Thanks to my best friend Bwakfat, I became a fan of
The Decemberists several months ago. The
Decemberists hail from Portland and have been around for quite a few years, and although they have a huge following, they seem to fall under the radar when it comes to airplay and general recognition.
Colin Meloy, lead singer, writes about everything from pirates to the
Civil War to
Valerie Plame and the good (?) old
USA. They headlined an
Obama appearance during the elections. Their latest album, "The Hazards of Love" covers new territory in that it is a standalone folk/rock opera wherein each song leads into the next without pause. A concept album, if you will, similar to works of Pink Floyd and The Who.
It doesn't cover any political topics, but it sure as hell rawks, and it tells a story. I thought I'd try my hand at sharing that story with you all.
Bwakfat and I were lucky enough to get last-minute tickets to the Decemberists' production of "A Short Fazed Hovel" at Radio City Music Hall just two weeks ago, and so some of my descriptions of the story as it unfolds will include highlights from the show and its impact on me. I hope you enjoy.
During the
Prelude, in concert, the show opens with a dark stage. Once the hum of the organ pipes up , we see Jenny Conlee standing at the organ, in silhouette. The audience goes wild. I imagine this happens at every show. Eventually, Colin, Nate Query (bass) and Chris Funk (guitar) walk on stage and gather up their guitars, and drummer John Moen can be seen at the rear of the stage in silhouette with backlighting. Also on stage, to the right, on a raised platform, are guest vocalists and performers Becky Stark and Shara Worden, who portray the characters of Margaret and the Queen, respectively.
The Prelude segues cleanly into the
first Hazard of Love song (there are a total of four) wherein we meet the heroine of our story, Margaret, a fair young maiden from the village who goes wandering too closely to a magical forest, The Taiga. There, Margaret stumbles upon a white, wounded fawn, and helps heal his hind legs, prompting him to magically transform into a human male named William. Love ensues. Gorgeous, heartbreaking, immediate love, which results in Margaret's pregnancy. Having her
secret discovered, Margaret flees to the Taiga, in search of her
one true love.
(Now, if you're listening to the music along with me, at this point, you'll notice that each of our players has a certain musical theme tied to their portion of each song. This continues throughout the album, and it, to me, is a sign of pure genius in Colin Meloy's songwriting capability. I'm just sayin'. But, I digress.)
William sings of his love for Margaret in one of my favorite songs,
The Hazards of Love (Wager All). Meanwhile, his mother, The Queen of the magical forest, seems to sense both her son's newfound feelings of love, as well as the presence of an intruding human female, and, um, to put it plainly, the Queen ain't too pleased. You can sense some menacing suspicion in her
approach to the pleasant love scene going on between her son and this unknown human stranger.
Margaret and William are too enthralled, at the moment, to mind the Queen, however, and are singing of their love for each other and the
baby they are expecting. But William eventually hears his mother's approach, can
hear her footfall in the forest, and determines to beg her for the gift of his human shape for just one more night with his Margaret. The Queen, heavy on guilt trips, reminds him of how she found him as a babe in the reedy water and took him in and raised him as a fawn in order to save him from "the world of men" and lets him know that she damn well is not happy about his choice. But, she eventually agrees to let him have this one last night with his love. Don't get fooled into thinking she's some kind of softy, now, while William and Margaret share this sweet and loving
interlude in each others' arms.....
trust me.
Meantime -- ho ho -- there lives in the village a certain
Rake, who lost his wife during one of her many childbirths and decided that being a widower with three little children really wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. This Rake does away with the remaining children and seems to be quite alright with it, in his conscience. Hence, the title of The Rake.
(As an aside, this song was performed beautifully in concert. Colin, as
the Rake, had a spotlight behind him that projected his huge shadow across the wall of the concert hall, making him appear truly menacing and creepy. Everyone else who wasn't already playing an instrument - including Margaret - stood at extra drum kits and banged the CRAP out of the drums with perfect timing -- it was awesome).
Back to our narrative, however: We discover that The Rake wants Margaret for his own, and he determines to steal her away,
abducting her after William has apparently shifted back to being a fawn, leaving Margaret alone in the woods. The Rake ties our poor heroine to the back of his horse and makes for the wild Annan River.
There, at the wild Annan River, which is so wild and cruel that it cannot be crossed, the Queen decides to allow The Rake to have Margaret because she was jealous of the lovely human girl and her affect upon William, and so she agrees to
fly The Rake across the River so that he can have his way with poor Margaret in a cave on the other side.
William learns of the abduction and runs to the bank of the River and makes his vow to the
Annan water that, if the water will calm itself enough to let him pass to the other side, he will let it have its way with him upon his return. The Annan River agrees, and lets him pass, this one time, so that he can get to his dear Margaret.
Meanwhile, back in the cave, The Rake is enjoying and toying with Margaret, who is silently crying out to her
own dear love to please come and save her. And that's when something really weird happens. The ghosts of The Rake's
three children whom he murdered suddenly come back to
haunt him, and whether it is they themselves, or they with the help of our hero William, who do the old bastard in, I'm still not clear on. Let's just say that justice prevails and The Rake is apparently done in. Doesn't really matter to me who did it.
Our lovers are then reunited and make their way back to the Annan River in an effort to get back home to the Taiga. But,
alas! Remember William's promise he made to the water? If it let him pass once, it could have his bones upon his return......and so, as William and Margaret attempt to cross the River on a makeshift raft, they discover that they will not be able to cross, and must die here together, in each others' arms.
(I cried throughout the whole song as they sang it at Radio City, embarrassing, but true. It's my hope that Bwakfat didn't notice.)
I apologize for posting a completely non-political and perhaps pointless post such as this, but my love for this album and for the Decemberists and their current tour "A Short Fazed Hovel", knows no bounds. So I thought I'd share. I hope those of you took the time to listen to the links enjoy it as much as I do. And may I just add that I don't think even our beloved Dickon could make up such a strange tale as this......but, then again....he has. Heh.
