After a hiss and a screech, two people fight about not fighting in “Going to Cleveland.”

Track: “Going to Cleveland”
Album: Transmissions to Horace (1993) and Bitter Melon Farm (1999)

“Going to Cleveland” opens with a screeching sound for 25 seconds. It’s always reminded me of “Going to Kansas” in that way, though the explosion that opens “Going to Kansas” is more reflective of what follows. For “Going to Cleveland” this feels more like a punishment. You could analyze this and picture it as the sound of a hangover or a furious rage just before an argument, but I think it’s more likely it was an accident that John Darnielle fell in love with during production. The end result isn’t necessarily distracting if you listen to the album, but it really stands out on a solo listen. The song itself is great, especially the vocals. You’ve just gotta pay for that with some dissonance.

The song is notable as the first ever to include “John” as the narrator’s name, which John Darnielle has said he did specifically for the audience reaction. He also said in the liner notes of Bitter Melon Farm that the song “has attracted a small group of listeners who adhere to the very hard line that it’s the absolute high water mark of the Mountain Goats.” It is certainly indicative of the early style and it’s one of the absolute best early ones, but the mid-90s was such a rich period for the Mountain Goats, so I wouldn’t have been in that camp in 1999. It’s funny to imagine that two decades ago people were already longing for the “old days.” Those people had no idea what was to come.