Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Five Best...Songs from The Crane Wife by the Decemberists


#5. "The Crane Wife 1 & 2"

We were poorly, our fortunes fading hourly
And how she loved me, she could bring it back
But I was greedy, I was vain and I forced her to weaving
On a cold loom, in a closed room down the hall


#4. "Sons and Daughters"

Take up your arm
Sons and daughters
We will arise from the bunkers
By land, by sea, by dirigible
We'll leave our tracks untraceable now


#3. "The Island: Come and See/The Landlord's Daughter/You'll Not Feel the Drowning"

The tides will come and go
With this bare waking eye
Who rose like the wind
Though we know for sure
Amidst this fading light
We'll not go home again
Come and see
Come and see


#2. "The Crane Wife 3"

And under the boughs unbowed
All clothed in a snowy shroud
She had no heart so hardened
All under the boughs unbowed


#1. "Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)"

When I was a girl how the hills of Oconee
Made a seam to hem me in
There at the fair when our eyes caught, careless
Got my heart right pierced by a pin

But oh, did you see all the dead of Manassas
All the bellies and the bones and the bile
Though I lingered here with the blankets barren
And my own belly big with child


(The Decemberists, and specifically Colin Meloy, are one of the most unique bands out there, and also one of the best. I honestly believe that in 30 years, they'll be one of the few current groups that people will still be listening to in the same way people still listen to Bob Dylan or Neil Young.)