John Darnielle Reflects on the Mountain Goats’ “Cubs in Five”
In 1995, the Mountain Goats released an EP called Nine Black Poppies. The EP’s first song is called “Cubs in Five,” and finds John Darnielle singing about a series of improbable events, including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers winning the Super Bowl (which they did) and the famously unlucky Chicago Cubs winning the World Series–something they haven’t done since 1908. Now, with the Cubs in their first World Series since 1945, Darnielle has written an essay for Slate reflecting on the origins of “Cubs in Five,” as well as his lifelong fandom.
In the essay, Darnielle writes that he became a Cubs fan in third grade. He reveals that he wrote “Cubs in Five” while he was finishing up college and dealing with the turmoil of “an on-again, off-again relationship.” Once he came up with the idea for the song, he invited fellow Mountain Goat Peter Hughes over to sing the vocal harmony. Read the full essay here, and see a note from Darnielle below.
Last night, the Cubs lost the first game of the World Series to Cleveland. They will need to win the next four games to fulfill the Mountain Goats’ 1995 prophecy. Fortunately for liberal listeners, Darnielle’s lyric–“And the Chicago Cubs will beat every team in the league”–leaves room for interpretation as to how the Cubs may win. Darnielle, himself, does not seem concerned about the number of games. He concludes his essay:
When the Cubs win the World Series this year, we long-game fans and hopeless lovers will notch what we’ve all learned, over the years, is a rare thing in this world: the awaited victory. The W on the flag. The substance of things hoped for.
Game 2 of the World Series starts tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern. Revisit our 2015 interview with the Mountain Goats.
Four straight victories is a lot to ask for, but remember the mystery of magnets & how they work https://t.co/rHiGMyYl3p
— The Mountain Goats (@mountain_goats) October 26, 2016
Watch the Mountain Goats perfrom “Psalms 40:2” for Pitchfork.tv:
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