With a long outro and a lot of words for two minutes, John Darnielle shows us the explosion in “Going to Japan.”

Track: “Going to Japan”
Album: Hot Garden Stomp (1993)

John Darnielle once said of “Going to Japan” that it was one of his better songs from the era. He also said he doubted he’d ever play it live, which seems to be true as far as the usual sources are concerned. The thing about those sources is that they’ll never be 100% accurate, but I think it’s a safe bet this one hasn’t seen the light of day at least in the last two decades. It really is one of the better ones from the early period, but more than that it serves as a sampler of John Darnielle’s early tactics. It opens with repetition that breaks your concentration and forces you to focus despite the recording quality. It uses strong imagery (“a sweet metallic taste in my mouth”) but also bizarre wordplay (“there’s life and liberty on my tongue”). There’s at least one phrase to hold on to (“there’s a coat on my shoulders, midnight connections”) and it all devolves into mad strumming. I don’t think it’s the best song from the era (or on the album) but it’s quite the combination of so many early Mountain Goats elements.

The ending is long enough that it lets you sit with the song’s themes. “There’s a one-way ticket in my hot little hand // and I’m kissing your eyelids and I’m going to Japan” is just enough information to know this is all about to blow up, and we’re left to assume that strumming is the sound of it actually blowing up. We usually don’t get to hear the climax, so it’s an interesting choice to hold the camera here for this long.