Ghosts

Ghosts
Album	Hail and Farewell, Gothenburg
Released	N/A
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	2:38
Previous Track	"Milk Song"
Next Track	"Red Choral Diamond Spray"

Ghosts is the sixth song on the unreleased album Hail and Farewell, Gothenburg.

Lyrics

I went down the road today
Just in the old way
And a black dog hobbled past me
His tags jangled on his collar
It made me wish I was dead
It made me wish I was dead

And a familiar sun on me
Just like it would always be
Rocky soil, dry land
I knew it all like the back of my hand
It made me wish I was dead
It made me wish I was dead 

Terrific view from here
Sky's clear
Sun's high
I let things lie 
And I know what is and isn't mine
And it was good to get back to the sunshine
But five years is a long time
And I spent five years in Sweden dying for you
I spent five years in Sweden dying for you

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song

• "I wrote this song in Germany. We should all be so lucky as to not have to suffer the same fate." -- 2000-02-06 - The Press - Claremont, CA

Things Referenced in this Song

• "The black dog" is a common metaphor for melancholy or depression, often credited to the 18th-century English writer Samuel Johnson.
• The opening couplet is paraphrased from Thomas Hardy's 1912 poem The Walk - "I walked up there to-day/Just in the former way"

Live Shows this Song Was Played at

• 1996-03-23 - Covent Garden Rough Trade - London, England
• 1996-09-11 - Argo - Denton, TX
• 1996-11-07 - VPRO Radio - Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 1997-03-01 - Replay Lounge - Lawrence, KS
• 2000-02-06 - The Press - Claremont, CA
• 2002-11-03 - The Grog Shop - Cleveland, OH
• 2008-03-13 - Pearl Street - Northampton, MA
• 2009-02-25 - Swedish American Hall - San Francisco, CA
• 2009-09-18 - Ithaca College - Ithaca, NY
• 2011-07-13 - 1982 Bar - Gainesville, FL
• 2012-01-30 - 40 Watt Club - Athens, GA
• 2017-10-16 - Debaser Strand - Stockholm, Sweden
• 2019-04-28 - Wilbur Theatre - Boston, MA
• 2019-08-09 - College Street Music Hall - New Haven, CT
• 2019-11-11 - Pustervik - Gothenburg, Sweden
• 2024-02-29 - Teragram Ballroom - Los Angeles, CA
• 2024-04-15 - Washington's - Fort Collins, CO

Videos of this Song

• 2008-03-13 - Pearl Street - Northampton, MA
• 2009-02-25 - Swedish American Hall - San Francisco, CA
• 2012-01-30 - 40 Watt Club - Athens, GA
• 2017-10-16 - Debaser Strand - Stockholm, Sweden
• 2019-11-11 - Pustervik - Gothenburg, Sweden