Lyrics
Children by the water banks laughing long and loud
Changbai’s high fine western peaks[3] 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
Banter
Live Performances
Footnotes
1. "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." — Heretic Pride press kit ↩
2. Heaven Lake lies on the border of China and North Korea; its transliteration into English sounds roughly like Tianchi. In China, it is in Jilin Province, in North Korea, Ryanggang. The lake is formed inside the caldera of the active volcano Baekdu Mountain. Anecdotal sightings of the supposed Lake Tianchi Monster have been occasionally reported for over a century. (Annotated TMG)↩
3. Changbai is a mountain range between China and North Korea. Baekdu Mountain, the highest peak in the range at 2,744 meters and the location of Heaven Lake, is sometimes called Changbai Mountain.↩