Okkervil River really are stunningly good at this kind of uptmebo gradual build. Something about Will Sheff's voice means that whatever he sings sounds amazingly earnest, and this effect is accentuated at higher volumes - I'd say he probably does the 'shouty' stuff better than any other current artist (with the possible exception of Conor Oberst, who he sounds quite like occasionally anyway).
This song, from their second proper album, the underrated 'Down The River Of Golden Dreams', is just great. In my opinion, it is addressed to a newborn baby called Philip - much like another song discussed on these pages before, Richard & LInda Thompson's 'The End Of The Rainbow'. This song, however, is much more hopeful than the Thompsons' bleak masterpiece - it has a lot of the same kind of depressing stuff about the life that the baby will grow up to live, with the first and second verses really fairly downbeat, but the song then does something that Thompson doesn't. The lyrics speak for themselves, really, and are some of the most striking and affecting I've heard. I'm going to give into temptation and just write them here, verbatim, for you to follow. The accompanying music is almost triumphant, with a horn section alternating between aggressive blaring and more soft, introspective fare over a piano-led melody. A genuinely stunning song from one of my favourite bands around at the moment - I really can't wait for their new album, 'I Am Very Far', released in a couple of months.
Okkervil River - Blanket And Crib
Safe, safe, enjoy your time feeling so safe,
and treasure that smile on your face, OK,
Because time will see that it's replaced in a while.
So go on, smile.
And handshakes all around: that's your style,
and no one would call it denial,
for you're not even sure what's in store.
And it's more than youll be able to take standing up straight.
And it wont be OK.
And you wont be somebody who it's just happening to,
Because it's a trap that you, and only you,
Have laid. Laid with a towel up over your face,
In your armchair, just lying in wait,
Waiting forces were gathering outside your door.
They sharpened their knives
And smiled with no smiles in their eyes,
A little bit larger in size
And a little bit hungrier for that tiny prize.
And my mother once said
"Son, remember this, no matter what someone did:
That they once were just a kid at breast and in bib,
In blanket and crib.
So just reach inside yourself
And find the part that still needs help,
Find that part in someone else
And you'll do good"
So I thought that I would.
Hey - I love you, it goes without saying.
I would give you the world on a tray,
Though they're already tracing a line across your throat.
Far too late in the game you'll find that you have been betrayed:
Propped up and pushed into your place.
I could claim that it all would go great,
But the reason I came is to say that it won't.
You should know that it won't,
And so, Philip, let go.
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