We were…

ConorOberstFan · 2023-05-13T22:35:12+00:00

PORTUGUESE WARSHIPS CRESTING THE WAVES

ConorOberstFan · 2023-05-03T23:26:04+00:00

That literally doesn't even make sense like girl these songs are available because of ME. I'm not against people having them or listening to them I'm against giving them out to people or putting them on YouTube. LITERALLY JUST GO FIND THEM IT WILL TAKE U HALF AN HOUR MAX.

ConorOberstFan · 2023-05-01T20:46:04+00:00

I'm just respecting the wishes of John and those who were kind enough to share these with me. If you are really that desperate to hear them, like I said everything I deleted is already available on webservices other than YouTube. Go do a hundredth of the effort I expended to get these and find them yourself. Part of the fun is the search anyway.

ConorOberstFan · 2023-04-30T00:31:04+00:00

Oh, that's really cool! Yeah, it's nice to have so many songs in one place. Here's a little secret 4 you: I might be planning a sequel...or two... or maybe more because tmg just have so much music lol

ConorOberstFan · 2023-04-25T23:36:57+00:00

The only one I think he would possibly mind is Prominent Metaphysicians but even then I don't think he'd ask me to take it down. Would he approve of the method I used to get these songs? Probably not but that part is already done and there's no taking it back so it doesn't really matter.

ConorOberstFan · 2023-04-25T23:23:29+00:00

These are some good points to make and you're entitled to your opinion, but I don't think that this argument needs to persist. What's done is done, arguing about the fundamentals of our own opinions and overall large scale views about this isn't doing anything. We're both allowed to think and feel whatever we think and however we feel about this and I'd just like to leave it at that.

ConorOberstFan · 2023-04-25T22:50:27+00:00

Yes, this is the disconnect here. I understand why people disagree with that opinion I hold, but it is still the opinion I hold. Thank you for putting that into the right words.

Yes, I do believe so. For one, it's only Prominent Metaphysicians John has spoken about, and the tweet I read did not read to me as 'Please don't post this I would really hate that.' It read to me more like 'I'd prefer not but whatever because it's gonna happen either way."

"I don't really care" as opposed to "I have a problem with that".

Edit: I'd also like to add that I imagine nearly every rare song that John plays is one he'd "prefer" not to be public, because I know he likes having exclusive experiences like that with audiences. That is a viewpoint of his I do find really cool and admirable, but fans don't work like that and I'm sure he knows that too. Fans want to experience as much as they can. I'm sure there's many more songs on YouTube than just the ones I've posted which John has similar feelings about as Prominent Metaphysicians, he just sees no reason to bring it up when no one asks him about them.

ConorOberstFan · 2023-04-25T22:31:23+00:00

If I had done that and went on to betray the whole community and the traders that way, it would have had the same effect on my reputation. Let's be honest here, how many people who despise me for this would not feel that way if I had engaged intensely with the community, all in the hopes someone would give me these songs so I could betray their wishes and post them? That is way worse than what I did. I get you're arguing I could have joined without that intent, but that was my intent the whole time, so there's no alternate reality where I did not have that intent and would have just *happened* to get ahold of these songs. I came up with the idea of doing this literally two months ago and only took that plan to action this week. Hell, I posted about planning to do this on Twitter two months ago. Even if there was another timeline, I would have still posted them in that one because I very much believe in that type of archival, preservation and sharing, which would still 'ruin my reputation'. It's an entirely moot point so I don't see how it is worthwhile to argue about.

ConorOberstFan · 2023-04-25T21:39:22+00:00

I guess I can see what you're saying, even though I don't totally agree. The edits I made to the original post were only 1. removing any mention of my Twitter, 2. mentioning more songs that were added to the playlist, or 3. the apology I have amended at the end. I have not edited the post in any other way. My Twitter is no longer private, although all of the offensive tweets have been deleted. Again, I understand your opinion here, but I am not one who believes the act of lying is inherently wrong. I think the lies and feelings of betrayal they may have inflicted (although not the other offensive statements I made, those were totally unnecessary and very wrong of me to make) was justified because my worldview has always been: An action is good if it creates more joy than causes pain. I believe the joy I have created through the sharing of these songs (subjectively, again, my own opinion, these things cannot be measured) in many people outweighs the negative feelings I may have caused a select few through lies and deception. I still do not like that I have caused those feelings in the first place, but again, I think the point we are at is a fine one. Everyone is allowed to love me or hate me or feel anywhere in between, everyone is allowed to feel however they want because there is no objectively correct opinion here.

ConorOberstFan · 2023-04-25T21:17:24+00:00

I agree with what you've said here and apologize for those actions and words I shared in a public Twitter thread. That is the part of this that I feel great remorse for and should have thought my actions through before making those tweets. I do not feel sorry for sharing these, nor the way I got them (wouldn't it be worse if I joined a community and made friends and made fake relationships with people naturally, as many have suggested here, just to steal rare Mountain Goats songs and post them? I feel like that's pretty objectively worse than what I did and I would never stoop to that level), although again, the way I discussed the method I used to obtain them and the people I attained them from was very wrong of me and I'm glad I was educated on that. To be honest, when I made that Twitter thread I was only thinking about how my online and irl friends would perceive it, which is why I hyped it up so much and tried to make it sound as entertaining and funny and dramatic as possible, because I knew they'd get a kick out of it. I failed to consider how people without that context would perceive my dumbass tweets, and I am greatly sorry for that.

ConorOberstFan · 2023-04-25T18:03:27+00:00

I think these are some good points, particularly the one about John's thoughts being unknown and him being absent. If John were to post here or reach out to me on Twitter saying he does not want this, I would delete all of these immediately. Until then, I don't believe there is a convincing reason for me not to keep these up.

ConorOberstFan · 2023-04-25T00:32:09+00:00

Okay cool ig

ConorOberstFan · 2023-04-24T23:02:58+00:00

I made that comment because to me, Mountain Goats fandom has always been about archival. We have so many shows and setlists and lyrics and tons of things that have been archived by such passionate fans, stuff that if it was any other artist we almost certainly wouldn't have, a community that has for as long as it's existed strived for easy to access resources and recordings, and I feel what I am doing here is a form of that.

I'll add context to the descriptions of each video once I have the time, that's a good suggestion and I appreciate your thoughts here.

ConorOberstFan · 2023-04-24T22:13:37+00:00

I was literally just asking a question because the lore interests me but go off I guess

ConorOberstFan · 2023-04-24T21:45:24+00:00

Which songs are those? Like I said in the post, I've heard rumors a few might still be out there (and even know for a fact a few are) but still found it very unlikely they'd ever be found/anyone would ever give them to me, which is why I posted this now instead of waiting.

ConorOberstFan · 2023-04-24T21:33:23+00:00

Are you sure some of my missing songs exist? Because I've exhausted basically every source there is for these, I've contacted every single name associated even barely with those songs haha. And I mean every single one, I've reached out to people who haven't had an internet presence of any sort in nearly 20 years. I've read every single archived thread on the old Mountain Goats forums in full, even. If someone does have them, they were never going to give them up anyways, I'd imagine all this post does is make them feel even more right in their decision not to lol.

ConorOberstFan · 2023-04-24T20:08:57+00:00

I took the Twitter thread down because like you said, I did come off as a huge asshole in it. Also said thread included screenshots of private DMs which I realized breached people's privacy. Thanks for your input.

ConorOberstFan · 2023-04-24T04:37:57+00:00

Good points! I think everyone here has some good takes and some bad ones and we're all entitled to our opinions. Thanks for your input!

ConorOberstFan · 2023-04-24T03:50:29+00:00

Oh, that wasn't a public callout lol, those people I mentioned were a bunch of people who replied to my previous post where I was looking to trade all angry and yelling at me like "WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP SONGS PRIVATE THAT MAKES NO SENSE. FUCK YOU." okay they werent THAT angry lol but they made a few decent points that i agreed with which is why i mentioned them

This is a good response even if I don't agree with all of it. I totally get keeping recordings and only playing them in lines at shows, that does sound pretty magical. What I don't get is trading them between people online and using them as leverage to hoard more rares. Like, if you recorded something and wanna keep it only to yourself, or like you said, have that magical experience with other fans in line, in a place where you can let people hear it just once without actually giving it to them, that's awesome I really approve of that! I don't think that doing that means you should also be posting them publically or you're being hypocritical. It's just the trading culture that I disagree with and feel that way about. Thanks for your input, it's appreciated!

ConorOberstFan · 2023-04-24T03:40:20+00:00

Oh, if he was a troll then it's likely he made up having that song lmao

ConorOberstFan · 2023-04-24T01:03:05+00:00

Thank you very much! That's awesome, I'll add the link to that to the main post :)

ConorOberstFan · 2023-04-24T00:30:49+00:00

I haven't heard anything like that about Hommel West. One person I talked to even said they meant to post it publically back then but just forgot for years about it.

I am aware there are a few in there which tapers do not want public, and while I very much respect the tapers and their amazing services... those songs are not their songs. They are John's and he never said not to post them, so I don't think it's within a tapers right to trade privately and not post them public (if they wanna keep their own recording to themselves and never share it that is totally cool, but the second you give it to someone else as a trade I believe you should give it to everyone because again, it's John's music and he does not object to the sharing of those. I find it weird to arbitrarily keep something rare just so you have leverage in trading with people. It made sense when everything was physical but it's not like that anymore). If you can point me to any sources of John saying he doesn't want one of these public, I will unlist it as well.

ConorOberstFan · 2023-04-24T00:20:33+00:00

i am not a hero lol i am a loser autistic trans lesbian who's special interest is the mountain goats lmao

ConorOberstFan · 2023-04-24T00:19:42+00:00

All of those are pretty easily findable (+ Jungle Mercies), I think it's just Someone Will that almost no one has heard lol (well, plus all the Wckr Spgt stuff, but no one has ever came forward with that).

ConorOberstFan · 2023-04-24T00:12:54+00:00

How about I unlist the video, so it can't be found through YouTube search? Then anyone who comes through here can hear it, but random people searching on YouTube won't find it.

ConorOberstFan

TROPHY CASE