Pigs That Ran Straightaway into the Water, Triumph Of

Pigs That Ran Straightaway into the Water, Triumph Of
	;
Album	We Shall All Be Healed
Released	2004
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	2:53
Previous track	"Against Pollution"

Pigs That Ran Straightaway into the Water, Triumph Of is the 13th song on the album We Shall All Be Healed. It also appears as the 21st song on the 2020 live album The Jordan Lake Sessions: Volumes 1 and 2.

Lyrics[]

The story of the pigs who ran straightaway into the water and their great triumph

You're gonna send me back to where I came from
Please don't send me back to where I came from
Let me go where the white magnolias grow

You're gonna fit me for that orange jumpsuit
Please don't fit me for that orange jumpsuit
Let me ride where the dragonflies glide

Yeah but you're going to do what you wanna do
No matter what I ask of you
You think you hold the high hand
I've got my doubts
I come from Chino where the asphalt sprouts 

Big bus headed southeast from the courthouse
But I'm not headed southeast from the courthouse
Let some mysterious chunk of space debris
Puncture the roof and set me free 

And even if I have to go to Claremont
Well I guess I'll just have to go to Claremont
Let me go
Let me lie low

Yeah but you're going to do what you wanna do
No matter what I ask of you
And you send your dark messengers to tempt me
I come from Chino, so all your threats are empty

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song[]

"So, uh, about ten years ago I was approached by the music coordinator for this new—this new teenage soap opera called The O.C. And he actually got the studio to send me the script for the pilot and said, well, I'd really like your music on the show, and we wanted to hear your input, on, uh, on what songs you think would fit best, or if you have anything new that you think would fit, you know, thematically, and maybe we could premiere it for you. And I said, well, isn't that sort of your job? But they sent me the script, and I looked it over, and I thought, well, it can't hurt to try, you know? Who am I to turn down inspiration? And I came up with a song that sort of started out as about the main character of this show, but then, as is my usual method, I ended up straying from that idea and ended up with this song." --2012-12-10 - The Irenic - San Diego, CA

Comments by John Darnielle and Peter Hughes about this song[]

PPH: "I'd like to point out that the person -- somebody highlighted in, in the Genius —

JD: “Yes”

PPH: “ - lyrics -“

JD: “Yes”

PPH: "The 'I come from Chino where the asphalt sprouts’”

JD: “Yes”

PPH: “And they explain -"

JD: "How do they explain?"

PPH: "Chino is a town near where John Darnielle grew up.”

JD: “That’s correct.”

PPH: “it is also the location of three prisons”

[laughter]

JD: “I love - they didn’t, they didn’t say, ‘And it is a town where bassist Peter Hughes, a member of the band for twenty years, also grew up.’”

[laughter]

PPH: “Who, who plays on this song and sings on it”

JD: “Plays on the song, sings on it, and - ”

PPH: “The other guy singing ‘I come from Chino’ is actually from Chino”

JD: “And the song was largely written to amuse Peter”

PPH: “Well, it’s all right.”

JD: “Well, you have to go annotate it yourself, that’s what you have to do”

PPH: “I’ll never do it”

JD: “Yeah, I know, because you mustn’t.” -- 2020-10-29 - The Jordan Lake Sessions - Pittsboro, NC

After this performance, the genius.com user jagoandlitefoot edited the annotation mentioned by Peter Hughes to say: "Chino is the hometown of Peter Hughes, a member of the band for 20 years, who sings and plays bass on this song. It is also the location of three prisons." Subsequently, user Phil-ology appended: "Hughes read and commented on the original annotation for this line during the second night of the webcast Jordan Lake Sessions concert."

Things Referenced in this Song[]

The Exorcism of the Gerasene, as explained further at The Annotated TMG.

Live Shows this Song Was Played at[]

Videos of this Song[]

We Shall All Be Healed
Track list: "Slow West Vultures" • "Palmcorder Yajna" • "Linda Blair Was Born Innocent" • "Letter from Belgium" • "The Young Thousands" • "Your Belgian Things" • "Mole" • "Home Again Garden Grove" • "All Up the Seething Coast" • "Quito" • "Cotton" • "Against Pollution" • "Pigs That Ran Straightaway into the Water, Triumph Of"

The Jordan Lake Sessions: Volumes 1 and 2

Track list: "The Plague" • "Aulon Raid" • "Cry for Judas" • "Amy AKA Spent Gladiator 1" • "Until I Am Whole" • "Younger" • "Heel Turn 2" • "Southwestern Territory" • "The Diaz Brothers" • "Genesis 30:3" • "1 Samuel 15:23" • "Heretic Pride" • "Estate Sale Sign • "Getting Into Knives" • "Lion's Teeth" • "This Year" • "No Children" • "Lovecraft in Brooklyn" • "Tollund Man" • "Cotton" • "Pigs That Ran Straightaway into the Water, Triumph Of" • "In League with Dragons" • "Southwood Plantation Road" • "Lakeside View Apartments Suite" • "Tallahassee" • "My Little Panda" • "Love Cuts the Strings" • "International Small Arms Traffic Blues" • "Stabbed to Death Outside San Juan" • "Damn These Vampires" • "Foreign Object" • "Golden Boy" • "See America Right" • "Up the Wolves" • "This Year" • "Spent Gladiator 2"

Pigs That Ran Straightaway into the Water, Triumph Of

Contents

Lyrics[]

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song[]

Comments by John Darnielle and Peter Hughes about this song[]

Things Referenced in this Song[]

Live Shows this Song Was Played at[]

Videos of this Song[]

Fan Feed

Pigs That Ran Straightaway into the Water, Triumph Of

Album	We Shall All Be Healed
Released	2004
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	2:53
Previous track	"Against Pollution"