Wild dogs spoil what might have been a peaceful moment in “We Have Seen the Enemy” as two people struggle to be honest.

Track: “We Have Seen the Enemy”
Album: Zopilote Machine (1994)

“We Have Seen the Enemy” opens with nearly 20 full seconds of peaceful guitar. There’s no indication of what kind of song this might be or how you’re supposed to feel. It’s soothing, in a way, and you don’t get a lot of that in the catalog. You begin to wonder if a character or two is about to get some relief.

John Darnielle’s first verse doesn’t break the spell. He describes a discussion where one person comes clean to another one. “I’ve told you everything,” they say, “even the parts I’d meant to leave out.” Given what we know about a Mountain Goats song, you could assume this is ominous. You could also see it as sweet. Darnielle speak-sings the entire verse. There’s a gentleness in his voice that suggests this is a moment of true honesty between these two.

Then wild dogs descend from the mountains and ruin the moment. The delivery of the final four lines is grating, no doubt, but it’s supposed to feel that way. It’s designed to be a pleasant moment spoiled by a rough image, and that’s exactly what happens. There are only 70 words in “We Have Seen the Enemy,” but the minimalism makes you wonder about what’s happening and will drive you to listen to it again and again.

The title is the only clue. Oliver Hazard Perry once said “we have met the enemy and they are ours” after a naval victory in the War of 1812 and the quote was parodied by the comic strip Pogo in the 50s as “we have met the enemy and he is us.” Many of John Darnielle’s couples start at the first emotion, but by the time the wild dogs show up they have to feel the second one is more appropriate.