The Decemberists - The Indie Folk Masters of Storytelling
10 replies, posted
[url]http://www.last.fm/music/The+Decemberists[/url]
[img]http://www.oedipus1.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/The+Decemberists.jpg[/img]
[quote]The Decemberists are an indie folk rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States, fronted by singer/songwriter Colin Meloy. The other members of the band are Chris Funk (guitar, multi-instrumentalist), Jenny Conlee (hammond organ, accordion, melodica, piano, keyboards, harmonica), Nate Query (bass guitar, string bass), and John Moen (drums, backing vocals, melodica, guitar).
The band's debut EP, 5 Songs, was self-released in 2001. Their sixth full-length album, The King Is Dead, was released on 14 January 2011, by Capitol Records. It was the band's third record with the label.
In addition to their lyrics, which often focus on historical incidents and/or folklore, The Decemberists are also well known for their eclectic live shows. Audience participation is often a part of each performance, typically during encores. The band stages whimsical reenactments of sea battles and other centuries-old events, typically of regional interest, or acts out songs with members of the crowd. During their European tour in the winter of 2011, the band performed The Mariner's Revenge Song at the conclusion of each date. The audience was encouraged to scream as if they were being consumed by a whale mentioned in the track's narrative while the band pretended to die on stage.[/quote]
I'm sure that you've heard of The Decemberists at least a few times by now. They are pretty popular within the hipster/indie community. Please, don't let that turn you away from them. The Decemberists truly are the masters of amazing storytelling.
Here are some lyrics as examples;
Leslie Anne Levine
[quote]my name is Leslie Anne Levine
my mother birthed me down a dry ravine
my mother birthed me far too soon
born at nine and dead at noon
fifteen years gone now
i still wander this parapet
and shake my rattle bone
fifteen years gone now
i still cling to the petticoats
of the girl who died with me
on the roof above the streets
the only love i've known 's a chimney sweep
lost and lodged inside a flue
back in 1842
fifteen years gone now
i still wail from these catacombs
and curse my mother's name
fifteen years gone now
still a wastrel mesallied
has brought this fate on me
my name is Leslie Anne Levine
i've got no one left to mourn for me
my body lies inside its grave
in a ditch not far away
fifteen years gone now
i still wander this parapet
and shake my rattle bone
fifteen years gone now
i still cling to the petticoats
of the girl who died with me
[/quote]
The Mariner's Revenge Song (absolutely the best example of Colin Meloy's amazing story telling ability)
[quote]
We are two mariners
Our ships' sole survivors
In this belly of a whale
Its ribs our ceiling beams
Its guts our carpeting
I guess we have some time to kill
You may not remember me
I was a child of three
And you, a lad of eighteen
But I remember you
And I will relate to you
How our histories interweave
At the time you were
A rake and a roustabout
Spending all your money
On the whores and hounds
Oh Ohhhhh
You had a charming air
All cheap and debonair
My widowed mother found so sweet
And so she took you in
Her sheets still warm with him
Now filled with filth and foul disease
As time wore on you proved
A debt-ridden drunken mess
Leaving my mother
A poor consumptive wretch
Oh Ohhhhh
And then you disappeared
Your gambling arrears
The only thing you left behind
And then the magistrate
Reclaimed our small estate
And my poor mother lost her mind
Then one day, in spring
My dear sweet mother died
But before she did
I took her hand as she, dying, cried:
Oh Ohhhhh
"Find him, bind him
Tie him to a pole and break
His fingers to splinters
Drag him to a hole until he
Wakes up naked
Clawing at the ceiling
Of his grave
*sigh*"
It took me fifteen years
To swallow all my tears
Among the urchins in the street
Until a priory
Took pity and hired me
To keep their vestry nice and neat
But never once in the employ
Of these holy men
Did I ever, once, turn my mind
From the thought of revenge
Oh Ohhhhh
One night I overheard
The prior exchanging words
With a penitent whaler from the sea
The captain of his ship
Who matched you toe to tip
Was known for a wanton cruelty
The following day
I shipped to sea
With a privateer
And in the whistle
Of the wind
I could almost hear...
Oh Ohhhhh
"Find him, bind him
Tie him to a pole and break
His fingers to splinters
Drag him to a hole until he
Wakes up naked
Clawing at the ceiling
Of his grave
"There is one thing I must say to you
As you sail across the sea
Always, your mother will watch over you
As you avenge this wicked deed"
[haunting, sailor-esque musical interlude lead by mandolin, accordion and tuba]
And then that fateful night
We had you in our sight
After twenty months at sea
Your starboard flank abeam
I was getting my muskets clean
When came this rumbling from beneath
The ocean shook
The sky went black
And the captain quailed
And before us grew
The angry jaws
Of a giant whale
[instrumental noise]
oh ohhhhhhhhhh
[screaming]
ohhhhh
[screaming]
Don't know how I survived
The crew all was chewed alive
I must have slipped between his teeth
But, oh! What providence!
What divine intelligence!
That you should survive
As well as me
It gives my heart
Great joy
To see your eyes fill with fear
So lean in close
And I will whisper
The last words you'll hear
Ohh Ohhhhh
[/quote]
The Rake's Song
[quote]I had entered into a marriage
In the summer of my twenty-first year
And the bells rang for our wedding
Only now do I remember it clear
Alright, alright, alright
No more a rake and no more a bachelor
I was wedded and it whetted my thirst
Until her womb start spilling out babies
Only then did I reckon my curse
Alright, alright, alright
Alright, alright, alright
First came Eziah with his crinkled little fingers
Then came Charlotte and that wretched girl Dawn
Ugly Myfanwy died on delivery
Mercifully taking her mother along
Alright, alright, alright
What can one do when one is widower
Shamefully saddled with three little pests
All that I wanted was the freedom of a new life
So my burden I began to divest
Alright, alright, alright
Alright, alright, alright
Charlotte I buried after feeding her foxglove
Dawn was easy, she was drowned in the bath
Eziah fought but was easily bested
Burned his body for incurring my wrath
Alright, alright, alright
And that’s how I came your humble narrator
To be living so easy and free
Expect you think that I should be haunted
But it never really bothers me
Alright, alright, alright
Alright, alright, alright[/quote]
The genres that The Decemberists cover range from your standard indie rock to indie pop to country folk and all over the goddamn place. I guarantee you'll find something you love by The Decemberists eventually.
[b]Albums[/b]
Castaways and Cutouts - 2002
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6b/Castaways.jpg[/img]
This album is their first. It is excellent; it has 2 examples of excellent story telling with "Leslie Anne Levine" and "A Cautionary Song." "A Cautionary Song" is actually about the mother of 2 having to prostitute herself to support her children.
Her Majesty the Decemberists - 2003
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bd/Her-majesty.jpg[/img]
This is my least favourite album, nothing in particular stands out too much to me.
Picaresque - 2004
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/33/Picaresque.jpg[/img]
"Picaresque" is probably my 2nd favourite album. "The Infanta," "16 Military Wives," and "The Mariner's Revenge Song" are the highlights of this album. This album is both a combination of indie pop and "epic" storytelling.
The Crane Wife - 2006
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ae/Decemberists_TheCraneWife.jpg/600px-Decemberists_TheCraneWife.jpg[/img]
This is my 2nd to least favourite album released by The Decemberists. It is folky with a tiny bit of progressive indie tossed in. The only notable song off of this album, in my opinion, is "Shankill Butchers." (Shankill Butchers is a song about the splinter group of the Ulster Volunteer Force, the Shankill Butchers. The UVF is a Protestant paramilitary organization. The Shankill Butchers split off of the UVF in the mid-70's and carried out a series of grisly murders. These are the basis of the song. The Butchers abducted 7 random Catholic citizens of Northern Ireland and killed them in the middle of the night by slashing their throats. They also carried out several other shootings and bomb attacks, killing as many as 30 people. The lines "The Shankill Butchers ride tonight//You better shut your windows tight" are a warning to protect yourself from being abducted and murdered by the Butchers.) This is another great example of their storytelling ability.
The Hazards of Love - 2009
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/06/TheHazardsofLove1.jpg[/img]
This is hands-down my favourite release. The whole album is one incredibly in-depth story.
(The Hazards of Love is a rock opera, with all songs contributing to a unified narrative, similar to the use of recurring stories in The Crane Wife. The plot is a love story: a woman named Margaret (voiced by Stark) falls in love with a shape-shifting boreal forest dweller named William (voiced by Meloy). William's mother, a jealous fairy queen (voiced by Worden) and the villainous Rake (also voiced by Meloy) bring conflict to the album's story arc.)
I would say that this is The Decemberists best album, but it is VERY, VERY, VERY dark. The Decemberists received a fair bit of criticism because of the fact that the topics of rape, infanticide, murder, and such other things are included in the lyrics.
The King is Dead - 2011
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/5b/The_Decemberists_-_The_King_Is_Dead.jpg/600px-The_Decemberists_-_The_King_Is_Dead.jpg[/img]
This album just came out earlier this year and I'm starting to take a liking to it. It has more of a "country folk" twang to it. Notable tracks are "Down by the Water," "Rox in a Box," and "Calamity Song."
[b]Videos[/b] - I'll do my best to showcase the song that I believe are most worth mentioning. There is so much amazing content so it will be hard to decide which songs to display.
Leslie Anne Levine
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml0VI8VZO2U[/media]
The Infanta
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT_sPE4ahJk[/media]
16 Military Wives
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK3Ce9md96g[/media]
Shankhill Butchers
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLY0HNds_tE[/media]
A Bower Scene
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns6ghNpzmDY[/media]
Won't Want For Love (Margaret in the Taiga)
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=881qFziuGG8[/media]
The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfKhydixkeA[/media]
The Rake's Song
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULSKZ7IP930[/media]
Down by the Water
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR9DjdMrpHg[/media]
Calamity Song
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcGSEbfegrs[/media]
Rox in the Box
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Waz7PMZHeg[/media]
And last but not least, the most notable recording by The Decemberists,
[b]The Mariner's Revenge Song[/b]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Sw61oITuts[/media]
Picked up Picaresque on holiday a few months ago, fantastic album :buddy:
I used to listen to the Mariner's Revenge Song quite a bit
Bempers.
Sounds pretty good. Will have to look into them more.
Come on vagaboos, you know you want to heart The Decemberists.
These guys are fucking awesome
The only downside is that I hate how they dress
(See: OP picture of them)
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kao1QEjfgno[/media]
What got me into them...
The King is Dead is now officially my favourite album from The Decemberists and is also now in my top 20 favourite albums.
I love The Decemberists, I first got into them by the 'Summer in City 17' video as well.
My favourite songs are probably 'The Mariner's Revenge Song' and 'Eli, The Barrow Boy'.
[QUOTE][video=youtube;Jz7wKhVa_VE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz7wKhVa_VE[/video][/QUOTE]
I had Reunion Tour, some amazing memories came with it.
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