How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

To learn more, check out our transcription guide or visit our transcribers forum

About

Genius Annotation

Track #3 on The Mountain Goats‘ debut studio album Zopilote Machine.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did The Mountain Goats say about "Alpha Sun Hat"?
Genius Answer

John Darnielle before playing this song at Pitzer College on December 2, 2006:

“This used to be my favorite song to play. It’s one of those songs about this couple that I dreamt of that, that was divorcing. Always they’d be divorcing. If you go over to their house, they were open about it, in my mind, you’d go and say, ‘hey, you guys, what’s up with you?’ ‘Ah, you know, I’m-a divorce his ass, fuck this guy,’ and then he’d be like, watching TV, and go, ‘She says that all the time and she’s not going anywhere, she knows where the booze is at,’ and then you say, ‘Wow, what time is it getting to be? I suppose I’ll be on my way. It was –’ and you lie… ‘It was good to see you both, I miss you, so come on down some, sometime,’ and meanwhile, when you leave, you pray to the God in whom you don’t believe that they will never, ever drop by your house, because they’ll fuck that shit right up. I have an affection for this couple. I wish they would get the divorce that they need, but it never seems to happen for them. I’m in control of the situation, so there must be something wrong with me, that I won’t give them what they want.”

Comments