Have to Explode | |
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Album |
Tallahassee |
Released |
2002 |
Artist |
the Mountain Goats |
Length |
3:22 |
Previous track |
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Next Track |
Have to Explode is the 11th song on the album Tallahassee. It was performed by Perry Owen Wright in Tallahassee Turns Ten.
Lyrics
Tile floor of the bathroom Scrubbed clean and bright Checkerboard white and grey Towels from the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Kingston Jamaica I can still see the rust colored stains today The stage is set Someone's going to do something someone else will regret I speak in smoke signals and you answer in code The fuse will have to run out sometime Something here will eventually have to explode Have to explode You and me lying on the tile floor Trying to keep cool Restless all night Sweating out the poison As the temperature climbs Staring up up at the hundred-watt light that burns above Name one thing about us two anyone could love We roll out the red carpet When rotten luck comes down the road Five four three two one Watch for the flash Something here will eventually have to explode Have to explode
Comments by John Darnielle About this Song
- "This is a song, I'm sure many of you have found yourselves in a marriage where you think I wish I hadn't gone to the marriage ceremony. It would solve a lot of my problems if I just had not gone that day. So you thought to yourself how could you have avoided that cause you were already cohabiting so its not like you could have...well you could have leapt from the car on the way, nice and dramatic you know or you could show up and excuse yourself to go to the bathroom and just keep walking, just keep right on walking, walk a long time, but you didn't do that because you are a moral coward, and your curiosity of how things were actually going to go got the better of you, and I think that 'got the better of you' is a cool phrase when we are talking about what went down with you and your beloved. I was as sorry as anybody to hear about it, but at the same time I wasn't because I have clinical kind of sadistic interest in what happens to you: the things you do when you get with these people and you can't stop drinking, and it's interesting, it's like watching fractals. You don't know what colors they are going to turn, but you know they are going to be spectacular." -- 2008-12-05 - Manning Bar - Sydney, Australia
- "This song is about a couple of people who, uh, are in bad shape, and they are going to stay that way. It's a song about commitment to excellence." --2014-04-16 - Somerville Theatre - Somerville, MA
Things Referenced in this Song
Live Shows this Song Was Played at
- 2008-03-15 - Middle East - Cambridge, MA
- 2008-03-18 - Webster Hall - New York, NY
- 2008-03-20 - First Unitarian Church - Philadelphia, PA
- 2008-03-22 - The Black Cat - Washington, D.C.
- 2008-09-14 - End of the Road Festival - Dorset, England
- 2008-09-15 - ULU - London, England
- 2008-10-13 - Park West - Chicago, IL
- 2008-10-14 - Pabst Theater - Milwaukee, WI
- 2008-10-17 - Bluebird Theater - Denver, CO
- 2008-10-20 - The Showbox - Seattle, WA
- 2008-10-21 - Wonder Ballroom - Portland, OR
- 2008-10-24 - The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA
- 2008-10-25 - Troubadour - Los Angeles, CA
- 2008-10-26 - Troubadour - Los Angeles, CA
- 2008-10-29 - Club Congress - Tucson, AZ
- 2008-10-31 - The Foundation - Lubbock, TX
- 2008-11-01 - Antones - Austin, TX
- 2008-11-03 - Republic - New Orleans, LA
- 2008-11-05 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC
- 2008-11-06 - 9:30 Club - Washington, D.C.
- 2008-11-07 - Theater of the Living Arts - Philadelphia, PA
- 2008-11-08 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY
- 2008-11-09 - Webster Hall - New York, NY
- 2008-12-05 - Manning Bar - Sydney, Australia
- 2008-12-06 - Cambridge Hotel - Newcastle, Australia
- 2008-12-09 - The Rosemount - Perth, Australia
- 2008-12-10 - Billboard - Melbourne, Australia
- 2008-12-14 - The Zoo - Brisbane, Australia
- 2008-12-18 - San Francisco Bath House - Wellington, New Zealand
- 2009-04-04 - Earlham College - Richmond, IN
- 2009-11-21 - Variety Playhouse - Atlanta, GA
- 2010-03-11 - Memorial Union Building - University of New Hampshire - Durham, NH
- 2010-03-13 - Harvest of Hope Festival - St. Augustine, FL
- 2010-04-09 - San Francisco Bath House - Wellington, New Zealand
- 2010-05-16 - BreastFest - American Theater Company - Chicago, IL
- 2010-05-30 - Doug Fir Lounge - Portland, OR
- 2010-06-02 - The Rickshaw Theatre - Vancouver, British Columbia
- 2010-06-04 - Neurolux - Boise, ID
- 2010-06-05 - The Badlander - Missoula, MT
- 2010-06-12 - Blue Moose Tap House - Iowa City, IA
- 2010-10-05 - The Blue Note - Columbia, MO
- 2010-10-06 - Academy of Contemporary Music @ UCO - Oklahoma City, OK
- 2011-12-16 - Troubadour - Los Angeles, CA
- 2012-06-30 - McCabe's Guitar Shop - Santa Monica, CA
- 2012-07-01 - McCabe's Guitar Shop - Santa Monica, CA
- 2014-04-15 - Pearl Street Ballroom - Northampton, MA
- 2014-04-16 - Somerville Theatre - Somerville, MA
- 2014-06-27 - Boys Rock for Girls Rock - Haw River Ballroom - Saxapahaw, NC
- 2015-05-08 - Shaky Knees Festival - Atlanta, GA
- 2015-09-09 - Lawrence Arts Center - Lawrence, KS
- 2015-09-10 - Vega - Lincoln, NE
- 2016-05-12 - The Pinhook - Durham, NC
- 2016-09-02 - Ace of Cups - Columbus, OH
- 2016-10-02 - The Blue Note - Columbia, MO
- 2016-10-25 - eTown Hall - Boulder, CO
- 2016-10-26 - Downtown Artery - Fort Collins, CO
- 2016-10-27 - Hi-Dive - Denver, CO
- 2016-10-29 - Hi-Dive - Denver, CO
- 2016-11-12 - Jam Room Music Festival - Columbia, SC
- 2016-11-21 - Second City - Chicago, IL
- 2017-10-05 - Brudenell Social Club - Leeds, England
- 2017-10-06 - Brudenell Social Club - Leeds, England
- 2017-10-08 - Button Factory - Dublin, Ireland
- 2017-10-09 - Glasgow Art School - Glasgow, Scotland
- 2017-10-11 - O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire - London, England
- 2017-10-12 - The Haunt - Brighton, England
- 2017-10-13 - De Helling - Utrecht, The Netherlands
- 2017-10-15 - Pumpehuset - Copenhagen, Denmark
- 2017-10-16 - Debaser Strand - Stockholm, Sweden
- 2017-10-17 - John Dee - Oslo, Norway
- 2017-12-05 - The National - Richmond, VA
- 2018-04-15 - L'Astral - Montreal, Quebec
- 2018-04-17 - Port City Music Hall - Portland, ME
- 2018-04-18 - Higher Ground Ballroom - South Burlington, VT
- 2018-04-20 - Asbury Hall - Buffalo, NY
- 2018-04-21 - Upstate Concert Hall - Clifton Park, NY
- 2018-04-22 - Ardmore Music Hall - Ardmore, PA
- 2018-04-23 - Ardmore Music Hall - Ardmore, PA
- 2018-05-28 - Old Town School of Folk Music - Chicago, IL
- 2018-05-29 - Old Town School of Folk Music - Chicago, IL
- 2018-08-31 - The Wilbury - Tallahassee, FL
- 2018-09-02 - Sing Out Loud Festival - St. Augustine, FL
- 2018-09-08 - ACL Live - Moody Theater - Austin, TX
Videos of this Song
- 2009-11-21 - Variety Playhouse - Atlanta, GA
- 2010-03-13 - Harvest of Hope Festival - St. Augustine, FL
- 2010-10-05 - The Blue Note - Columbia, MO
- 2014-04-16 - Somerville Theatre - Somerville, MA
- 2016-11-21 - Second City - Chicago, IL
Tallahassee |
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Track list: "Tallahassee" • "First Few Desperate Hours" • "Southwood Plantation Road" • "Game Shows Touch Our Lives" • "The House That Dripped Blood" • "Idylls of the King" • "No Children" • "See America Right" • "Peacocks" • "International Small Arms Traffic Blues" • "Have to Explode" • "Old College Try" • "Oceanographer's Choice" • "Alpha Rats Nest" |
The "Alpha" Series |
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Track list: "Alpha Aquae" • "Alpha Desperation March" • "Alpha Double Negative: Going to Catalina" • "Alpha Gelida" • "Alpha Incipiens" • "Alpha Negative" • "Alpha Omega" • "Alpha Rats Nest" • "Alpha Sun Hat" • "Alpha in Tauris" • "Alphabetizing" • "Letter from a Motel" • "One Winter at Point Alpha Privative" • "Spilling Toward Alpha" • "Fit Alpha Vi" • "Alpha Compunction" • "Going to Dade County" • "Tallahassee" • "First Few Desperate Hours" • "Southwood Plantation Road" • "Game Shows Touch Our Lives" • "The House That Dripped Blood" • "Idylls of the Kings" • "No Children" • "See America Right" • "Peacocks" • "International Small Arms Traffic Blues" • "Have to Explode" • "Old College Try" • "Oceanographer's Choice" • "Ethiopians" • "Alpha Chum Gatherer" • "New Chevrolet in Flames" • "Design Your Own Container Garden" • "Going to Federal Prison" • "Orange Ball of Hate" |