As a rule, I don’t love country music. You know the kind I’m talking about – the really twangy kind. That’s some people’s cup of tea, and that’s great. Good for them. It is good music to kick back to – I just like to kick back to different music.
I definitely like breezy music, and I love some good folk stomp n holler. Luckily, The Decemberists are a great blend of that. They have a wonderful bluegrass sound with just a little bit of Fleetwood Mac vibe. And just a little bit of darkness to tide me over when I’m feeling broody.
Day 10: Sucker’s Prayer – The Decemberists
In this song, our hero is kicked to the curb, probably by a lover. And he wasn’t prepared for it.
I was not ready for the road
I was so discontent to wear that heavy load
And so I got down on my knees
Made a sucker’s prayer
Like Rimbaud to Baudelaire before
Singer Colin Meloy is making an allusion to a handful of French poets, because they’re great guys to talk about. Arthur Rimbaud was a 19th Century romantic poet who believed in order to write good poetry, you had to feel everything on the spectrum of emotion. Of course that’s very dramatic, but what wasn’t dramatic about 19th Century romantic poets? Charles Baudelaire was another 19th Century romantic poet was similar and inspired Rimbaud. Meloy is offering his own “sucker’s prayer” – a prayer that’s given by a dope who doesn’t expect an answer.
And of course, like any good poet, you gotta threaten to drown yourself in a lake.
And when nobody did respond
I took my glasses off and went to find a pond
Stuffing rocks into the pockets of my pants
And when I waded in
Those currents carried them away
His attempt goes awry in a comical way. He loses his pants. This guy just can’t catch a break. But his sucker’s prayer remains the same:
I wanna love somebody but I don’t know how
I’ve been so long lonely and it’s getting me down
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
I wanna love somebody but I don’t know how
I don’t know what it is about songs like this – songs with dark lyrics but a fun tune. This is definitely the kind of song you’d hear someone crooning (or slurring?) at a bar. That’s true of a lot of country music – a breezy tune, but some heartbreak behind it.
Day 11: Kin – Penny & Sparrow
“Kin” is a sparse yet richly-vocalized song about love gone sour. I interpret it as a family that is fraying at the strings. The hushed, supple vocals lament with thinly-veiled malice over a bed of plucked acoustic strings and a kick drum.
Burn asunder, make an edit
Make apologies a tithe along the way
When you keep the credit
You’re a thief, but it’s okNotify your next of kin
Let ’em know the house got damned again
Open up a window
Let us in and you’ll be ok
The thing with family ties is they’re hard to cut, and even if your family life isn’t great, they’re still your family, and you may have good memories mixed in with the bad. For me, my family was always who I was closest to. I knew that when I went home after school, I was going to a safe place, no matter what was going on in our extended family.
I don’t wanna see a supper table
Disallow a love because you’re unable to admit I may
Be a little bolder than you’re capable of owning
I know I don’t wanna compromise
I don’t wanna compromise
Whatever your family dynamic, there’s always going to be tension. Hopefully, you can remember the good times.
I remember flying off a letter
I remember us being together in the cool of the day
I would be bereft if separated, ever, from you
How could I? How could I?
I don’t wanna compromise
Audrey D. DeBoer 