Farewell Transmission

"Farewell Transmission" was written by Molina and opens the album at 7:22. It was the last track recorded, in one take after a quick chord run-through, mostly improvised; PopMatters calls it perhaps his most enduring composition. Molina told The Faster Times that about twelve people were in a room, playing completely live and unrehearsed, seeing only the chord progression without knowing when it would end, and called himself the brakeman. Treble says the lead riff was written by Mike Brenner on the basis of Molina's demo melody, and that Molina wanted it to open live sets, not to be an encore. Lisa Wells reads lyrics about a world ending as an omen in hindsight, and PopMatters suggests the setting could be Lorain or any rustbelt mill, mine or factory; those are the writers' readings, not Molina's.

MusicBrainz lists the studio version at 7:22, a demo at 6:56 on reissue editions, and live versions from Mercury Lounge in Austin on October 29, 2002 (7:01), the Larimer Lounge in Denver on April 23, 2005 and The EARL in Atlanta on September 21, 2007. Pitchfork and then Stereogum streamed the demo on October 3, 2013, which Chris DeVille called even more haunted in its stark, skeletal state. Setlist.fm credits it with four plays on his page. Steven Hyden calls it the Free Bird of the DIY basement-show world.

Covers include Kevin Morby and Waxahatchee (a digital 7-inch on January 25, 2018, proceeds to MusiCares), My Morning Jacket (2014), Glen Hansard (2015), Jeffrey Lewis and Brown Bird, John Vanderslice, and Car Seat Headrest (a livestream on April 19, 2020); Julien Baker and Torres played it at the Mercury Lounge in Manhattan in late 2024. Which version our upload is has not been checked.