| Going to Jamaica | |
|---|---|
 | |
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Album |
Taking the Dative |
|
Released |
1994 |
|
Artist |
the Mountain Goats |
|
Length |
2:34 |
|
Previous Track |
"Wrong!" |
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Next Track |
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Going to Jamaica is the fifth song on the tape Taking the Dative. It was re-released on the compilation Ghana.
Lyrics[]
I saw the last of the brightly colored birds Check out and make for the other world And you ask me how much longer we have to stay here But I'm not at liberty to say And what flowers there were around Kingston are blue I ripped them up from the dry soil and draped them over you We saw the last of the bright birds coming home I saw you address them through your megaphone And you asked me when we were leaving Well, it's any day now And what flowers there were around Trenchtown were red I stole them from the hands of children I braided them around your head
Comments by John Darnielle About this Song[]
- "This is another one of those songs you've got two people; they were once deeply in love, and then, it's like a monster came. A terrible monster. But it wasn't really a monster, it was poor communication skills. But because, in all likelihood they have, or have had in the past, some difficulties with alcohol, it seems more like it must've been a monster, because how could poor communication skills have made such an awful mess? It's called 'Going to Jamaica.'" -- 2000-10-15 - Go! Rehearsal Studios, Room 4 - Carrboro, NC
Things Referenced in this Song[]
Live Shows this Song Was Played at[]
- 1994-08-22 - The Middle East - Cambridge, MA
- 1995-04-12 - Simplon - Groningen, The Netherlands
- 1995-04-20 - Magasin 4 - Brussels, Belgium
- 1995-04-22 - Fast Forward Festival - Dooroosje Club - Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- 1996-11-22 - Slattery's - Dublin, Ireland
- 1997-03-xx - New York University - New York, NY
- 1998-02-07 - Vinyl Fever - Tallahassee, FL
- 1998-05-15 - The Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL
- 1998-10-10 - The Rocket Bar - St. Louis, MO
- 1999-01-24 - Echo Lounge - Atlanta, GA
- 2000-02-06 - The Press - Claremont, CA
- 2000-10-15 - Go! Rehearsal Studios, Room 4 - Carrboro, NC
- 2001-08-03 - 40 Watt Club - Athens, GA
- 2002-03-07 - Independent Media Center - Urbana, IL
- 2002-03-10 - The Green Room - Iowa City, IA
- 2004-04-20 - Go! Rehearsal Studios, Room 4 - Carrboro, NC
- 2005-07-04 - Fulton Mall Parking Garage - Brooklyn, NY
- 2008-03-01 - The Independent - San Francisco, CA
- 2011-04-11 - Wexner Center - Columbus, OH
- 2011-04-14 - Ottobar - Baltimore, MD
- 2012-01-28 - The EARL - Atlanta, GA
- 2012-12-13 - Origami Vinyl - Los Angeles, CA
- 2014-06-13 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA
- 2018-05-27 - Old Town School of Folk Music - Chicago, IL
- 2018-09-07 - Paper Tiger - San Antonio, TX
- 2021-09-23 - The Queen - Wilmington, DE
- 2022-09-20 - Saturn - Birmingham, AL
- 2024-04-17 - Gothic Theatre - Denver, CO
Videos of this Song[]
| Taking the Dative |
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Side One: "Orange Ball of Peace" • "Standard Bitter Love Song #8" • "Chino Love Song 1979" |
| Ghana |
|---|
|
Track list: "Golden Boy" • "Pure Gold" • "Papagallo" • "Song for John Davis" • "Stars Around Her" • "Going to Port Washington" • "Blood Royal" • "The Only Thing I Know" • "Raja Vocative" • "Hatha Hill" • "Going to Kirby Sigston" • "Please Come Home to Hamngatan" • "The Last Day of Jimi Hendrix's Life" • "Orange Ball of Peace" • "Standard Bitter Love Song #8" • "Chino Love Song 1979" • "Wrong!" • "Going to Jamaica" • "Alpha Gelida" • "Wild Palm City" • "The Anglo-Saxons" • "Flight 717: Going to Denmark" • "The Admonishing Song" • "Anti-Music Song" • "Going to Hungary" • "Earth Air Water Trees" • "Creature Song" • "Pure Sound" • "Going to Maine" • "Noctifer Birmingham" • "Leaving Home" |