Alibi

Alibi
Album	Babylon Springs EP
Released	2006
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	3:43
Previous Track	"Ox Baker Triumphant"
Next Track	"Sail Babylon Springs"

Alibi is the second track from the Babylon Springs EP. A demo of it was posted on the Mountain Goats forums on by John Darnielle on April 15, 2008 along with several other demos to make up for the cancellation of their 2008 Australian tour.

Lyrics

I got off work just past eleven 
Laid one finger to the breeze
You can almost taste the action
On nights like these
Trees were bending in the wind
You were forty miles away
And I was headed in your direction
I've been waiting all day, I've been waiting all day

Moon over West Covina was huge and white
And I was like a patient on a table
Headed for the light
Lean toward the center divider
Feel the wind in my hair
Keep a light up in your window
I'm gonna be right there, I'm gonna be right there

With a gleam in my eye
And an almost airtight alibi

Down by the chemistry building
I found a quiet place to park
And I made my way down the street toward your place
Stepping lightly in the dark
Climbed the steps up to your doorway
Like a man prepared to jump beneath a train
It's real warm outside tonight
Maybe tomorrow it rains, maybe tomorrow it rains

Inside your room we shut the window
And we turned on a fan
And we lay there together in the darkness
I can keep a secret if you can
Finishing one another's sentences
Like a pair of identical twins
Your boyfriend's out of town until Tuesday
And nobody saw me come in, nobody saw me come in

With a gleam in my eye 
And an almost airtight alibi

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song

• "It is a song about how sometimes you may find yourself sleeping with somebody. Yes, you may! I know it seems hard to believe from where you stand, but, but once it does start happening, about a week later you can't imagine that it wasn't happening. And, and you may say to yourself about that situation, 'Oh, it's going to be horrible if her boyfriend ever finds out, wow, I'm sort of not a fighting kind of dude, I don't want to have a fight with that guy. I mean, if push comes to shove I'll fight with him, but I'd rather not have to fight with that guy, 'cause he's probably going to be mad when he finds out I'm sleeping with his girlfriend. Boy, he'll be mad as hell. I prefer not to think about that, now that I think about it. I think I'd rather think about how nice she is, aw, yeah, isn't she awesome. She deserves a good boyfriend like me, somebody awesome like me who really understands her and really appreciates what she's all about.' You might get to thinking that way. It's a delusional sort of thinking that can only result in terrible sadness. I don't mean to be the guy breaking the news to you, yet must I be the guy breaking the news to you that it's not gonna, it's going to end very badly. And to the girl in the audience who is also part of the equation, you know that's bogus." -- 2008-05-16 - Masonic Temple - Brooklyn, New York, NY
• "This is a song about sleeping with people. Two of them. One of them's not in the song. Best for all parties. Well, not all parties." -- 2008-12-06 - Cambridge Hotel - Newcastle, Australia

Things Referenced in this Song

• The line "And I was like a patient on a table" is a reference to T. S. Eliot's poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."

• West Covina is a city in Los Angeles County, California that is also referenced in the 2017 song The Grey King and the Silver Flame Attunement.

Live Shows this Song Was Played at

• 2006-06-14 - The Troubadour - West Hollywood, CA
• 2007-01-03 - Fowlers Live - Adelaide, Australia
• 2007-06-17 - Zoop - Farm Sanctuary - Watkins Glen, NY
• 2007-07-22 - Rhino Records - Claremont, CA
• 2007-10-30 - Pabst Theater - Milwaukee, WI
• 2007-10-31 - 400 Bar - Minneapolis, MN
• 2007-11-08 - Jackpot Saloon - Lawrence, KS
• 2007-11-11 - Randy Bacon Studio & Gallery - Springfield, MO
• 2008-05-16 - Masonic Temple - Brooklyn, New York, NY
• 2008-12-06 - Cambridge Hotel - Newcastle, Australia
• 2009-03-25 - Somerville Theater - Somerville, MA
• 2017-10-05 - Brudenell Social Club - Leeds, England

Videos of this Song

• 2008-12-06 - Cambridge Hotel - Newcastle, Australia

Internet releases by John Darnielle

Exclusive: "Acceptable Damages Sutra" • "All Devils Here Now" • "Ballad of the Errant Scallop" • "The Big Unit" • "Brandy Let's Go" • "Bride" • "Counting Song for Bitter Children" • "Cut Off Their Thumbs #1" • "Deserters" • "Down Here Where the Bullet Bills Are" • "Extreme South #1" • "Flower Song" • "For the Krishnacore Bands" • "From TG&Y" • "Going Back to California" • "Going Invisible" • "Hye Kye" • "New Mountain Goats Tape Song" • "New World Emerging Blues" • "Pure Crystal" • "Short Song for Justin Bieber and His Paparazzi" • "Shot, Repeatedly, At Close Range, In the Chest, By Your Love" • "Sign of the Crow 2" • "Song for Sasha Banks" • "There Is Power in a Union" • "Thucydides II-58" • "Tyler Lambert's Grave"• "The Ultimate Jedi Who Wastes All the Other Jedi and Eats Their Bones" • "You and Me and a High Balcony" Released elsewhere: "Alibi • "Daniel 12:8 (first)" • "Exegetic Chains" • "For the Snakes" • "If You See Light" • "Let Me Bathe in Demonic Light" • "Michael Myers Resplendent" • "No Children" • "Ox Baker Triumphant" • "Surrounded" • "Until Olympius Returns" • "Wait for You"