Guide
The Old Law Review: Josh Tillman has never been one to play it safe, and “The Old Law” might be the most electrifying proof of that tendency in years. Released in January 2026 as part of a three track EP, this leftover from the *Mahashmashana* sessions punches harder than almost anything on that album.
Song Analysis (The Old Law Review)
The song opens with churning distortion that feels ripped from a 1990s alternative rock record, then layers in rhythmic drums and a lead guitar line that refuses to sit still. Tillman’s voice floats above the chaos, delivering the bitter mantra “A man’s life, God’s trash / there’s no law but the old law, baby” with the kind of sardonic detachment he has spent a decade perfecting.
The track clocks in at just under five minutes, but it feels urgent, almost restless, like a man working through ideas that needed more teeth than the meditative *Mahashmashana* could provide.
Musically, this is Father John Misty channeling late period Beatles and early 70s psychedelic rock in the best way possible. You can hear it in the way the song balances melodic sweetness with something darker and more confrontational. The production stacks fuzzy electric guitar against warm piano, creating textures that feel both vintage and volatile.
The harmonic progression moves well beyond standard rock territory, and the drum groove locks everything into place with a satisfying thump. The mix brings out every layer without letting the track become muddy, which is impressive given how much is happening at any given moment. There is a deliberate tension between the summery, almost playful feel of the melody and the weight of what Tillman is actually singing about.
The lyrics dig into familiar Tillman obsessions: inherited religious systems, the disposability of human life in the face of indifferent power structures, and a desperate longing for some kind of reset. “Year zero in the summertime” becomes a refrain that sounds almost hopeful if you ignore how impossible that dream actually is. Tillman grew up in an evangelical household where secular music was forbidden, and that background has fueled his best writing for over a decade.
Lines like “Jesus still lives on me / rent free” work as both a joke and a confession, which is exactly the kind of double meaning he excels at. The song feels like a companion piece to *Mahashmashana*’s explorations of ego death and impermanence, but with more urgency and grit. It is Father John Misty at his most contradictory and compelling, daring you to laugh while pulling the ground out from under your feet.
Lyrics (The Old Law Review)
In my death mask and my mismatched suit
I pilate chop you across the stage
I met a musing gospel
In the bath, a tic made its way
Into my read ilked brain
The drinks had martyred lunch effectively
Before I even rose to speak
Don’t wanna dis-anoint the campaign, but
Jesus still lives on me
Rent free
Oh
A man’s life
God’s trash
There’s no law but the old law, baby
Pettifog
Nothing dies
‘Cept by ass drawn kamikaze
Year Zero in the summertime
Year Zero in the summertime
Pick me to sling your widdle clot bled dry
In your Matty-Mac-Beau-Harry guise
Oh, I left you for the honey
Couldn’t try to you if I lied
If I lied
Oh, a man’s life
God’s trash
There’s no law but the old law, baby
Pettifog
Nothing dies
‘Cept by ass drawn kamikaze
God said, “No”
I said, “Twice”
C’mon, big man
Won’t you make me?
Year Zero in the summertime
Year Zero in the summertime
Year Zero in the summertime
Bagmember
Slaycation
Hal Ashby
Fast fashion
Meaning (My Opinion)(The Old Law Review)
Father John Misty’s lyrics feel like you’re watching someone work through a weird dream about death and what it all means. Right from the start, there’s this “death mask” and “mismatched suit” thing going on, like he’s staring down mortality or maybe just trying to figure out who he even is.
Then you get this strange line about a tic making its way into his “read ilked brain,” and it’s like intrusive thoughts are just barging in uninvited.
What really gets me is how he throws together all this religious stuff with totally mundane things. One second he’s talking about Jesus and gospel and martyrdom, the next he’s mentioning drinks and lunch.
It’s like he’s trying to make sense of existence while also calling out how weird and contradictory religion and human behavior can be. He uses humor and these kind of gross images to show just how bizarre everything is when you really look at it.
Those repeated lines about “A man’s life / God’s trash / There’s no law but the old law” hit different. It’s almost like he’s saying we’re all pretty insignificant in the grand scheme, but somehow these old moral rules keep hanging around even when they don’t make much sense anymore.
The line “Nothing dies ‘cept by ass drawn kamikaze” is wild because it makes death sound both inevitable and completely random, like life is fragile but also nonsensical at the same time.
Listen To “The Old Law” By Father John Misty (The Old Law Review)
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