Lazy Analysis of The Decemberists "Hazards of Love"

7/29/2019 Lazy Analysis of The Decemberists "Hazards of Love"

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The Hazards of Love

"Prelude" - 3:04

~Instrumental~

Jenny Conlee: Hammond B-3 organ, synthesizerJim James: backing voice

Keiko Araki, Greg Ewer: violins

Adam Hoornstra: viola

Collin Oldham: cello

"The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won't Wrestle the Thistles Undone)" - 4:19At some time between 784 and 796 the earthwork known as Offa's Dyke was built between Wales and Mercia.

odonata: Apparently it was customary for the English to cut off the ears of Mercians who strayed east of the wall and for the Mercians

to hang every Englishman who crossed it going west. So, when the lyrics tell us that Margaret went riding out "Past the pale

(boundary) of Offa's Wall..." I'm inclined to think that she is leaving her native Wales, and at some risk.

Ancient kingdom, central England. One of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of the Heptarchy, it comprised the border areas, corresponding

to modern Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and northern West Midlands and Warwickshire. Offa, who ruled from 757 to 796,

created a single state from the River Humber to the English Channel. After Offa's death, Mercia declined, overshadowed by Wessex. In

877 the Danes divided Mercia into English and Danish sections. After the reconquest of the Danish lands in the early 10th century, it

came under the rule of Wessex.

bower noun

1. a leafy shelter or recess arbor.

2. a rustic dwelling cottage.3. a lady's boudoir in a medieval castle.

taiga, northern coniferous-forest belt of Eurasia, bordered on the north by the treeless tundra and on the south by the steppe.

Although Great Britain would no longer be considered part of the Taiga due to its extensive deforestation, during the Middle Ages

relatively large expanses of boreal forest still existed, particularly in northern Scotland. It has a continental climate, with long, severe

winters of 6 or 7 months. Thawing occurs during late April or early May, and the growing season is short. The mean average summer

temperatures are fairly high, but there are night frosts. Podzols are the soils of this zone. Only the hardier cereals and roots, such as

barley, oats, and potatoes, can be cultivated. The principal species of trees are cedar, pine, spruce, larch, birch, and aspen. The taiga

has many swampy areas formed during the spring.

Margaret is a female first name, derived from the Greek word margarites or "pearl."

FIRST VOICE:My true love went riding out

In white and green and gray

Past the pale of Offas Wall

Where she was wont to stray

And there she came upon

A white and wounded fawn

Singing: oh, the hazards of love.

She, being full of charity


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A credit to her sex,

Sought to right the fawns hind legs

When here her plans were vexed

The taiga shifted strange

The beast began to change

Singing: oh, the hazards of love

Oh, the hazards of love

Youll learn soon enough

The prettiest whistles wont wrestle the thistles undone

Undone

Fifteen lithesome* maidens lay

Along in their bower

Fourteen occupations paid

To pass the idle hour.

Margaret heaves a sigh

Her hands clasped to her thigh

Singing: oh, the hazards of love

Oh the hazards of love

Youll learn soon enough

The prettiest whistles wont wrestle the thistles undone

Undone

Colin Meloy: voice, acoustic guitar

Chris Funk: tenor guitar

besstudor: I once read a historical fiction book that took place in the ancient city of Ur. When the women [menstruated], they had to

lock themselves in a special room for a week or so, and b/c they thought the blood was sacred, they had to sit over basins of water until

the water was stained red.

irascible (-rs'-bl, -rs'-)

adj. 1.Prone to outbursts of temper easily angered.2.Characterized by or resulting from anger.

blackguard

noun 1. a low, contemptible person scoundrel.

2. Obsolete.

a. a group of menial workers in the kitchen of a large household.

b. the servants of an army.

c. camp followers.


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In ancient Greek and Roman cultures, the spur provoked an allusion to phalli and columbine was a plant of Aphrodite (Venus). In Celtic

culture, the flowers were supposed to open the door to the other world. In the Christian tradition, the particular morphology

contributed to associating the columbine with the praise of God. The spurs on the flowers are reminiscent of five doves sitting together

and thus of the Holy Spirit. Five birds together was a name for the plant in parts of Austria and the English name, columbine, little

dove or dove-like, also alludes to this property.

The seeds of the European Mistletoe can only become capable of germinating after having passed through the digestive tracts of birds

particularly the Mistle Thrush. 'Mistle' means dung in old Anglo-Saxon, and 'toe', which emerged from 'tan', means twig.

In the classical poets, we meet with only a few allusions to the Willow as growing by the water-side, and as twisted into baskets by the

ancient Britons, the word `basket' itself being one of the few words which, under the form "bascauda," ancient Britain seems to have

given to the Latin vocabulary but from Elizabethan times it is invariably the symbol of forsaken love. This is remarkable, since, with

one notable exception, all the Biblical references to this group of trees are associated with joyfulness and fertility.

William is from the Norman language (although Norman French was Latin-based and the proper name is

Jenny Conlee: Wurlitzer piano, synthesizer

Nate Query: upright bass

John Moen: the drums, backing voice

"A Bower Scene" - 2:09

SECOND VOICE:

Thou unconsolable* daughter, said the sister,

When wilt thou trouble the water in the cistern?

And what irascible blackguard is the father?

And when young Margarets waistline grew wider

The fruit of her amorous entwine inside herAnd so our heroine withdraws to the taiga

Colin Meloy: voice, electric guitar

Chris Funk: electric guitar, piano, hammered dulcimer

Jenny Conlee: Hammond B-3 organ

Nate Query: bass guitar

John Moen: the drums

"Won't Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)" - 4:07

MA RGA R ET:

Gentle leaves, gentle leaves

Please array a path for me

The woods all growing thick and fast around

Columbine, columbine

Please alert this love of mine

Let him know his Margaret comes along


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And all this stirring inside my belly

Wont quell my want for love

And I may swoon from all this swelling

But I wont want for love

Mistle thrush, mistle thrush

Lay me down in the underbrushMy naked feet grow weary with the dusk

Willow boughs, willow boughs

Make a bed to lay me down

Let your branches bow to cradle us



And I may swoon from all this swellingGermanic) and is a cognate from the German Wilhelm, and of Germanic origin: wil = "will or desire" helm"helmet, protection"

A common idiom is "to be in clover", meaning to be living a carefree life of ease, comfort, or prosperity.

The corncrake, or landrail, is like a slimmed-down quail. It is a shy, dull coloured bird, its plumage a gentle merging mixture of browns,

fawns and chestnut. It nests in hayfields and feeds on insects and small animals. The most striking thing about it is the male's loud,

monotonous, tuneless call. Almost mechanical - certainly not musical - it consists of a harsh crek-crek, crek-crek, crek-crek, a kind of

staccato metallic sawing which goes on day and night throughout the nesting season.


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One region notorious for its quicksands is Morecambe Bay, England. As the bay is very broad and shallow, a person trapped by the

quicksand would be exposed to the danger of the returning tide, which can come in rapidly.


WILLIAM:

O my own true love!

O my own true love!

Can you hear me love?


MARGARET:



And I may swoon from all this swelling


Becky Stark: voice

Colin Meloy: electric guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, voice

Chris Funk: electric guitarJenny Conlee: piano, Hammond B-3 organ

Nate Query: electric bass

John Moen: the drums, backing voice

"The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)" - 4:26

WILLIAM:

And here I am softer than a showerAnd here I am to garland you with flowers

To lay you down in a clover bed

The stars a roof above our heads

And all my life Ive never felt the tremor

All my life that now disturbs my fingers

Ill lay you down in a clover bed


And well lie til the corncrake crows

Bereft the weight of our summer clothes

And Id wager all

The hazards of love

The hazards of love

Take my hand, cradle it in your hand

Take my hand. Feel the pull. The quicksand.

Ill lay you down in a clover bed



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And well lie til the corncrake crows

Bereft the weight of our summer clothes

And Id wager all

The hazards of love

The hazards of love

The firefly primarily uses its light in mating ceremonies. Mature fireflies which emit light have extremely short life spans of two to three

weeks and are traditionally regarded as a symbol of impermanence, which resonates with much of classical Japanese tradition (as with

cherry blossoms). Fireflies are also symbolic of the human soul ("Hitodama"), which is depicted as a floating, flickering fireball.

In the language of flowers, the thistle (like the burr) is an ancient Celtic symbol of nobility of character as well as of birth, for the

wounding or provocation of a thistle yields punishment.

A thorny plant with a beautiful flower, the national symbol of Scotland. It's thorns symbolize both evil and protection. In Christianity it

represents the suffering of Christ.

La petite mort, French for "the little death", is a metaphor for orgasm.


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Colin Meloy: voice, acoustic guitar, electric guitarChris Funk: electric guitar, percussion

Jenny Conlee: piano, Hammond B-3 organ


John Moen: the drums , percussion

Becky Stark: backing voice

"The Queen's Approach" - 0:29

~Instrumental~

"Isn't It a Lovely Night?" - 3:39

MARGARET:

Isnt it a lovely night?

And so alive with fireflies providing us their holy light

And here we made a bed of boughs

And thistledown that we had found to lay upon the dewy ground

And isnt it a lovely way

We got in from our play

Isnt it babe? A sweet little baby

WILLIAM:

Wasnt it a lovely breeze

That swept the leaves of arbor eaves

And bent to brush our blushing knees?

M & W:

And here we died our little deaths

And we were left to catch our breaths

So swiftly lifting from our chests

And isnt it a lovely way

We got in from our play

Isnt it babe? A sweet little baby

Becky Stark: voice


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Chris Funk: pedals teel guitar, synthesizer

Jenny Conlee: accordion



pall

noun 1. a cloth, often of velvet, for spreading over a coffin, bier, or tomb.

2. a coffin.

3. anything that covers, shrouds, or overspreads, esp. with darkness or gloom.

4. Ecclesiastical. a. pallium (def. 2b).

b. a linen cloth or a square cloth-covered piece of cardboard used to cover a chalice.

5. Heraldry. pairle.

6. Archaic. a cloth spread upon an altar corporal.

7. Archaic. a garment, esp. a robe, cloak, or the like.

In Irish mythology Finn mac Cumhail, the legendary leader of Ireland's heroic band of warriors known as the Fianna, cornered a

beautiful white deer, which his hounds then refused to dispatch. That night Finn was visited by the goddess Sadb, who explained that

a spell had turned her into the deer Finn had chased, a spell from which his love could release her. Though they became lovers, the

magician who cast the spell reclaimed Sadb when Finn was away repelling a Viking raid on Dublin, and though the Fianna searched the

land, Sadb could not be found. Some years later however, another of Finn mac Cumhail's hunting sorties tracked down a naked, long

haired boy whom once again his hounds refused to kill. The boy did not know his father but knew his mother to be a gentle hind who

lived in fear of another man. Details of the story convinced Finn that this was his son, and he named him Oisin, meaning fawn. Oisin too

became a heroic Fenian warrior, though he also inherited some of his mother's gentler arts and was acknowledged as Ireland's greatest

poet.

"The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid" - 6:27

WILLI AM:

Mother I can hear your footfall now

A soft disturbance in the deadfall how

It precedes you like a black smoke pall

Still the wanting comes in waves

And you delivered me from danger, then

Pulled my cradle from the reedy glen

Swore to save me from the world of men


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In waves, and waves

And the wanting comes in waves


And I want this night


QUEEN:

How I made you

I wrought you

I pulled you

From ore I labored you

From cancer I cradled you

And now: this is how I am repaid?

This is how I am repaid?

Remember when I found you

The miseries that hounded you

And I gave you motion

Anointed with lotions

And now: this is how I am repaid?

This is how I am repaid?

WILLIAM:

Mother hear this proposition right

Grant me freedom to enjoy this night

And Ill return to you at break of light

For the wanting comes in waves

And waves, and waves




And you owe me life

And you owe me life

QUEEN:

And if I grant youThis favor to hand you

Your life for the evening


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A rake is defined as a man that is habituated to immoral conduct. Rakes are frequently stock characters in novels. Often a rake is a man

who wastes his (usually inherited) fortune on gambling, wine, women and song, incurring lavish debts in the process. The rake is also

frequently a cad: a man who seduces a young woman and impregnates her before leaving, often to her social or financial ruin. To call

the character a rake calls attention to his promiscuity and wild spending of money to call the character a cad implies a callous seducer

who coldly breaks his victim's heart. These men are also known as heels. A bounder is an 'ill-bred, unscrupulous man', the social

inferior of the cad.

The boy's name Isaiah is of Hebrew origin, and its meaning is "salvation of God the Lord helps me". Biblical: one of the major prophets

and writer of the Book of Isaiah.

The girl's name Charlotte is of French origin, and its meaning is "little and womanly". Feminine dimunitive of Charles, used in England

since the 17th century, and made popular by Queen Charlotte, George III's wife (19th century). The boy's name Charles is of Old German

origin, and its meaning is "free man".

Dawn is a female given name. It is of Old English origin, and it's meaning is the first appearance of light, daybreak.

Myfanwy means "my woman" from the Welsh prefix my "my" combined with banw "woman". Myfanwy ( annwyl, beloved) is a

popular Welsh song, composed by Joseph Parry and first published in 1875. Parry wrote the music to lyrics written by Richard Davies

('Mynyddog' 1833-77). Some sources say it was written with Parry's childhood sweetheart, Myfanwy Llywellyn, in mind, although the

lyrics were probably inspired by

I will re-take by morning

And so: consider it your debt repaid

Consider it your debt repaid

Colin Meloy: voice, electric guitar, acoustic guitar

Shara Worden: voice, backing voice

Chris Funk: electric guitar, synthesizer

Jenny Conlee: harpsichord, piano, Hammond B-3 organ


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Nate Query: electric bass, upright bass

John Moen: the drums, percussion

"An Interlude" - 1:40

~Instrumental~

Colin Meloy: acoustic guitar

Robyn Hitchcock: electric guitar

Chris Funk: bouzouki

"The Rake's Song" - 3:16

R A K E:

I had entered into a marriage

In the summer of my twenty-first year

And the bells rang for our wedding

Only now do I remember it clear

All right, all right, all right!

No more a rake and no more a bachelor

I was wedded and it whetted my thirst

Until her womb started spilling out babies

Only then did I reckon my curse


First came Isaiah with his crinkled little fingers

Then came Charlotte and that wretched girl Dawn

Ugly Myfanwy died on delivery

Mercifully taking her mother along


What can one do when one is a widower

Shamefully saddled with three little pests

All that I wanted was the freedom of a new lifeSo my burden I began to divest


Charlotte I buried after feeding her foxglove

Dawn was easy: she was drowned in the baththe fourteenth-century love-story of Myfanwy Fychan of Dinas Brn, Llangollen and the poet Hywel ab Einion. That story was also the

subject of the popular poem, 'Myfanwy Fychan' (1858), by John Ceiriog Hughes (1832-87).

Foxglove plants are among the most poisonous plants commonly grown.


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Druantia is a goddess associated mostly with trees. Three trees that are most often associated with her are fir, oak, and evergreen. In

pagan mythology Druantia is a fir tree goddess. Her name is believed to be derived from the Celtic word for oak trees, "drus" or "deru".

She is known as "Queen of the Druids". She is a goddess of fertility for both plants & humans, ruling over sexual activities & passion.

She also rules protection, trees, protection of trees, knowledge, creativity. Archetypally she is an aspect of the eternal mother as seen

in the evergreen boughs.

Isaiah fought but was easily bested

Burned his body for incurring my wrath



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And thats how I came your humble narrator

To be living so easy and free

I expect that you think that I should be haunted*

But it never really bothers me



Shara Worden: yellingNate Query: electric bass

Jenny Conlee: the drums

Chris Funk, John Moen: the drums, percussion, yelling

"The Abduction of Margaret" - 2:07

FIRST VOICE:

And all the while whispering arbors provide cover

What previous witnessed ardors of our lovers

Our heroine here falls prey to her abductor!

All agallop with Margaret slung rude cross withers

Having clamped her innocent fingers in fetters

This villain must calculate crossing the wild river!

Colin Meloy: voice, electric guitar

Chris Funk: electric guitar, synthesizer, piano, hammered dulcimer




"The Queen's Rebuke/The Crossing" - 3:56

QUEEN:

Im made of bones of the branches, the boughs, and the brow-beating light

While my feet are the trunks and my head is the canopy high

And my fingers extend to the leaves and the eaves and the brightBrightest shine, its my shine

And he was a baby abandoned, entombed in a cradle of clay*

And I was the soul who took pity and stole him away

And gave him the form of a fawn to inhabit by day

Brightest day, its my day

And you have removed this temptation thats troubled my innocent child

To abduct and abuse and to render her rift and defiled


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The River Annan (Uisge Annan in Gaelic) is a river in southwest Scotland. It rises at the foot of Hart Fell, five miles north of Moffat. A

second fork rises on Annanhead Hill and flows through the Devil's Beef Tub before joining at the Hart Fell fork north of Moffat.

wreck (n.) 1228, "goods cast ashore after a shipwreck, flotsam," from Anglo-Fr. wrec, from O.N. *wrek (cf. Norw., Icel. rek) "wreck,flotsam," related to reka "to drive, push" (see wreak). The meaning "a shipwreck" is first recorded 1463 that of "a wrecked ship" is from

1500. General sense of "remains of anything that has been ruined" is recorded from 1713 applied by 1795 to dissipated persons. The

verb meaning "to destroy, ruin" is first recorded 1510. Wreckage is first attested 1837.

wrack

noun 1. wreck or wreckage.

2. damage or destruction: wrack and ruin.

3. a trace of something destroyed: leaving not a wrack behind.

4. seaweed or other vegetation cast on the shore.

Bones symbolize belief in resurrection, and crossed thigh-bones is the well known symbol of mortality. Bones were often used in the

arms of exalted members of hitherto persecuted minorities. The skull was an emblem born by the Thracians.

But the river is deep to the banks and the water is wildBut I will fly you the far side

Shara Worden: voice

Colin Meloy: electric guitar

Chris Funk: electric guitar, baritone guitar





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"Annan Water" - 5:12

WILLIAM:

Annan water, you loom so deep and wide

I would cross over if you would stem the tide

Or build a boat that I might ford the other sideTo reach the farther shore where my true love lies in wait for me

In wait for me, in wait for me, in wait for me

O gray river, your waters ramble wild

The horses shiver and bite against the bridle

But I will cross if mine own horse is pulled from me

Though my mother cries that if I try, I sure will drown-ed be

Will drown-ed be, will drown-ed be, will drown-ed be

But if you calm and let me pass

You may render me a wreck* when I come back

So calm your waves and slow the churn

And you may have my precious bones on my return

Annan water, oh hear my true love call

Hear her holler above your waters pall

God that I could, that my two arms could give me wing

And I would cross your breadth and wrap my breast about her amber ring

Her amber ring, her amber ring, her amber ring

But if you calm and let me pass

You may render me a wreck when I come back

So calm your waves and slow the churn


And you may have my precious bones

And I will call your depths my home



Chris Funk: mandolin, hurdy-gurdy, autoharp, synthesizer,

marxophone, hammered dulcimerJenny Conlee: accordion, Hammond B-3 organ


John Moen: hand drum, percussion


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Swans are often a symbol of love or fidelity because of their long-lasting monogamous relationships.

"Margaret in Captivity" - 3:08

R A K E:

I have snipped your wingspan

My precious captive swan

Here all clipped of kickstand

You spirit wont last long

Dont you lift a finger

Dont you snap and jaw

Limber limbs akimbo

Rest til rubbing raw

MA RGA R ET:

O my own true love

O my own true love

Can you hear me love


R A K E:

Dont hold out for rescueNone can hear your call

Til I have wrest and wrecked you

Behind these fortress walls

MA RGA R ET:

O my own true love

O my own true love



Colin Meloy: voice, acoustic guitar, electric guitar

Becky Stark: voice

Chris Funk: electric guitar

Jenny Conlee: piano, Hammond B-3 organ

Nate Query: bowed bass, electric bass, synthesizer


Jim James: backing voice



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"The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)" - 3:22

CHA LOTTE:Father Im not feeling well, the flowers me you fed


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A baby's body has about 300 bones at birth. These eventually fuse (grow together) to form the 206 bones that adults have.

chinknoun 1. a crack, cleft, or fissure: a chink in a wall.

2. a narrow opening: a chink between two

Tasted spoiled for suddenly I find that I am dead

But father dont you fear, your children all are here

Singing: O the hazards of love!

DAWN:

Papa turn the water down, the basins overflowd

The water covers everything and me left all alone

But Papa here in death I have regained my breath

To sing: O the hazards of love!

ISAIAH:

Spare the rod, youll spoil the child but Id prefer the lash

My sisters drowned and poisoned, all, and me reduced to ash

And buried in an urn*, but father, I return

Singing: O the hazards of love

Natalie Briare, Clara Ell, Joseph Ell: voices

Jenny Conlee: harpsichord

Chris Funk: synthesizerColin Meloy: percussion




"The Wanting Comes in Waves (Reprise)" - 1:31


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WILLI AM:

Here come the waves!



And the wanting comes in waves!


Colin Meloy: voice, acoustic guitarChris Funk: electric guitar

Jenny Conlee: piano, Hammond B-3 organ, harpsichord



Jim James, Shara Worden: backing voices




"The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)" - 5:57

WILLIAM:

Margaret, array the rocks around the hole before were sinking

A million stones, a million bones, a million holes within the chinkingbuildings.

Willow is known as the tree of enchantment. It is famous for its unique healing properties and is used to generate great psychic energy

as an aid in divination. The water-willow is a symbol of freedom.

Among European rural people, especially in Gaelic and Slavic folk cultures, the will-o'-the-wisps are held to be mischievous spirits of

the dead or other supernatural beings attempting to lead travellers astray. Sometimes the lights are believed to be the spirits of

unbaptized or stillborn children, flitting between heaven and hell (compare Wilis). Modern occultist elaborations bracket them with the

salamander, a type of spirit wholly independent from humans (unlike ghosts, which are presumed to have been humans at some point in

the past).

And painting rings around your eyes, these peppered holes

So filled with crying

A whisper-weight upon the tattered down where you and I

Were lying.

So tell me now, O tell me this: a forests son, a rivers daughter

A willow wand, a will-o-wisp, our ghosts will wander all of the water

W & M:

So lets be married here today, these rushing waves to bear our witness

And we will lie like river stones, rolling only where it takes us

But I pulled you and I called you here

(Didnt I, didnt I, didnt I)

And I caught you and I brought you here



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But these hazards of love

Never more will trouble us

WILLIAM:

O Margaret the lapping waves are licking quietly at our ankles

Another bow, another breath this brilliant chill has come to shackle

W & M:But with this long, last rush of air lets speak our vows in starry whisper

And when the waves came crashing down, he closed his eyes

And softly kissed her

But I pulled you and I called you here


And I caught you and I brought you here


But these hazards of love

Never more will trouble us

Colin Meloy: voice, acoustic guitar, Nashville guitar

Chris Funk: pedal steel guitar, banjo

Jenny Conlee: piano, Hammond B-3 organ, marxophone



Becky Stark, Rebecca Gates, Jim James: backing voices




All songs written by Colin Meloy, except Prelude by Jenny Conlee

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Lazy Analysis of The Decemberists "Hazards of Love"