Mosquito Repellent

Mosquito Repellent
Album	Black Pear Tree EP
Released	2008
Artist	the Mountain Goats & Kaki King
Length	2:49
Previous Track	"Black Pear Tree"
Next Track	"Bring Our Curses Home"

Mosquito Repellent is the second song on the collaboration EP Black Pear Tree.

Lyrics

All day all day
Sweeping out the shards
Do what I have to do
Try to start anew
But I thought of you twice
Couldn't help myself
I don't know what I need
Clutching and fingering the rosary beads

But I try, try, try, but I know
I can't let go
Try, try, try, but I know
I can't let go

TV upstairs
Leave it on all night
Do what I have to do
Add, subtract, and divide by two
But my eyes light up
At Cops and Robbers time
I hope the bad guys win
I hope the good guys get their skulls bashed in

And I try, try, try, but I know
I can't let go
I can't let go

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song

• "So on the one hand, it's not good to speak in generalities, but on the other hand, it is the case that when a young man begins to write indie rock songs, he often thinks there are few figures more romantic that he could cut than that of a lover who has been wronged and who is wearing his pain like a great mask with which to torment the woman who he once loved and who he will always love and will write several hundred songs about, releasing them on split seven-inches, compilations, limited cassettes, and occasionally as an exclusive on his MySpace. So one generally, with noteworthy exceptions, outgrows this writing tendency on account of it's juvenile. But, but every once in a while, you want to go revisit that tortured lover who, whose torturedness is so massively tortured that no one can really comprehend the extent of the torture. You know, so when Kaki King, one of my favorite musicians on the planet, sent me an instrumental to write lyrics for, I thought, 'You know what, I gotta go back to the tortured, unquiet lover guy. Let me see what he has to say.' It is the first - [Kaki King: "It's so unlike you."] Yes, I know. It's the first song I've written in that voice in a long time. It's called 'Mosquito Repellent'." -- 2008-11-08 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY

Live Shows this Song Was Played at

• 2008-10-13 - Park West - Chicago, IL
• 2008-10-14 - Pabst Theater - Milwaukee, WI
• 2008-10-17 - Bluebird Theater - Denver, CO
• 2008-10-18 - In the Venue - Salt Lake City, UT
• 2008-10-20 - The Showbox - Seattle, WA
• 2008-10-21 - Wonder Ballroom - Portland, OR
• 2008-10-23 - The Independent - San Francisco, CA
• 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
• 2008-11-02 - Granada Theater - Dallas, 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

Videos of this Song

• 2008-10-25 - Troubadour - Los Angeles, CA