Alpha Double Negative: Going to Catalina
The Mountain Goats are an American band formed in Claremont, California, by… Read Full Bio ↴The Mountain Goats are an American band formed in Claremont, California, by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. The band is currently based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle, despite the plural moniker. The Mountain Goats are, for all practical purposes, the endlessly clever and prolific John Darnielle and whatever musicians he surrounds himself with, which means that while the soundscape may change from project to project, the overall tone and feel of Darnielle's work remains remarkably consistent. At his best, he writes finely observed, slightly surreal, impressionistic vignettes that manage to mix life as we live it with life as we wish we could live it, and as such he has more in common with a novelist than he does with the typical singer/songwriter, which is fitting, as he's also a published author. Darnielle's early Mountain Goats releases were lo-fi, cassette-recorded efforts cut with a rotating lineup of musicians, such as 1995's Nine Black Poppies and 2000's The Coroner's Gambit. By 2005's The Sunset Tree, his recordings had become cleaner and less cluttered, but his characters studies were just as vivid, and as the Mountain Goats finally cohered into a stable lineup (with Darnielle joined by Peter Hughes, Matt Douglas, and Jon Wurster), they recorded tuneful, thematically unified albums such as Beat the Champ (2015) and Goths (2017) that ranked with their finest work.
Darnielle began the new millennium with The Coroner's Gambit for Absolutely Kosher before signing to 4AD for the release of the surprisingly polished Tallahassee in 2002. We Shall All Be Healed followed in 2004, and one year later, Darnielle was back with The Sunset Tree. Remaining as prolific as ever, Darnielle turned away from the intensity of The Sunset Tree for a calmer, more reflective set of songs on 2006's Get Lonely. The accessible and assured Heretic Pride appeared in 2008. Next up was the Bible verse-inspired The Life of the World to Come, the group's sixth album for 4AD, in 2010. Switching to Merge Records in 2011, Darnielle released All Eternals Deck, which was recorded in four different studios in Brooklyn, Boston, North Carolina, and Florida with four different producers -- John Congleton, Scott Solter, Brandon Eggleston, and Morbid Angel guitarist and Hate Eternal frontman Erik Rutan -- helming various tracks. That year the band was also handpicked by Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival that he was curating in Minehead, England, but they were ultimately unable to appear due to scheduling issues.

Alpha Double Negative: Going to Catalina
The Mountain Goats Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

i hear you starting up again
i see you standing on the deck
i hear your voice start to carry
i see the veins throbbing in you neck

and i know what you're saying
and i know what you're saying it for
but i'm not listening
i'm not listening anymore

and i see you come toward me
i see the sun climb down the sky
i hear your voice getting faster and louder
i see a stranger in your eyes

and i know what you're saying
and i know what you're saying it for




but i'm not listening
i'm not listening anymore

Overall Meaning

In "Alpha Double Negative: Going to Catalina," The Mountain Goats use vivid imagery to explore the breakdown in communication between two people, likely in a romantic relationship. The singer of the song is clearly fed up with the other person's behavior and refuses to listen to them anymore. They describe hearing the other person talking and yelling, seeing their veins throbbing in their neck, but no longer absorbing their words. As the song progresses, the other person approaches the singer, but the singer continues to resist their overtures.


Throughout the song, there is a sense of frustration and confusion that pervades the imagery. The sunset and the deck of a ship suggest a romantic setting. However, the stranger in the other person's eyes and the frustration in the singer's tone indicate that something has gone awry. The repeated refrain of "I'm not listening anymore" underscores the singer's disillusionment and the impossibility of productive communication between them and the other person.


Overall, "Alpha Double Negative: Going to Catalina" is a powerful portrayal of the pain that can result from a lack of effective communication in a relationship. The lyrics display frustration and rejection in a way that is both relatable and evocative.


Line by Line Meaning

i hear you starting up again
I am able to perceive that you are beginning to speak once more.


i see you standing on the deck
I have visual confirmation of your presence standing on the deck.


i hear your voice start to carry
I am receiving the projection of your voice as it begins to increase in volume.


i see the veins throbbing in you neck
I am able to observe your neck's veins pulsating rapidly.


and i know what you're saying
I possess knowledge of the content you are communicating.


and i know what you're saying it for
I understand the intent behind the message you are delivering.


but i'm not listening
However, I am not attending to or processing the information you are sharing.


i'm not listening anymore
I have ceased paying attention to your words or acknowledging their significance.


and i see you come toward me
I perceive you moving closer to my position.


i see the sun climb down the sky
I observe the sun descending from its position in the sky.


i hear your voice getting faster and louder
I detect that your voice is intensifying in both speed and volume.


i see a stranger in your eyes
I recognize a sense of unfamiliarity or detachment in your gaze.




Contributed by Mateo D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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