview

Live Shows this Song Was Played at

• 2013-06-03 - 9:30 Club - Washington, D.C.
• 2016-09-01 - The State Theatre - Falls Church, VA
• 2019-03-14 - eTown Hall - Boulder, CO
• 2019-11-09 - Slaktkyrkan - Stockholm, Sweden
• 2019-11-10 - Rockefeller - Oslo, Norway
• 2019-11-11 - Pustervik - Gothenburg, Sweden
• 2019-11-15 - O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire - London, England
• 2019-11-16 - Brudenell Social Club - Leeds, England
• 2019-11-22 - Sala 0 - Madrid, Spain
• 2019-11-24 - Lisboa ao Vivo - Lisbon, Portugal

Videos of this Song

• 2019-03-14 - eTown Hall - Boulder, CO
• 2019-11-09 - Slaktkyrkan - Stockholm, Sweden