No Children
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "No Children" | |
|---|---|
| Song by The Mountain Goats | |
| from the album Tallahassee | |
| Released | 2002 |
| Genre | Indie rock |
| Length | 2:48 |
| Label | 4AD |
| Songwriter | John Darnielle |
| Producer | Tony Doogan |
| Music video | |
| "No Children" on YouTube | |
"No Children" is a 2002 song by American band the Mountain Goats from their album Tallahassee, about a married couple who hate each other. Songwriter John Darnielle said that he is "not laughing with (the characters in the song)" but rather "laughing at them."[1]
"No Children" was written by John Darnielle for the album Tallahassee, a concept album about the troubled relationship of the "Alpha Couple."[2] He said "There was a song on the charts called "I Hope You Dance" (by Lee Ann Womack). And I hated this song, a lot. I really try not to be as big a hater as I used to be, but I just hated everything about this song. And so I’m driving to Des Moines and I ad-libbed "I hope you die" over "I hope you dance." I thought, that’s funny — I should have my alpha couple say that to each other. And then I patterned the whole composition of it after that but from a spiteful perspective."[3]
Darnielle wrote the song over about six to eight months while he worked for Lutheran Social Services, providing support for children without suitable parental care. In 2020, Darnielle told NPR that in the song he is "caring a lot about children" and "feeling some of my characters' glee. But I'm also placing myself in a position of judgment, trying to make sure that the fact that these are not people you want to be around is clear."[2]
The track contains a piano line played by Franklin Bruno. Live renditions feature drums played by Jon Wurster in 6
8 time.[2]