Years ago we were Decemberists quasi stalkers. Saw you guys coast to coast. Made a GetBetterJenny quilt. As a good Catholic woman, probably should confess: while awaiting the show in Oronco Maine show, we snuck backstage and enjoyed your sound check😏. We are old folks so several of the staff likely assumed we were parents of a Decemberist. We left quietly (but so happy!) when one of your actual crew noticed us.
Hey Colin! Is there any information you can release about the film adaptation of Wildwood? I know LAIKA is super secretive about their upcoming films but maybe you could say what you think about it so far? If not no problem... Just wondering 😉
Has it been so long? No, there are no plans to tour in 2023. As for 10th, 20th etc album anniversary tours, I'm not sure how I feel about them! We've had our chance here and there to do them, but I always end up shying away... Don't know what that's about.
Speaking for probably a lot of people here: we really love them. These records defined formative periods of our lives and it’s a treat to experience it live again
In general, I think they're great. I feel like fans often come to love a band, then the band tours on a brand new record that the fans don't yet love the way they love the old stuff, and yet half the show is the new stuff they're not connected to yet. And then by the time they get connected to that record, there's a new one that's come out, etc.
I think the anniversary tours give fans a chance to sort of rewind to periods they may be very nostalgic for. (That said, I think that playing the whole record in order isn't as good as weaving in the top, say, 2/3 or 3/4 of the tracks into a comprehensive setlist.)
I was playing music with a new friend recently, a "classic rock" guy and he asked "What's your favorite band?" Of course, I told him The Decemberists, but with the caveat that "they're not for everyone..." He listened to Crane Wife that night and LOVED it, made me so happy...
Yes! They were... roommates. I got the idea and general vibe of The Soldiering Life from Paul Fussell's book The Great War and Modern Memory. It talks a lot about the war poets and how the close bonds between men in the trenches often moved beyond things being strictly platonic...
The funny thing is, I don't know that I'm aware of having changed, which is funny because I'm sure we/I have. I'm always writing Picaresque/her Majesty songs from my perspective...
Now that is interesting, though I can definitely see how that can happen. Do you hear a difference if you compare Down by the Water vs say, My Mother Was a Chinese Trapeze Artist?
Hey Colin, just saw you in Astoria and having seen The Decemberists many many times, I have to say it was by far the most special for my husband and I. Thank you! We live in Rockaway Beach and loved being able to pop up North for an intimate show. Thank you. Any plans for other small venue shows? There is a new very small music venue in Rockaway Beach that we just finished construction on with a delicious coffee shop and wine bar. No music questions but did love the January Hymn (one of my favs) tutorial. Don’t play but loved watching.
I'm well, thanks! This winter is lasting forever, and I was surprised at my own delight, this morning, at seeing the edges of the clouds, like actually seeing the distinct outlines of clouds with the sky between them, rather then a forever slate of gray. Maybe I've got a touch of SAD? But nothing out of the ordinary.
Glad to hear you’re well and I hope your touch of SAD remains only a touch or less. I’m on the opposite coast of you and here too winter goes on and on. But! We are over halfway to spring now. So there is good news! The bulbs will be coming in soon.
Best: ooh it's tough... I mean, I want to throw out some deep cut track to show my bona fides, but Everyday Is Like Sunday is pretty unimpeachable. One of the greatest songs ever written.
Worst: The fact that Kill Uncle ends with Tony the Pony always bothered me. It's a nothing song, imho.
Great thread, Colin. Thank you for doing all this in addition to all you already do and have done.
“Kill Uncle” turned me away from Moz, as I felt it signaled a downward trajectory after the swan song that was Viva Hate. (Kept me from liking “Your Arse-nal” more than I could/should have.) What did I know. I was 22.
Thank goodness for 20(+) year remasters, so I can play “Billy Budd” and “National Front Disco” all I want b/c the radio never did.
Aw, thank you. I don't know you, so I can, in good faith, respond in kind. You have that fancy green badge, though, so I will say that I am eternally grateful for your support. How's that?
Sure, though I'm a bit hazy on the details myself. I think it's a portrait of a very unhappy couple, right? The verses are, certainly. This married couple, they've lost a kid by drowning (of course) and things appear to be pretty dreary where they are, with the sleet rain on the slate roof. She's holding on to this medallion -- a gift from a former lover, perhaps? -- and he's trying to connect with her, to assuage her sadness, but the fact that they will have no more children hangs over them like a pall. As for the chorus, I took that from the Marcel Duchamp sculpture: https://philamuseum.org/collection/object/54149 -- I think there was some violence on their wedding night. It's just grim, grim, grim.
Oh man, that was written at a time when I felt like my parenting partnership with Carson needed a kind of "once more unto the breach, dear friends" harangue. Why Would I Now was my harangue.
Right now, I think that Rusalka, Rusalka / The Wild Rushes is my favorite song I've ever written. As for food: I'm a sucker for a really really good taqueria.
Is Shaking Through the best early REM song? I'd love to hear you tear through a cover of it. What's your favourite song of theirs? Also, you're going to have a hand in the Wildwood soundtrack, right? Right?
1) Any plans to resume the Travelers' Rest Festival? It was truly one of the best concert experiences I've had. Also we had the pleasure of meeting you and the band for a brief moment. (You thanked my wife for being a librarian.) 2) Any plans to revive Offa Rex? Thanks!
Any plans on bringing back the Happy Cactus songs to stream? I remember there was a Wikipedia page for HC and a link that provided a download to the only album, but that was many years ago. I know they were for sure pivotal tunes during my upbringings.
Reposted from the last Q&A, as I was late to the game. Might be too late today, as well haha. Oh well, I’ll just keep trying. 😅
At minute 5:29 in Row Jimmy, what made you giggle? Did you consider redoing the song or did you immediately know you wanted to keep it there? I love that you left that in because it makes me smile every time 😊
(1) Favorite / most unexpected thing about the Decemberists Community?
(2) Can you speak to the generation of collective effervescence (in the Durkheim sense!) at live music events / other events? (To be forthright: Harvard Div grad student examining secular sacred happenings as healing for those with religious trauma! Would love to interview you but wanted to shoot a shot here first! Thanks from the fundie kid whose life you saved!)
Hello! I am so glad you are doing this! I've long wondered and even submitted this question at a live show but it wasn't picked. And so, here is my question: Why are water and drowning so frequently featured in Decemberists songs? Thank you in advance for answering this question I've long sought an answer to!
Does the phrase "down on the knuckle" come from anywhere, or is it your creation? It sounds like something I should have heard of before, but I can't place it.
I’m certain this has been asked before, but what is with all the drowning? The Fam did an over/under at the Bonner show of 5 songs, but you fell short by a couple!
Do you know of any way to find the full Hazards of Love Visualized film? iTunes appears to be a bust, and I can only watch the Rake's Song video so many times before yearning for the rest of it.
i'm studying romantic literature right now and i know that the chimbley sweep is blake-inspired, but does the mariner's revenge song have any relationship to coleridge vis a vis the rime of the ancient mariner? whenever we discuss the rime i can only imagine it being told from the belly of a whale, but that might just be the "mariner" overlap.
Chimbley Sweep is actually from Dylan Thomas -- it's a rewrite (sort of) of a song that a character sings in Under Milk Wood. As for Mariner's Revenge, yeah, I suppose I do owe a debt to Coleridge for that. I studied english lit in college and had a particular love for the romantics, so that stuff tends to find its way into your soul and stick there.
oooo, thanks for the insight! i'm halfway through an english lit degree of my own and am finding a lot of love for the romantics, as well. i guess i immediately thought blake because of the "weep" phrasing, but now that i think about it sweep/weep is a pretty easy rhyme to come by!
I call it a bouzouki, actually, but it really could be called any number of things: a mandocello, a mandola, a tenor bouzouki/mandola/mandocello. I bought an irish bouzouki in 2005ish when I wanted to try my hand writing on some different and strange instruments. The Irish bouzouki itself is a kind of bastardization of the greek bouzouki, which found its way into Irish/Brit folk music in the 60s (John Moynihan, Anne Briggs, Terry Woods). I use to see bouzouki in Terry Woods' instrument credits in The Pogues records and always wondered what it was... He's my first bouzouki hero. Andrew Mowry, a luthier in Bend, OR, offered to make me a mandolin some years ago so I commissioned a bouzouki that was shaped like a guitar, one that you could rest on your lap (the teardrop shape of a traditional bouzouki was always awkward, I thought, for playing while you are sitting down). So that's how we arrived where we are today...
Where did the story of "Mariners Revenge Song" come from? And why did you decide to put a 3/4 time sea shanty interlude into the song, which is quite unusual (but great!)?
I think I might've gone into this a bit a couple weeks ago, when I posted the demo, but the song and the story really grew out of a couple things: one, the chord progression and the melody sounded like something that wanted to tell a story, a long story. It felt like a music hall number for the last (before last) century. Two: I'd wanted to write a song set in the belly of a whale. I have no idea why, it was just a whim, really.
I like that song, too! It happened that I was invited in -- whenever that was, maybe 2014? -- to be on a live radio show at the Aladdin Theater in Portland. It was going to a typical appearance, play a couple songs, do an interview, but I thought it would be interesting if I wrote a song for it, one that I would write that day and play for the first time that night. So I wrote Carolina Low, it just kind of came out that way. I remember calling Carson into my studio to play it for her, just so she could tell whether or not it was any good, and if I should embarrass myself by playing it on this show -- but she liked it. I remember saying, "You don't know what it's about, but you know what it's about, right?" And she agreed. It's that kind of song. You know what it means, but you don't.
I’m not sure if this question has been asked or if you are still answering questions, but do you plan on working with Lizzy Ellison again in the future? Her voice was quite befitting for Yankee Bayonet and The Wanting Comes in Waves. I love her voice
Thank you so much for all of the inspiring music. I've been on a Fairport Convention kick lately and am wondering if you have some other bands or albums in a similar vein you can recommend. (Side note: I'm a baroque trumpet specialist and I come to town often to play with Portland Baroque Orchestra -- it might be interesting to you, using historical performance practice and other nerdy stuff to make old music come to life. Happy to get you tickets sometime!)
It seems like the internet can't agree on the correct lyrics for the chorus of your song, Why Would I Now? So, what are the correct lyrics? Thank you for your music! You helped me through a really dark time.
Oh and one more, my love and I are planning to listen to the entire Decemberists discography and calculate the percentage of songs that reference drowning… do you happen to have this statistic on hand?
Taking a break, but I'm gonna come back to this thread later and keep answering. Thanks for the questions, everyone!
I am waiting; should I be waiting?
yes!
Not a question but a massive thank you for June Hymn ❤️
Years ago we were Decemberists quasi stalkers. Saw you guys coast to coast. Made a GetBetterJenny quilt. As a good Catholic woman, probably should confess: while awaiting the show in Oronco Maine show, we snuck backstage and enjoyed your sound check😏. We are old folks so several of the staff likely assumed we were parents of a Decemberist. We left quietly (but so happy!) when one of your actual crew noticed us.
Mea culpa
Will you make available the videos from the 3 anniversary COVID-era shows? They were fanTASTIC and would love to see again ...
I'll have to dig around for those, not sure they were recorded...
I might have them on a hard drive if Mandolin didn't save them ...
Hey Colin! Is there any information you can release about the film adaptation of Wildwood? I know LAIKA is super secretive about their upcoming films but maybe you could say what you think about it so far? If not no problem... Just wondering 😉
If you were in a Chinese spy balloon floating over Montana, what would you be searching for?
When can the world expect a new Decemberists album?
Can we expect a Her Majesty your in 2023?
Has it been so long? No, there are no plans to tour in 2023. As for 10th, 20th etc album anniversary tours, I'm not sure how I feel about them! We've had our chance here and there to do them, but I always end up shying away... Don't know what that's about.
Speaking for probably a lot of people here: we really love them. These records defined formative periods of our lives and it’s a treat to experience it live again
Also please play Bridges and Balloons soon!
In general, I think they're great. I feel like fans often come to love a band, then the band tours on a brand new record that the fans don't yet love the way they love the old stuff, and yet half the show is the new stuff they're not connected to yet. And then by the time they get connected to that record, there's a new one that's come out, etc.
I think the anniversary tours give fans a chance to sort of rewind to periods they may be very nostalgic for. (That said, I think that playing the whole record in order isn't as good as weaving in the top, say, 2/3 or 3/4 of the tracks into a comprehensive setlist.)
Which song would you happily play at each Decemberist show? Which could you say “never again”?
I was playing music with a new friend recently, a "classic rock" guy and he asked "What's your favorite band?" Of course, I told him The Decemberists, but with the caveat that "they're not for everyone..." He listened to Crane Wife that night and LOVED it, made me so happy...
Hi! Asking from -13 degrees (Fahrenheit!) ridden Montreal, the 2 protagonists in The Soldiering Life, were they... you know... roommates?
You'd be settling a long-time debate with a friend of mine.
Cheers!
Yes! They were... roommates. I got the idea and general vibe of The Soldiering Life from Paul Fussell's book The Great War and Modern Memory. It talks a lot about the war poets and how the close bonds between men in the trenches often moved beyond things being strictly platonic...
Do you you think you’ll ever creatively return to an earlier sound/style, like Picaresque/Her Majesty?
The funny thing is, I don't know that I'm aware of having changed, which is funny because I'm sure we/I have. I'm always writing Picaresque/her Majesty songs from my perspective...
Now that is interesting, though I can definitely see how that can happen. Do you hear a difference if you compare Down by the Water vs say, My Mother Was a Chinese Trapeze Artist?
Hey Colin, just saw you in Astoria and having seen The Decemberists many many times, I have to say it was by far the most special for my husband and I. Thank you! We live in Rockaway Beach and loved being able to pop up North for an intimate show. Thank you. Any plans for other small venue shows? There is a new very small music venue in Rockaway Beach that we just finished construction on with a delicious coffee shop and wine bar. No music questions but did love the January Hymn (one of my favs) tutorial. Don’t play but loved watching.
How are you?
I'm well, thanks! This winter is lasting forever, and I was surprised at my own delight, this morning, at seeing the edges of the clouds, like actually seeing the distinct outlines of clouds with the sky between them, rather then a forever slate of gray. Maybe I've got a touch of SAD? But nothing out of the ordinary.
Glad to hear you’re well and I hope your touch of SAD remains only a touch or less. I’m on the opposite coast of you and here too winter goes on and on. But! We are over halfway to spring now. So there is good news! The bulbs will be coming in soon.
Hi Colin! Best and worst Morrissey solo songs?
Best: ooh it's tough... I mean, I want to throw out some deep cut track to show my bona fides, but Everyday Is Like Sunday is pretty unimpeachable. One of the greatest songs ever written.
Worst: The fact that Kill Uncle ends with Tony the Pony always bothered me. It's a nothing song, imho.
Great thread, Colin. Thank you for doing all this in addition to all you already do and have done.
“Kill Uncle” turned me away from Moz, as I felt it signaled a downward trajectory after the swan song that was Viva Hate. (Kept me from liking “Your Arse-nal” more than I could/should have.) What did I know. I was 22.
Thank goodness for 20(+) year remasters, so I can play “Billy Budd” and “National Front Disco” all I want b/c the radio never did.
EDILS is indeed a stone cold classic. TTP is indeed lame.
Colin! I love you. Do you love me?
Aw, thank you. I don't know you, so I can, in good faith, respond in kind. You have that fancy green badge, though, so I will say that I am eternally grateful for your support. How's that?
I'll take it. I'm pretty great though.
Kim wins. Brilliant.
any touring in 2023?
Nope!
Thanks Colin, glad we caught you guys out and about in 2022, Benediximus et Vota 2023!
Can you talk a bit about the narrative of The Bachelor and the Bride? Who is who?
Sure, though I'm a bit hazy on the details myself. I think it's a portrait of a very unhappy couple, right? The verses are, certainly. This married couple, they've lost a kid by drowning (of course) and things appear to be pretty dreary where they are, with the sleet rain on the slate roof. She's holding on to this medallion -- a gift from a former lover, perhaps? -- and he's trying to connect with her, to assuage her sadness, but the fact that they will have no more children hangs over them like a pall. As for the chorus, I took that from the Marcel Duchamp sculpture: https://philamuseum.org/collection/object/54149 -- I think there was some violence on their wedding night. It's just grim, grim, grim.
Any tips for budding songwriters?
Is there a story behind the song Why Would I Now?
Oh man, that was written at a time when I felt like my parenting partnership with Carson needed a kind of "once more unto the breach, dear friends" harangue. Why Would I Now was my harangue.
Ah, that makes sense! It's one of my favorites.
Hi Colin! Any plans to tour in 2023 either with The Decemberists or solo?
Hi Colin! Love when you do these! What's your favorite song you've ever written? And what's your favorite food or cuisine?
Right now, I think that Rusalka, Rusalka / The Wild Rushes is my favorite song I've ever written. As for food: I'm a sucker for a really really good taqueria.
I was very encouraged when you said it was the last song written for that album, and the last song can signal the direction of the next...
ohhhh, my absolute favorite. I probably drive my family crazy listening to it on repeat while I sew.
have you ever covered "The Sandman" by America? I walked into the produce section of Safeway just as its started playing.
"Ain't it foggy outside
All the planes have been grounded
Ain't the fire inside?"
I heard your voice....
Is Shaking Through the best early REM song? I'd love to hear you tear through a cover of it. What's your favourite song of theirs? Also, you're going to have a hand in the Wildwood soundtrack, right? Right?
Have you ever toyed around with other songs to add to the Month Hymns? I'd love to hear your take on an October Hymn.
1) Any plans to resume the Travelers' Rest Festival? It was truly one of the best concert experiences I've had. Also we had the pleasure of meeting you and the band for a brief moment. (You thanked my wife for being a librarian.) 2) Any plans to revive Offa Rex? Thanks!
Any plans on bringing back the Happy Cactus songs to stream? I remember there was a Wikipedia page for HC and a link that provided a download to the only album, but that was many years ago. I know they were for sure pivotal tunes during my upbringings.
I tried finding happy cactus songs to download but was unsuccessful:(
Reposted from the last Q&A, as I was late to the game. Might be too late today, as well haha. Oh well, I’ll just keep trying. 😅
At minute 5:29 in Row Jimmy, what made you giggle? Did you consider redoing the song or did you immediately know you wanted to keep it there? I love that you left that in because it makes me smile every time 😊
(1) Favorite / most unexpected thing about the Decemberists Community?
(2) Can you speak to the generation of collective effervescence (in the Durkheim sense!) at live music events / other events? (To be forthright: Harvard Div grad student examining secular sacred happenings as healing for those with religious trauma! Would love to interview you but wanted to shoot a shot here first! Thanks from the fundie kid whose life you saved!)
Former Religious Studies major here, too! Love your area of interest. I’d be super interested to hear Colin’s take on this also. 👍 All the best!
Hello! I am so glad you are doing this! I've long wondered and even submitted this question at a live show but it wasn't picked. And so, here is my question: Why are water and drowning so frequently featured in Decemberists songs? Thank you in advance for answering this question I've long sought an answer to!
Melissa
What are three albums that changed your life?
Thank you for everything you've made!
Does the phrase "down on the knuckle" come from anywhere, or is it your creation? It sounds like something I should have heard of before, but I can't place it.
Any chance of a sequel to “The Stars Did Wander Darkling”? Holding out hope for one certain character left in limbo at the end...
So enjoyed learning on one of your recent posts that you’re a Sondheim fan. Do you have a favorite lyric?
Do you know anyone named Leslie Anne Levine?
I’m certain this has been asked before, but what is with all the drowning? The Fam did an over/under at the Bonner show of 5 songs, but you fell short by a couple!
Do you know of any way to find the full Hazards of Love Visualized film? iTunes appears to be a bust, and I can only watch the Rake's Song video so many times before yearning for the rest of it.
Hi Colin, I've been wondering what prompted the heavier use of synth on I'll Be Your Girl? (Which I love, btw!)
Morbid, but I think it's important. What songs do you want played at your funeral?
i'm studying romantic literature right now and i know that the chimbley sweep is blake-inspired, but does the mariner's revenge song have any relationship to coleridge vis a vis the rime of the ancient mariner? whenever we discuss the rime i can only imagine it being told from the belly of a whale, but that might just be the "mariner" overlap.
Chimbley Sweep is actually from Dylan Thomas -- it's a rewrite (sort of) of a song that a character sings in Under Milk Wood. As for Mariner's Revenge, yeah, I suppose I do owe a debt to Coleridge for that. I studied english lit in college and had a particular love for the romantics, so that stuff tends to find its way into your soul and stick there.
oooo, thanks for the insight! i'm halfway through an english lit degree of my own and am finding a lot of love for the romantics, as well. i guess i immediately thought blake because of the "weep" phrasing, but now that i think about it sweep/weep is a pretty easy rhyme to come by!
Your mandocello is a beautiful instrument! Is it made by Eastman? Did you seek out this instrument, or did it come to you?
I call it a bouzouki, actually, but it really could be called any number of things: a mandocello, a mandola, a tenor bouzouki/mandola/mandocello. I bought an irish bouzouki in 2005ish when I wanted to try my hand writing on some different and strange instruments. The Irish bouzouki itself is a kind of bastardization of the greek bouzouki, which found its way into Irish/Brit folk music in the 60s (John Moynihan, Anne Briggs, Terry Woods). I use to see bouzouki in Terry Woods' instrument credits in The Pogues records and always wondered what it was... He's my first bouzouki hero. Andrew Mowry, a luthier in Bend, OR, offered to make me a mandolin some years ago so I commissioned a bouzouki that was shaped like a guitar, one that you could rest on your lap (the teardrop shape of a traditional bouzouki was always awkward, I thought, for playing while you are sitting down). So that's how we arrived where we are today...
Rock n roll! Many thanks for the very comprehensive reply!
Where did the story of "Mariners Revenge Song" come from? And why did you decide to put a 3/4 time sea shanty interlude into the song, which is quite unusual (but great!)?
I think I might've gone into this a bit a couple weeks ago, when I posted the demo, but the song and the story really grew out of a couple things: one, the chord progression and the melody sounded like something that wanted to tell a story, a long story. It felt like a music hall number for the last (before last) century. Two: I'd wanted to write a song set in the belly of a whale. I have no idea why, it was just a whim, really.
One of my favorite songs is Carolina Low. But I can’t seem to decipher the full meaning. Can you help me understand like I’m 5?
Also, can we please get a music video for E. Watson? Thnx
I like that song, too! It happened that I was invited in -- whenever that was, maybe 2014? -- to be on a live radio show at the Aladdin Theater in Portland. It was going to a typical appearance, play a couple songs, do an interview, but I thought it would be interesting if I wrote a song for it, one that I would write that day and play for the first time that night. So I wrote Carolina Low, it just kind of came out that way. I remember calling Carson into my studio to play it for her, just so she could tell whether or not it was any good, and if I should embarrass myself by playing it on this show -- but she liked it. I remember saying, "You don't know what it's about, but you know what it's about, right?" And she agreed. It's that kind of song. You know what it means, but you don't.
I’m so glad I asked and I’m so glad you said what you said. My interpretation was almost precise then haha. Thank you Colin
Was Tarkio's Keeping Me Awake inspired by the Innocence Mission's Keeping Awake?
Can you recommend books that everyone should read at least once?
I’m not sure if this question has been asked or if you are still answering questions, but do you plan on working with Lizzy Ellison again in the future? Her voice was quite befitting for Yankee Bayonet and The Wanting Comes in Waves. I love her voice
Thank you so much for all of the inspiring music. I've been on a Fairport Convention kick lately and am wondering if you have some other bands or albums in a similar vein you can recommend. (Side note: I'm a baroque trumpet specialist and I come to town often to play with Portland Baroque Orchestra -- it might be interesting to you, using historical performance practice and other nerdy stuff to make old music come to life. Happy to get you tickets sometime!)
Hi Colin! :)
It seems like the internet can't agree on the correct lyrics for the chorus of your song, Why Would I Now? So, what are the correct lyrics? Thank you for your music! You helped me through a really dark time.
Oh and one more, my love and I are planning to listen to the entire Decemberists discography and calculate the percentage of songs that reference drowning… do you happen to have this statistic on hand?