Quito

Quito
Album	We Shall All Be Healed
Released	2004
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	2:03
Previous track	"All Up the Seething Coast"
Next Track	"Cotton"

Quito is the 10th song on the album We Shall All Be Healed.

Lyrics

When I receive the blessing I've got coming
I'm going to raise an ice-cold glass of water
And toast the living and the dead who've gone before me
And my head will throb like an old wound reopening

When I get off the bus down there my children
They all are going to greet me at the station
Like gypsies they will dance around me 
And the choral droning sound their voices make will saturate the evening

When I get off the wheel I'm going to stop
And make amends to everyone I've wounded
And when I wave my magic wand 
Those few who've slipped the surly bonds will rise like salmon at the spawning

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song

• "Everybody wins with methamphetamine. That's the message of the next album." -- 2003-09-27 - Mercury - Austin, TX
• "I like this song. It's kind of a boneheaded little song about how maybe when you go home they don't really know how things have been for you, you know? So you would tell them, but you prefer to look around and think how stupid they all are that they don't know." -- 2008-03-02 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA
• "This is a song about a guy remembering Ecuador." -- 2008-03-22 - The Black Cat - Washington, D.C.
• "This is a song about a deposed South American dictator reminiscing about stuff." -- 2012-05-09 - The Toff in Town - Melbourne, Australia

Things Referenced in this Song

• "Slipped the surly bonds" is a reference to the poem "High Flight" by John Gillespie Magee Jr., describing the ecstasy of piloting an airplane. Several months after writing the poem, Magee was killed in a mid-air collision.
• "When I get off the wheel" may be a reference to either the Buddhist concept of Samsara, known in English as the "Wheel of Dharma" or to the wheel of fire, which was the eternal punishment of the mythical Ixon of the Lapiths.

Live Shows this Song Was Played at

• 2003-09-26 - Walter's on Washington - Houston, TX
• 2003-09-27 - Mercury - Austin, TX
• 2003-11-11 - Kimmel Center - New York University - New York, NY
• 2004-02-10 - Cafe Du Nord - San Francisco, CA
• 2004-02-20 - Will's Pub - Orlando, FL
• 2004-02-26 - The Maintenance Shop - Ames, IA
• 2004-03-02 - First Unitarian Church - Philadelphia, PA
• 2004-03-03 - Knitting Factory - New York, NY
• 2004-03-05 - T.T. the Bear's - Cambridge, MA
• 2004-03-25 - Cafe de la Danse - Paris, France
• 2004-10-12 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC
• 2004-10-15 - The Social - Orlando, FL
• 2004-10-19 - Village Tavern - Mt. Pleasant, SC
• 2005-03-04 - Gate City Noise - Greensboro, NC
• 2005-04-28 - Will's Pub - Orlando, FL
• 2005-05-02 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC
• 2005-05-03 - The Black Cat - Washington, D.C.
• 2005-05-04 - First Unitarian Church - Philadelphia, PA
• 2005-05-05 - Knitting Factory - New York, NY
• 2005-05-07 - Northsix - Brooklyn, NY
• 2005-05-13 - Logan Square - Chicago, IL
• 2005-10-15 - Kraftbrau Brewery - Kalamazoo, MI
• 2006-10-01 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY
• 2007-01-05 - The Corner Hotel - Melbourne, Australia
• 2007-03-08 - The Independent - San Francisco, CA
• 2007-04-03 - Garage - Oslo, Norway
• 2007-11-15 - The Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL
• 2007-12-10 - Oran Mor - Glasgow, Scotland
• 2008-03-02 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA
• 2008-03-22 - The Black Cat - Washington, D.C.
• 2008-11-08 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY
• 2009-10-13 - Point Ephemere - Paris, France
• 2009-11-05 - The Metro - Chicago, IL
• 2009-11-07 - Cedar Cultural Centre - Minneapolis, MN
• 2009-11-29 - Wilbur Theatre - Boston, MA
• 2009-12-01 - Webster Hall - New York, NY
• 2009-12-02 - Bell House - Brooklyn, NY
• 2010-04-09 - San Francisco Bath House - Wellington, New Zealand
• 2010-04-11 - The Zoo - Brisbane, Australia
• 2011-05-30 - The Cluny - Newcastle, England
• 2011-06-17 - The Biltmore Cabaret - Vancouver, British Columbia
• 2011-06-20 - The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA
• 2011-06-21 - The Detroit Bar - Costa Mesa, CA
• 2011-06-24 - Soho Restaurant and Music Club - Santa Barbara, CA
• 2011-06-26 - Rhino's Youth Media Center & All-Ages Club - Plan-It-X Fest - Bloomington, IN
• 2011-07-29 - The Shelburne Museum - Shelburne, VT
• 2011-08-02 - House of Blues - Cleveland, OH
• 2012-01-19 - Antone's - Austin, TX
• 2012-01-20 - Fitzgerald's - Houston, TX
• 2012-01-21 - Tipitina's - New Orleans, LA
• 2012-01-23 - Club Downunder - Tallahassee, FL
• 2012-01-24 - The Social - Orlando, FL
• 2012-01-30 - 40 Watt Club - Athens, GA
• 2012-02-02 - The Grey Eagle - Asheville, NC
• 2012-02-03 - The Blind Tiger - Greensboro, NC
• 2012-02-04 - The Haw River Ballroom - Saxapahaw, NC
• 2012-04-21 - The Gargoyle - St. Louis, MO
• 2012-05-09 - The Toff in Town - Melbourne, Australia
• 2013-10-18 - Teatre Conde Duque - Madrid, Spain
• 2014-06-05 - Gothic Theatre - Denver, CO
• 2014-06-07 - Kilby Court - Salt Lake City, UT

Videos of this Song

• 2005-05-13 - Logan Square - Chicago, IL
• 2008-03-02 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA
• 2012-01-23 - Club Downunder - Tallahassee, FL
• 2014-06-05 - Gothic Theatre - Denver, CO