Leave it to a Mountain Goats character to think about themselves at Dealey Plaza in “Blues in Dallas.”

Track: “Blues in Dallas”
Album: All Hail West Texas (2002)

There is an entire episode of the podcast I Only Listen to the Mountain Goats about each song on All Hail West Texas. The episode for “Blues in Dallas” opens with an extended discussion of the origin of spaghetti and spends a lot of time discussing translation and interpretation. In both his live show banter and his podcast appearances, John Darnielle happily wanders all over the place and you have to accept that as part of the experience. It’s a fascinating conversation, albeit one that doesn’t spend much time on “Blues in Dallas.”

Towards the end of the discussion, John Darnielle laughs at the convoluted path their conversation took and as acknowledgement to the supposed premise, he explains “Blues in Dallas” as a song about solitude and a narrator spending time in a dark place as they attempt to connect it to their own experience. “I am far from where we live,” they say, “and I have not learned how to forgive.” Dealey Plaza, the site of the lyrics, is where John F. Kennedy was killed, and I can relate to the narrator’s experience. If you’ve been there, but aren’t from there, the darkness feels both present and distant.

It’s also a Casio song. There’s been a lot said over the years about the keyboard songs, but this one benefits more than most as the sleepy melody behind the keys creates a wandering effect. John Darnielle says the difference between the guitar and the keyboard in this era is that he can punch the guitar and get more intense impact out of it, but the keyboard is the keyboard. You get a preset tone and you get some simple tones. That’s limiting, but it fits thematically with this narrator’s desire to focus and to be listened to as they contemplate.