You need to know some history to get it, but there’s a pretty weird joke in “Against Agamemnon.”

Track: “Against Agamemnon”
Album: Bitter Melon Farm (1999)

During the only live performance of “Against Agamemnon” that has an easily accessible recording, John Darnielle recounted the story of Ajax and Agamemnon. Ajax was a warrior who wanted to torture Agamemnon but went mad and tortured a sheep instead. In his shame upon realizing his mistake, he commits suicide. It’s weird, even among similar Greek myths. John Darnielle goes into great detail and it’s worth hearing his explanation. The end is interrupted by a woman in the crowd singing one line from “I Will Grab You by the Ears,” which John Darnielle is confused by. Spare a passing moment to wonder why this person’s response to a story about “Against Agamemnon” was to reference a similarly old and obscure song, but know that it is lost to time.

Ajax is the narrator and he resents the sky for reflecting his madness. He says he’s going for a walk and he’ll be right back. He won’t be right back, we know, and this dramatic irony makes it an interesting place to leave the story. John Darnielle says in the liner notes to Bitter Melon Farm that “Against Agamemnon” was one of his favorite songs at the time, but other than that show in 2008 I can’t find any record of him playing it live. That doesn’t mean anything, necessarily, but it’s interesting.

The performance is a good one, but the live version sounds just like the studio track. It was originally released on a compilation in 1994 called Howl… A Farewell Compilation Of Unreleased Songs that you can buy used for $3.01. The ending is great if you know what you’re hearing, but you do need to know the reference to understand that there’s more going on than Ajax tells you.