A Beginner’s Guide to The Decemberists
As I have no doubting telling you, many a fan of The Decemberists can surely tell you that it can be daunting to first get into the band (if not, that person likely was delivered in a library and handed a copy of 16th century literature instead of a bottle). The obvious fact you can tell from multiple listens of the band is that Colin Meloy, the primary songwriter of the band, has an extensive vocabulary that he unrepentantly uses in his songs. There is a reason why there is a select few who hate the Decemberists, and usually it stems from the pretentious vibe listeners get from hearing words like “minstrel” (one could argue that Andrew Bird is more precocious, but that’s for another day).
Youtube channel Girl Pants Productions uploaded a comedy video titled “How to prepare for the New Decemberists Album” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWrvfdBOeRg), in which a man is drilled with a series of difficult words via flashcards from a girl intensively rallying him to prepare for the most recent Decemeberists album What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World. So as a bit of extension of that video, this article is meant to help the newbie listener of The Decemberists who might need a little guidance on navigating the complicated language of Colin Meloy’s hand.
The relatively easy songs (Lv. 10-30!)
(And by relative, I mean compared the standards of The Decemberists)
O Valencia (The Crane Wife)
This song from The Crane Wife is the more pop- oriented and one of the easier songs to comprehend in the repertoire of the band. If attentively listening, the narrative of this song (similar to the story of Romeo and Juliet, expect the girl dies and the guy doesn’t, instead of the couple shanking themselves because that’s stupid) should be pretty clear.
Words/Phrases to listen for?: Not particularly, although for new listeners might find the phrasing atypical to other indie songs (ie: “and your frame went limb in my arms”)
The Bagman’s Gambit (Picaresque)
The fifth song from Picaresque is a little more difficult to understand compared to O Valencia. In terms of plot, the song tells the story of US government worker falling in love with a Soviet spy.
Words/Phrases to listen for?: The word bagman and gambit may be words that confuse the listener. Also, a section of this song talks about “trysting”, just know that it means “making out”. Some city references also may confuse others.
Apology song (5 Songs EP)
Among the few number of autobiographical songs from The Decemberists, Apology Song from the first Decemberists EP Five Songs is probably the easiest song from Colin Meloy to understand, likely for the fact that the song was written for a friend, apologizing for losing his bicycle after it was stolen. The song actually was never meant to be recorded and was to be only sung over the phone.
Words/Phrases to listen for?: You’ll be fine
Medium Difficulty songs (Lv. 30-60!)
Calamity Song (The King is Dead)
This song may actually seem more difficult than it really is. The main difficulty in understanding this song derives mostly from the allusions the song makes. But excluding that, most of this song is pretty self-explanatory, and you should be able to work out yourself that is song is about the end of the world (I’d to think is song a more intelligent literary counterpart to REM’s It’s the end of the world, as both songs have a similar musical style)
Words/Phrases to listen for? : Allusions to people and books like Hetty Green (once the richest woman in America) and the Year of the Chewable Ambien Tab (a reference to the David Foster Wallace novel Infinite Jest.
The Crane Wife (Parts 1,2,3) (The Crane Wife)
Lyrically, this song is also not very complicated, but do know that in order completely get this song, I would definitely look up Tsuru no Ongaeshi, or otherwise known as “the Crane Wife”. Mostly not knowing about the Japanese folk tale this song is based is your main impediment to “fully” understand this song.
On the bus mall (Picaresque)
I was actually confused when I first looked at the lyrics of this song, and had to visit several different websites to understand the contents of this song. And when you do, it seems all so clear and also a bit weird as well.
Words/Phrases to listen for? :Palaver, gadabout, also look for the lyrics “suck our lips into our lungs ‘til we were falling”. Also, a bit of a warning, this is one of the more mature songs from the band, it may seem a bit disturbing to some.
I have no idea what this 18 minute song means
Words/Phrases to listen for? : Everything
The Island (Come and See, The Landlord’s Daughter, You’ll not feel the Drowning) (The Crane Wife)
This 12 minute song is only unusually long, but also quite a difficult song to understand. Especially in Come and See, when you’ll encounter such words as “cormorant” and “arabesques”. The only other two parts, luckily, aren’t to understand
Words and Phrases to listen for?: curlew, cormorant, Arabesque, reeds, jetty, patagon, sycorax, parallax.
The Hazards of Love (The entire album)
Since this (might I add) incredibly underrated album is a rock opera, the plot is rather confusing to pick up, but there is still an abundance of archaic words in use. For example, what in the world is a “rake”?!
Words and Phrases to listen for?: Go to Wikipedia, look at the plot summary, and then look up 60% of the words in the liner notes.
