kupcho1
Footballguy
The Decemberists
#10 The Rake's Song
The Rake's Song is the only song I picked from 2009's The Hazards of Love. Don't get me wrong, I really like the album, but more as a whole than its parts (it was their rock opera). The album is about star-crossed lovers William and Margaret-- and the dastardly villains who beset them. The Rake is one such villain. (A "rake" in this song is not the tool to gather leaves in autumn. Here it is referring to "dissolute person or a libertine" (Merriam Webster).)
This is the Decemberists at their darkest. The song is told from the Rake's perspective, beginning with his marriage at 21. I think the brooding way the song opens gives a pretty good indication that the subject matter is going to be pretty bleak.
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
So he finds himself with 3 children and no longer "living easy and free."
First came Isaiah 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
I have no idea if Myfanwy is even a name. Perhaps it was back in the day. In any event, time to divest.
Charlotte I buried after feeding her foxglove
Dawn was easy, she was drowned in the bath
Isaiah 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
So there you have it. An "infanticide memoir full of witty wordplay ("I was wedded and it whetted my thirst") and sly foreshadowing ("You think that I would be haunted").
#10 The Rake's Song
The Rake's Song is the only song I picked from 2009's The Hazards of Love. Don't get me wrong, I really like the album, but more as a whole than its parts (it was their rock opera). The album is about star-crossed lovers William and Margaret-- and the dastardly villains who beset them. The Rake is one such villain. (A "rake" in this song is not the tool to gather leaves in autumn. Here it is referring to "dissolute person or a libertine" (Merriam Webster).)
This is the Decemberists at their darkest. The song is told from the Rake's perspective, beginning with his marriage at 21. I think the brooding way the song opens gives a pretty good indication that the subject matter is going to be pretty bleak.
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
So he finds himself with 3 children and no longer "living easy and free."
First came Isaiah 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
I have no idea if Myfanwy is even a name. Perhaps it was back in the day. In any event, time to divest.
Charlotte I buried after feeding her foxglove
Dawn was easy, she was drowned in the bath
Isaiah 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
So there you have it. An "infanticide memoir full of witty wordplay ("I was wedded and it whetted my thirst") and sly foreshadowing ("You think that I would be haunted").
I love the "and I'm all ears..."