Dilaudid

Dilaudid
Album	The Sunset Tree
Released	2005
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	2:10
Previous Track	This Year
Next Track	Dance Music

Dilaudid is the fourth song on the album The Sunset Tree. Two versions of the song (the album version and the "Marrtronix" version) are available on the Dilaudid EP.

Lyrics

The reception's gotten fuzzy
The delicate balance has shifted
Put on your gloves and black pumps
Let's pretend the fog has lifted
Now you see me, now you don't
Now you say you love me
Pretty soon you won't
If we get our full three score and ten
We won't pass this way again
So kiss me with your mouth open
Turn the tires toward the street
And stay sweet

All the chickens come on home to roost
Plump bodies blotting out the sky
You know it breaks my heart in half, in half
When I see them trying to fly
'Cause you just can't do things your body wasn't meant to
Hike up your fishnets, I know you
If we live to see the other side of this
I will remember your kiss
So do it with your mouth open
And take your foot off of the brake
For Christ's sake!

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song

• "This is titled after a very nice drug that you can get 30 bucks a pill for on the street, if you're so inclined. It's called 'Dilaudid'." -- 2004-10-19 - Village Tavern - Mt. Pleasant, SC
• "You shouldn't mix pills that they tell you not to mix if you are sixteen and think you're tough. This song is called 'Dilaudid'." -- 2006-09-20 - The Andy Warhol Museum - Pittsburgh, PA

Things Referenced in this Song

• "Full three score and ten" refers to Psalm 90:10 - "The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away." Three score and ten, or seventy years was considered the typical life span.
• The same line also refers to a poem by A.E. Housman from A Shropshire Lad:

  "Now, of my threescore years and ten,
  Twenty will not come again,
  And take from seventy springs a score,
  It only leaves me fifty more."

  John Darnielle confirmed this reference when a fan asked about it on Twitter.[1]

Live Shows this Song Was Played at

• 2004-10-04 - Magic Stick - Detroit, MI
• 2004-10-12 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC
• 2004-10-15 - The Social - Orlando, FL
• 2004-10-19 - Village Tavern - Mt. Pleasant, SC
• 2005-01-26 - WELH Session - Providence, RI
• 2005-05-04 - First Unitarian Church - Philadelphia, PA
• 2005-05-10 - La Sala Rossa - Montreal, Quebec
• 2005-06-16 - KEXP Session - Seattle, WA
• 2005-06-19 - Neumo's - Seattle, WA
• 2005-06-20 - Doug Fir Lounge - Portland, OR
• 2005-06-21 - WOW Hall - Eugene, OR
• 2005-07-04 - Fulton Mall Parking Garage - Brooklyn, NY
• 2005-09-13 - Manchester Lane - Melbourne, Australia
• 2005-10-12 - The Canopy Club - Urbana, IL
• 2006-09-19 - Lee's Palace - Toronto, Ontario
• 2006-09-20 - The Andy Warhol Museum - Pittsburgh, PA
• 2006-09-29 - Club Europa - Brooklyn, NY
• 2006-09-30 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY
• 2007-03-01 - Neumo's - Seattle, WA
• 2007-03-02 - Triple Door - Seattle, WA
• 2007-03-04 - Doug Fir Lounge - Portland, OR
• 2007-03-08 - The Independent - San Francisco, CA
• 2007-03-09 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA
• 2007-04-04 - Woody West @ Pusterviksbaren - Gothenburg, Sweden
• 2007-05-05 - Local 506 - Chapel Hill, NC
• 2007-09-20 - The Black Cat - Washington, D.C.
• 2007-09-25 - Lee's Palace - Toronto, Ontario
• 2007-09-27 - Rex Theatre - Pittsburgh, PA
• 2007-10-01 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY
• 2007-11-10 - Biliken Club - St. Louis University - St. Louis, MO
• 2007-11-13 - Madhatter - Covington, KY
• 2008-03-02 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA
• 2008-03-04 - Troubadour - Los Angeles, CA
• 2008-03-22 - The Black Cat - Washington, D.C.
• 2008-08-02 - Bull City Headquarters - Durham, NC
• 2008-08-17 - Folks Festival - Lyons, CO
• 2008-10-17 - Bluebird Theater - Denver, CO
• 2008-10-21 - Wonder Ballroom - Portland, OR
• 2009-03-07 - Harvest of Hope Festival - St. Augustine, FL
• 2009-03-24 - Pearl Street - Northampton, MA
• 2009-03-26 - Donovan's Pub at Colgate University - Hamilton, NY
• 2009-10-13 - Point Ephemere - Paris, France
• 2009-10-15 - Magnet - Berlin, Germany
• 2010-03-14 - The Social - Orlando, FL
• 2011-03-24 - The National - Richmond, VA
• 2011-03-28 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY
• 2012-06-27 - Swedish American Hall - San Francisco, CA
• 2014-01-19 - Rock for Roe at the Pinhook - Durham, NC
• 2017-10-13 - De Helling - Utrecht, The Netherlands

Videos of this Song

• 2006-09-29 - Club Europa - Brooklyn, NY
• 2007-03-02 - Triple Door - Seattle, WA
• 2007-09-25 - Lee's Palace - Toronto, Ontario
• 2007-09-27 - Rex Theatre - Pittsburgh, PA
• 2008-03-02 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA
• 2008-08-17 - Folks Festival - Lyons, CO
• 2009-10-13 - Point Ephemere - Paris, France
• 2010-03-14 - The Social - Orlando, FL

The Sunset Tree
Track list: "You or Your Memory" • "Broom People" • "This Year" • "Dilaudid" • "Dance Music" • "Dinu Lipatti's Bones" • "Up the Wolves" • "Lion's Teeth" • "Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod" • "Magpie" • "Song for Dennis Brown" • "Love Love Love" • "Pale Green Things" Come, Come to the Sunset Tree: "Collapsing Stars" • "High Doses #2" • "The Day the Aliens Came (Hawaiian Feeling)"