That must be what happened—I took it as an invitation. I was walking around this little Danish town north of L.A. that was totally empty and listening to this instrumental on repeat. The music was so addictive. I opened up an email to myself and started writing. The original version is about 10 minutes long and it’s got 17 more stanzas. It was a good example of our collaborative process with Mike. I told him, “The thing that’s really good about this is its length—its maximalist approach.” And he said, “Totally, I understand.” And two days later, he sent it back with 17 stanzas cut out and that cover of “Noble Experiment” in the middle. It was an example of him listening and understanding what I wanted and then having a better idea.

Matt Berninger in an interview with Pitchfork.

Berninger has also told iHeart Radio that initially “Not In Kansas” was 9 minutes long:

There was a nine minute version of a song called ‘Not In Kansas’ that was really just a stream of consciousness thing that I really liked, but Mike cut most of it out, and that turned it into a six minute version, and then put another song inside of it. But that was a fun project that came really late, and I sent it right at the end, and it was this big, long gangly thing. And then, Aaron and Mike made shape out of it and turned it into not just a rant, [but] into a song, [and] gave it structure and dynamics. So, that was a fun, strange song to have come out of nowhere.