Crucial Track for January 6, 2026

"Why" by Chat Pile

#365songs (6 / 365)

I do love to surprise people, so going from a fingerpicked 1996 Dar Williams folk track to a nightmarishly abrasive sludge metal track — from an album that I shocked even myself by getting super into in 2022 — is right up my alley. But I actually think there's a direct line, if maybe not an altogether straight one, from Dar Williams to this track, the bleeding heart of Chat Pile's first album God's Country. The sentiment and emotional directness of "Why" would fit right into a Dar Williams song. It's just basically everything else that's as different as it can possibly be.

All of God's Country is engrossing in a similar way to "Why." Most of the rest of it seems deeply misanthropic in a way "Why" isn't. But "Why" is so earnest and so unambiguous that it colors not just God's Country but Chat Pile's entire catalog, full of people who are having a really, really bad time in some way. The pummeling music and the tortured screams of the vocalist are perfect for having a really, really bad time, but I think they hit even harder when they don't feel like a put-on. And you simply don't write a song like "Why" and perform it with this level of intensity without some genuine empathy for the people you're singing about.