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Tollund Man
LSzwz

Album

Sweden

Released

1995

Artist

the Mountain Goats

Length

2:34

Previous Track

"Going to Bolivia"

Next Track

"California Song"

Tollund Man is the 12th song on the album Sweden. It also appears as the 19th song on the 2020 live album The Jordan Lake Sessions: Volumes 1 and 2.

Lyrics[]

I was sitting at the edge of the marsh 
when the council came to bring me the news. 
they handed me a bowl of cooked wild grasses and they 
gave me the ceremonial shoes. 

goodbye young Danish women. 
goodbye Danish sky. 
goodbye cold air, I am going away. 
goodbye, goodbye, goodbye. 

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song[]

  • "I was in college and I took an archaeology class—I didn't make it to the end of it, but I kept the textbook, and then when I was looking in the textbook in the idle hours I had to myself when I was no longer attending the class, I saw this guy...They had thrown him into a swamp, because he did something—history doesn't record what it was that he did, it might have been it was just sorta his turn to go. He'd been perfectly preserved by the swamp. You could see the expression on his face and his whiskers; it was hard to look at him. So I did what my other self did. I said 'I gotta write a song about that!'" -- 2007-09-21 - Sonar - Baltimore, MD
  • "This next song is about a guy ... whom they found in Denmark. He had been living, well, not living, he had been perfectly preserved in a bog for 3000-4000 years. He had a rope around his neck and he was so perfectly preserved that you could see what the last thing he ate was if you looked at the contents of his stomach." -- 2003-02-18 - Uffes Källare - Växjö - Gothenberg, Sweden

Things Referenced in this Song[]

  • The Tollund Man is known as one of the most well-preserved bodies from pre-history and was found on May 6th, 1950 near Silkeborg, Denmark.
  • In response to the question, "you used to sing an extra verse at the end of Tollund Man, what was that? improv? abandoned lyrics?" John reported, "it was whatever came to mind at the time. sometimes lines from Berryman or Shakespeare."

Live Shows this Song Was Played at[]

Videos of this Song[]



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