And under the boughs unbowed

Detail from The Crane Wife by Carson Ellis

The Decemberists have created a wonderfully lyrical album with The Crane Wife. There are many great moments, both musically and dramatically; here are a few of my favorite sections.

Colin Meloy writes the lyrics, and he has an ear for words and phrases. Once he writes a killer stanza, he's not above repeating it to stretching point, as on "Sons and Daughters":

"When we arrive, sons and daughters
We'll make our homes on the water
We'll build our walls of aluminum
We'll fill our mouths with cinnamon"

Extended through repetition until your heart nearly breaks for joy.

My favorite dramatic moment occurs on "The Perfect Crime #2", not only for the startling image, but for the pause in a song that's been chugging away like a locamotive:

"It was like a ticker-tape parade
When the plastique on the safe was blown away
And we all gazed eye to eye
As we mouthed our silent goodbyes"

Some of the songs seem so authentically rooted in history, you wonder if band members spent time in a library, as The Band did for "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down". "Yankee Bayonet" doesn't sound written, it sounds unearthed.

"You'll Not Feel the Drowning" reminds me of Richard and Linda Thompson's horrific "The End of the Rainbow" (I Want To See the Bright Lights Tonight) in both tone and intent. Although the former is sung to (presumably) the landlord's daughter, and the latter is sung to the narrator's son, both act as disquieting lullabies showing contempt for their targets.

Literary, tragic, upbeat, redemptive: The Crane Wife is one wave you want to be swallowed by.