Deianara Crush

Deianara Crush
Album	Sweden
Released	1995
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	1:53
Previous Track	"I Wonder Where Our Love Has Gone"
Next Track	"Whole Wide World"

Deianara Crush is the fifth song on the album Sweden.

Lyrics

One day in September you come here
You pull my head down and you whisper in my ear
And you tell me the sidewalk is as far as the world really goes 
But that's a secret everybody knows

You hold my head in your hands, you say my name
How is it that though you say it some twenty thousand times, it's never quite the same 
And you tell me that Hercules died burning, consumed by an article of his own clothing 
That's something I'd rather not be reminded of

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song

• "I genuinely have no idea how long it's been since I played that one" -- 2021-09-24 - Gateway City Arts - Holyoke, MA

Things Referenced in this Song

• The title references Deianara (or Deianira), wife of Hercules. She unintentionally kills her husband by giving him a cloak dipped in the blood of a centaur, which she was told would make Hercules eternally faithful to her.

Live Shows this Song Was Played at

• 1994-08-22 - The Middle East - Cambridge, MA
• 1996-03-16 - Lintfabriek, Kontich, Belgium
• 1997-03-01 - Replay Lounge - Lawrence, KS
• 2005-06-16 - KEXP Session - Seattle, WA
• 2009-04-02 - Courtyard Café at University of Illinois - Champaign, IL
• 2021-09-24 - Gateway City Arts - Holyoke, MA