Soft Targets is one of the most underrated Mountain Goats songs because. I DO cry when I'm hungry. Something IS wrong with my brain.

And the JD (John Darnielle) song was on...

Getting really into Charlie Sheen Reaches Out to the Feds and I know everyone is already aware that it's JD's empathy that sets him apart as a storyteller, but I still really don't think TMG songs get enough credit for how funny and self-aware they can get with it. Like he has a real talent for getting the audience so on side with the narrator that when he introduces a straight man to be like "idk what you want us to do about this scary movie Charlie" it intentionally takes you out of the protagonist's mindset in a way that's so jarring you just have to laugh. And then the song can transition back into Charlie's mindset for the final chorus and have you immediately back rooting for him. Kind of reminds me of that Werewolf Gimmick line that's about getting told to dial it back, which when you listen to it is like oh yeah, he's a wrestler and not an actual werewolf and probably shouldn't be doing All That. But you do still want to bring your heroes to the wolf den and watch them all get crushed. Idk something about the tongue in cheek acknowledgement that our narrator perhaps isn't behaving fully rationally, but it's still worth fully immersing yourself in their POV.

Please James, get the director on the phone 🥺