“Alpha Sun Hat” talks about human sacrifice of two different sorts as the Alpha Couple takes stock in Florida.

Track: “Alpha Sun Hat”
Album: Zopilote Machine (1994)

It’s natural to feel a certain affection for the songs the band loves best. John Darnielle has said “Alpha Sun Hat” is one of his favorite songs to play live and you can really hear that in the few recordings available online. The studio version is quick and driving while the live one slows down the opening verse. On the album the entire song has an intensity to it, but that first verse is deliberately delivered with a quieter tone live. He almost whispers some lines, which gives the poetry of “and I’d like to give in to your oboe-reed voice” a different meaning. When spoken quietly over light strumming and bass it sounds like the final moments of love where someone isn’t quite finished. It’s a familiar space for two lovers in a Goats song and it’s definitely where the Alpha Couple is during “Alpha Sun Hat.”

The album version is the same through both verses, but the reason to seek out a live one is for the build of second verse. The line works in both versions, but “that’s not music you hear, that’s the devil” really needs to be a tonal shift to work best. Darnielle yells it (though compared to some other songs, “yells” might be the wrong word) just as one Alpha character changes their mind about their lover. The Aztecs believed they had to remove the heart to send victorious warriors to eternal glory, and the heart-rending here is only slightly less literal. “If you’re planning your escape, you know I’m all for you” is a line that you can unpack any way you like, but the closing line’s reveal of Tallahassee as the setting means that it might be meant as an empty gesture, since neither of them have the will to leave.