An Antidote for Strychnine

An Antidote for Strychnine
Album	In League With Dragons
Released	April 26, 2019
Length	6:03
Previous Track	"Cadaver Sniffing Dog"
Next Track	"Sicilian Crest"

An Antidote for Strychnine is the 11th song on In League with Dragons.

Lyrics

Dig around in the garbage
Save up some halibut bones in a jar
Scrape a winter's worth of salt deposits
From the rusty frame of my car
Ask the experts
Maybe they'll know

Call up my teacher in Cambridge
See what he remembers
Throw white phosphorus in the fireplace
Look for clues in the embers
Call the hotline
Give them a phony last name

Trying to find
An antidote for strychnine

Trying to find
An antidote for strychnine

Time's running short
Always seems to run shorter
Have some supplies sent
From up just past the northern border
Keep a line out
To the people who take the long view

Only share my research
With sick lab rats like me
Trapped behind the beakers
And the Erlenmeyer flasks
Cut off from the world, I may not ever get free
But I may
One day

Trying to find
An antidote for strychnine

Trying to find
An antidote for strychnine

So many suffering from the same affliction
Coming up on a breakthrough
The clock's ticking
Dig down amongst my calculations
Check my map
Up there on the surface
Everybody's getting ready for the bloodbath
Stem the tide, stem the tide
They're calling down for reinforcements

Trying to find
An antidote for strychnine

Trying to find
An antidote for strychnine

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song

• "I've talked about this before, it's like, why is he trying to devise an antidote? So that he can poison somebody and then offer to withhold the antidote, right? Or is that just you and me and a very ugly way of thinking and he's actually a very good guy? But, but no, I think he's, in my version of the story, which is an open enough story that you can tell your own, uh, but, uh, in my version of the story he himself is -- it's his own poisoning he's trying to cure." -- I Only Listen to the Mountain Goats, season 2 episode 7 (starting at 09:55)

Things Referenced in this Song

• Strychnine is an organic compound that is highly toxic to humans and other vertebrates. According to Wikipedia, "There is no specific antidote for strychnine but recovery from exposure is possible with early supportive medical treatment."

Live Shows this Song Was Played at

• 2019-08-30 - The Pub Station - Billings, MT
• 2019-08-31 - Top Hat Lounge - Missoula, MT
• 2019-09-01 - Bing Crosby Theater - Spokane, WA
• 2019-09-04 - The Showbox - Seattle, WA
• 2019-09-05 - Neumo's - Seattle, WA
• 2019-09-06 - Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver, BC
• 2019-09-07 - McDonald Theatre - Eugene, OR
• 2019-09-09 - Crystal Ballroom - Portland, OR
• 2019-09-10 - Aladdin Theater - Portland, OR
• 2019-09-12 - The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA
• 2019-09-14 - Belasco Theater - Los Angeles, CA
• 2019-09-16 - House of Blues - Anaheim, CA
• 2019-09-17 - House of Blues - San Diego, CA
• 2019-09-18 - Brooklyn Bowl - Las Vegas, NV
• 2022-12-06 - Doug Fir Lounge - Portland, OR
• 2023-06-29 - Mercury Ballroom - Louisville, KY
• 2023-06-30 - The Salt Shed - Chicago, IL
• 2023-07-02 - SPACE - Evanston, IL
• 2023-07-05 - Wooly's - Des Moines, IA
• 2023-07-13 - The Vanguard - Tulsa, OK