The Decemberists - "The Crane Wife 3" (2006)

The Decemberists are a band I really wanted to dislike. I first became aware of them in 2005 when their song “16 Military Wives” from the album Picaresque was being buzzed about in every music magazine on newsstands. I listened to it a couple of times and wasn’t too impressed. As you can imagine the lyrics are somewhat political in nature and I just wrote them off as another band who were overly concerned with lacing their songs with political propaganda, hence becoming indie media darlings. Then last year I unwittingly listened to “O, Valencia!,” the first single from The Crane Wife. It was on a sampler CD I got with a magazine and I popped it in my CD player and went about my business. Before the song was over I found myself humming the tune. I checked the tracklisting and was surprised to learn that it was indeed The Decemberists. My curiosity grew and I ended up downloading the entire album and listening a few times through and then purchasing it. It turns out The Decemberists really aren't all that political and The Crane Wife ended up being one of my favorite albums of last year. The ten songs on this CD vary from acoustic and folk to driving prog-rock and a little bit of everything in between. One of the highlights of the record is the shapeshifting “The Island,” a three part song that clocks in at over twelve minutes. Today’s song is actually the first track on the album. The Decemberists did it like Tarantino and gave us the ending first while parts one and two of the title track come toward the end. The most engaging thing about the Decemberists is singer/songwriter Colin Meloy’s lyrical style. He doesn’t write any of the standard boy loves girl fare that is all over rock music today. In fact the album’s only real love song, “Yankee Bayonet” is set during the Civil War. Half the fun of this album is playing out the lyrics like a movie in your mind. When a band can make you do that, you’ve successfully been entertained.


The Decemberists - The Crane Wife 3