Believe it or not, ‘Lion in a Coma’ was the first track from Merriweather Post Pavilion that struck me as being the most catchy and memorable. I went through the album for at least the second or third time while in my first semester as a fresher in university – it sounded like nothing I had ever heard before so I was quite perplexed as to what I was hearing the first time, that perplexity turned into admiration afterwards – and it was this song that I was humming to myself while walking down the road or going to my lecture. At that point I didn’t know what the lyrics were, but it was a song that was definite memorable melody. Weird time signature too.

There’ll be some who’ll agree with me and think “Why say ‘believe it or not’? I think [this song]’s great!”. Well, I’ve been on the Animal Collective subreddit and there are those who hear that Jew’s harp sample at the beginning and that’s a wrap for them. They can’t go on. I’ve never thought it was obnoxious. Once Avey Tare begins with his rambling lyricism, that harp blends into the background and from then on my main focus is on the fat rhythm set from the low end. I guess it’s the bass drum of the song, even though there are no drums present on it. The track is definitely something you can dance to, though not in normal ways – more like erratically moving your limbs and head to fit the beat and the spaces in between.

If you’re looking sideways at the title, it’s a play on the words ‘lying in a coma’. This song sees Avey Tare in a general sense of confusion and something of an identity crisis. He gets worried in times when you would think he would be at his most happiest and this sends him into a mode of overthinking. All this is perfectly matched with the odd time signature (9/8) and the way all of the lyrics such seemed to fall freely from Tare’s mouth. It’s a busy song, a lot goes on. One of my favourites from the album though.