Going to Jamaica

Going to Jamaica
Album	Taking the Dative
Released	1994
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	2:34
Previous Track	"Wrong!"
Next Track	"Alpha Gelida"

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

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

Videos of this Song

• 1995-04-12 - Simplon - Groningen, The Netherlands
• 2008-03-01 - The Independent - San Francisco, CA