* [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Crowning Simile of Awesome]]: "Old College Try."
-->''In the way those eyes I've always loved illuminate this place''
-->''Like a trashcan fire in a prison cell''
-->''Like the searchlights in the parking lots of hell''
* The end of "The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton."
-->''When you punish a person for dreaming his dream''
-->''Don't expect him to thank or forgive you''
-->''The best ever death metal band out of Denton''
-->''Will in time both outpace and outlive you''
-->''HAIL SATAN!''
-->''HAIL SATAN, TONIGHT!''
-->''HAIL SATAN! HAIL, HAIL! HAIL, HAIL!''
* "Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod?"
-->''Held under these smothering waves''
-->''By your strong and thick-veined hand''
-->''But one of these days I'm going to wriggle up on dry land.''
* The terminally ill narrator's refusal to feel sorry for himself in "Isaiah 45:23."
-->''And I won't get better but someday I'll be free''
-->'''Cause I am not this body that imprisons me''
* The declaration in "This Year":
-->''I am gonna make it through this year, if it kills me.''
** John Darnielle was warmed to find out on Twitter that many, many people going through hard times play this song on New Year's.
* The final verse from "Up the Wolves":
-->''I'm gonna bribe the officials''
-->''I'm gonna kill all the judges''
-->''It's gonna take you people years to recover from all of the damage''
-->''Our mother has been absent ever since we founded Rome''
-->''But there's gonna be a party when the wolf comes home''
* A live example - Craig Finn of Music/TheHoldSteady guested on an electric performance of "This Year" at the Bowery Ballroom. After the final lyric of "I am going to make it/ through this year/ if it kills me!" Darnielle unexpectedly [[TitleDrop title-dropped]] a Hold Steady album and recurring lyric - "And it almost killed me! It almost killed me!". And the crowd - and Craig Finn - go ''wild''.
* "Jenny" is a beautiful encapsulation of youthful idealism – it features a couple riding off into the sunset together on a motorcycle.
-->''You turned your headlamps toward the horizon''
-->''We were the one thing in the galaxy God didn't have his eyes on''
* "Going to Georgia."
* The music video for "The Legend of Chavo Guerrero" features the titular wrestling legend making an appearance and even showing off some moves! He's pretty spry for a fella in his mid-sixties. Doubles as a SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}}, considering that it meant a chance for John Darnielle to work with his childhood hero.
* The surprisingly affecting outro of "Luna."
* "Absolute Lithops Effect" has a definite air of determination, not just in the lyrics but the performance as well. Doubles as a SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}}.
-->''After one blind season alone in here''\\
''After one long, sweltering summer''\\
''I'm going to find to exit''
* "Werewolf Gimmick" is this combined with NightmareFuel, since the song is a truly frightening BadassBoast from a {{Heel}} wrestler BecomingTheMask.
-->''Blood pooling on the canvas as the atmosphere gets hushed.\\
Bring your heroes to the wolf den, watch them all get crushed.\\
Get told to maybe dial it back backstage later on.\\
Everyone still in this building right now is '''dead before the dawn!'''''
* "Dark in Here" is a quietly menacing BadassBoast about the narrator getting ready for a final showdown with his enemies.
-->''Did you leave your house in order when you came for me?''
-->''Is this really where you meant to be?''
-->''Just beyond your limits''
-->''Find the new frontier''
-->''I live in the darkness''
-->'''''It's dark in here'''''
* "Hast Thou Considered The Tetrapod" is, like the majority of The Sunset Tree, about the narrator's abusive stepfather, but unlike Lion's Teeth, he is refusing to remain content, and is determined that his life will get better:
-->''And alone in my room''
-->''I am the last of a lost civilization''
-->''And I vanish into the dark''
-->''And rise above my station''
-->''Rise above my station''
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