According to interviews with various members of the band, the song was inspired by Mose Allison's "Parchman Farm." Michael Nesmith explained, "Peter [Tork] had always loved to jam on 'Parchman Farm' and started off on this thing. We just headed off into la-la land. Then Micky [Dolenz] started riffing this thing over the top of it."[3] Tork added, "Somebody gave me an arrangement of 'Parchman Farm' that a friend of theirs had sort of generated – the real folk process at work. I had played that version around for a while amongst the guys. I don't remember why we started playing it that day, but we just jammed it unrehearsed."[3] Dolenz concluded, "It was the exact same song, and we were covering it basically. So we did the tracks, and it came out real good. I remember Mike saying, 'All it is is the chord progression; we're not going to steal the melody or anything. Let's use this track but write other words, another melody to it. Why should we just cover somebody else's tune?' So I said, 'OK, fine. Good idea.'"[1]
Diane Hildebrand's lyrics to "Goin' Down" describe a man whose relationship has ended, and he attempts to "end it all" by drunkenly leaping into the river to be dragged away by the current. He immediately regrets the decision and comes to a self-realization before coming to shore in New Orleans to partake in its "swingin' scenes". Dolenz explained, "Diane Hildebrand was given the track, and she was told to go away and write a song. She came back with this song, and I started practicing it. Singing it like this (adopts slow tempo). She said, 'No, no. It's twice that fast.' I was doing it half-time. I remember that I said, 'What?!' She said, 'Yes, it's twice that fast.' I get a lot of comments about that tune. (On the TV show) I did that live. You don't see nobody doing that stuff these days, do ya?"[3]
In 2012, the song was featured on an episode of the television series Breaking Bad, during a scene in which characters cook methamphetamine. Dolenz responded, "'Goin' Down' has nothing to do with drugs, obviously. And I certainly don't condone meth — that is nasty stuff that kills a lot of people and ruins a lot of lives. ... On the other hand, I like the TV show, it's very well-made". Because the rights to the band's catalog remained with the record company, he was not consulted in advance on the song's use, and said he "didn't make a dime" from it.[8]
Personnel
Adapted from Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.: Deluxe Edition CD liner notes.[1]
