January 24 - Going to Kirby Sigston

The words that jump into my head when I hear this song for the first time are "jangly pastoral". It's upbeat, slightly spiky, and giving a view of a place of if not home then at least rest. Eating cold black eggs all day as the wind kicked up.

Kirby Sigston is a real place. It's actually where Rishi Sunak currently lives and has a nice if squat Norman church. There's a long history of castles and hunting and churches, none of which is relevant to this song. The Wikipedia page notes that it never had a shop, post office, or pub. A place without a centre and without a story. And that's where John Darnielle steps in.

Going to Kirby Signston seems to be another song that never found a home. It's as professionally recorded as Noctifer Birmingham, and that's perhaps why John didn't put it on an album until Ghana, as 1994 is still deep in his Tape Era. It's a slice of what the Studio Mountain Goats would be, when they caught up with themselves.

A song without an album about a town without a nucleus. It's nice to belong. it's nicer to find where you belong.