A narrator describes quite the sight on a very specific day in July in “Love Hymn to Aphrodite.”

Track: “Love Hymn to Aphrodite”
Album: Hot Garden Stomp (1993)

There are a handful of songs from the original cassettes where John Darnielle recites the date before the song. “Love Hymn to Aphrodite” is one such song, where he says “the actual date is the 17th of April.” He has to say “the actual date” to differentiate from the song, where the narrator says “it’s the 18th of July.” What is the significance of this date? Is this a reference to the Battle of the Allia, where invading forces started a sack of Rome? The Romans called Aphrodite Venus, so probably not, but is it still important that we marvel at the fact that Tacitus listed the exact date in his history? It was 2,400 years ago, but we can tell you it was also on a Sunday, assuming Tacitus got it right. Assuming, very broadly and probably incorrectly, that this was the 18th of July in 1992, that was also the date of the very first photo ever uploaded online. An auspicious day!

More likely, this is a date chosen to add some specificity, much like a lot of the locations in the “Going to…” series. You need that for this one because there isn’t much, otherwise. The narrator tells us someone is floating and spinning in perfect circles, then asks “what, what are you doing?” The ending is curious and then devolves into rapid bongos or other drums played by hand. This is a weird one, and a tough one to relate to the title, but I love the choice to pick a date for a song like this. It makes you wonder why that one, when in reality you know that question is unanswerable.