Alpha Incipiens

Alpha Incipiens
Album	Zopilote Machine
Released	1994
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	1:36
Next Track	"Azo Tle Nelli in Tlalticpac?"

Alpha Incipiens is the first song on the album Zopilote Machine.

Lyrics

The morning comes to a stuttering halt
The cool breeze that blows is somebody's fault
The summer heat tries to burn through
And I look over to warn you but something's happening

The morning glories climb the wall
And you speak in a slow drawl
I'm trying to piece together what you're saying
But the birds are screeching, the hounds are baying
I don't remember there being any hounds around here

We lean back and we clink our glasses
Raise the drinks to our thirsty mouths
And thick as molasses ice cold vodka eases in as
The low pressure system brings the breezes in
And they sashay and pirouette above you
The only thing I know is that I love you 
And I'm holding on
Yeah

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song

• "This song was on my first full-length CD. It's a song about love... and vodka." -- 2003-06-06 - Triple Rock Social Club - Minneapolis, MN
• "You know, if you look back on the bad things that happened to you, right, unless you are a person to whom no bad things have ever happened, in which case, no chance. But, uh, but you always try and find the, the exact moment. Don't you? I do. You say 'where was it that I fucked up and everything just began going to hell?' You want to see the starting point and imagine that you can go and fix it. You can't, by the way. This song was not the first song about the Tallahassee people but it's the one in which the moment is born, where they're going to drink each other into the ground, dissolve their marriage, and burn a house down." -- 2005-10-31 - Knitting Factory - New York, NY

Live Shows this Song Was Played at

• 1998-04-04 - Duke Coffeehouse - Durham, NC
• 1999-01-27 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC
• 1999-01-30 - CD Exchange - Bloomington, IN
• 1999-07-23 - CBGB - New York City, NY
• 2000-09-17 - The Make-Out Room - San Francisco, CA
• 2001-04-21 - The Olde Club - Swarthmore, PA
• 2001-05-04 - Brave New Waves - CBC Radio Session - Montreal, Quebec
• 2001-06-23 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA
• 2001-10-19 - Mission Space - Baltimore, MD
• 2002-03-07 - Independent Media Center - Urbana, IL
• 2002-11-03 - The Grog Shop - Cleveland, OH
• 2002-11-06 - Knitting Factory - New York, NY
• 2002-11-08 - Go! Rehearsal Studios, Room 4 - Carrboro, NC
• 2003-02-18 - Uffes Källare - Växjö - Gothenberg, Sweden
• 2003-06-06 - Triple Rock Social Club - Minneapolis, MN
• 2003-09-26 - Walter's on Washington - Houston, TX
• 2003-10-03 - Berbati's Pan - Portland, OR
• 2003-10-04 - Tractor Tavern - Seattle, WA
• 2004-08-15 - Live at the Wireless - Triple J Session
• 2004-10-19 - Village Tavern - Mt. Pleasant, SC
• 2005-03-25 - Rubber Gloves - Denton, TX
• 2005-05-03 - The Black Cat - Washington, D.C.
• 2005-06-19 - Neumo's - Seattle, WA
• 2005-06-23 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA
• 2005-10-31 - Knitting Factory - New York, NY
• 2006-10-31 - Spanish Moon - Baton Rouge, LA
• 2007-11-29 - NYU Kimmel Center - New York, NY
• 2008-02-25 - Doug Fir Lounge - Portland, OR
• 2008-03-04 - Troubadour - Los Angeles, CA
• 2008-10-21 - Wonder Ballroom - Portland, OR
• 2009-03-07 - Harvest of Hope Festival - St. Augustine, FL
• 2010-05-16 - BreastFest - American Theater Company - Chicago, IL
• 2011-04-12 - Mr. Smalls - Pittsburgh, PA
• 2011-05-25 - Koko - London, England
• 2011-08-05 - Lollapalooza - Grand Park - Chicago, IL
• 2012-01-22 - Central Square Records - Seaside, FL
• 2012-06-27 - Swedish American Hall - San Francisco, CA
• 2012-09-07 - Hopscotch Festival - Fletcher Opera Theater - Raleigh, NC
• 2014-01-19 - Rock for Roe at the Pinhook - Durham, NC
• 2014-04-21 - Scope Productions Presents First United Methodist Church - Iowa City, IA
• 2015-11-05 - Big Arts Schein Performance Hall - Sanibel Island Writer's Conference - Sanibel, FL
• 2017-09-15 - The Waiting Room - Omaha, NE
• 2019-05-05 - Phoenix - Toronto, ON
• 2019-05-11 - Minglewood Hall - Memphis, TN
• 2020-02-20 - Swedish American Hall - San Francisco, CA
• 2021-08-13 - Paper Tiger - San Antonio, TX
• 2021-09-07 - City Winery - New York, NY
• 2021-09-09 - City Winery - New York, NY
• 2021-09-23 - The Queen - Wilmington, DE
• 2022-07-12 - The Moon - Tallahassee, FL
• 2022-09-02 - Wilbur Theatre - Boston, MA

Videos of this Song

• 1999-01-30 - CD Exchange - Bloomington, IN
• 2011-04-12 - Mr. Smalls - Millvale, PA
• 2011-05-25 - Koko - London, England
• 2011-08-05 - Lollapalooza - Grand Park - Chicago, IL
• 2012-06-27 - Swedish American Hall - San Francisco, CA
• 2019-05-05 - Phoenix - Toronto, ON