Josh Mickelson got me turned on to the wild talent of Josh Ritter. This song opens his album “The Animal Years,” and instantly captures your attention and imagination. The first plunky notes at the tracks opening create a strange feeling of hopefulness and peace, and give the song a sense of forthcoming-happy-endings despite the heaviness of the lyrics. It is a beautiful melody and the words are chosen masterfully to carry the emotion through.
I realize that it is a touch indulgent to name your blog after a song and then blog about that song. But then again, it seems entirely fitting to christen our maiden voyage thusly. This is a song by Death Cab For Cutie, from their 2005 album, “Plans.” Now, if you haven’t listened to Plans, you have really missed out. Equally so if you’ve judged it or dismissed it based on the radio singles, Soul Meets Body or Crooked Teeth. These songs are wonderful in context to the whole album, and I can’t recommend the record highly enough. Possibly my favorite track on the record and subsequent namesake is What Sarah Said. This song is both beautiful and unbearably sad. The line “love is watching someone die” is one of the most eloquent and painful lyrics I’ve ever heard, and I think the song is a stirring tribute to love, loss, and “dealing” with death. Ben Gibbard’s lyricism has always been somewhat astonishing, and I think this track shows the depth of DCFC as a band.
