"The Hazards Of Love" - The Decemberists (2009)

17 songs. 58 minutes 46 seconds. 1 story. Not a single gap between songs, every song flowing directly into the next. I have been waiting excitedly to write about this album since the day I decided to start this blog. I hope like hell I can do it justice.

There are very few albums which I remember exactly when I heard them the first time. The first time I listened to this, I had borrowed it from the library. I had only heard a couple songs by The Decemberists at that point, and wanted to check out more. I borrowed this album as well as "The King Is Dead" and "Picaresque," both of which I thought were solid. Neither of them affected me the way "The Hazards Of Love" did. The first time I played this album, I did something I have never done with another album, before or since - when it ended, I turned the radio off, and drove in silence for almost half an hour, trying to fully absorb what I'd just heard.

The first time I listened to this album, I think it was four or five songs in before I even realized each song was leading directly into the next. Each song has its own sound and tempo, of course. The way they flow - nearly seamlessly, in most cases - makes for such an amazing listening experience; while all part of one overreaching story, each song has its own feel, its own story.

One of the things that really drew me to The Decemberists when I first heard them was the lyrics. (Huge shock, I know.) Lead singer Colin Meloy is an absolutely brilliant lyricist, able to paint immense pictures with his words. While there have been some Decemberists songs I've disliked, the lyrics have not once been the reason for not liking them, it's always the music. Always.

As I said, "The Hazards Of Love" is one long story. There are three main characters, Margaret, the heroine, who finds a wounded fawn. She helps the animal, which turns into the second main character, William, a shapeshifter and immortal. The third main character is the Forest Queen, who is William's mother. She's a tiny bit of a bitch. The one minor character, introduced about half way through the album, is called The Rake. He's pretty easy to hate, as you'll see later, when he's introduced.

I want so badly to just go through the plot of the story, but I couldn't possibly do it justice, especially with how little sleep I've gotten lately, and with a lot of stuff I've got going on right now, so here's a link to the Wikipedia page for the album, which has a pretty great breakdown. Read it if you get a chance. Seriously, the story told on this album is pretty fantastic.

I would also love to go song by song through the album. Instead, I will hit on my favorite parts of the album, and leave it up to you if you'd like to check out the full album yourself. (I really hope you do.)

Onward to the album, yes?

There are several instrumentals on the album, beginning with "Prelude," which starts the album. It's rather haunting, especially because the first 45 seconds or so, it's hard to tell if it has even started. It takes just over three minutes to fully build up, and flows with no seam whatsoever into "The Hazards Of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won't Wrestle The Thistles Undone)." This song is where Margaret and the fawn are introduced. My favorite lyrics in this song are when she's fixing the fawn's legs:

She, being full of charity,

A credit to her sex,

Sought to right the fawn's hind legs

When here her plans were vexed

(Yeah, this is difficult to not just go through the story song by song.)

After two more songs ("A Bower Scene" and "Won't Want For Love (Margaret In The Taiga)") comes "The Hazards Of Love 2 (Wager All)" which may be one of the prettiest parts of the album. Oddly, the lyrics are among the weakest of the album, in my opinion. After the second instrumental, the very short "The Queen's Approach" (which is only around 30 seconds long) comes "Isn't It A Lovely Night," a duet between the Margaret and William characters. It's another pretty song. Not one of my favorites though. The woman who sings the parts of Margaret... her voice really annoys me.

Next is "The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid," which is a back and forth between William and the Forest Queen. When William is singing, the music is calm and relaxed; when it's the Forest Queen's turn, it's much more aggressive (remember, she's a bitch).

Next is my favorite instrumental on the album, "An Interlude." (Side note - I just found out when I read that Wikipedia article about the album that Robyn Hitchcock plays guitar on this song. I kinda dig him. Have since high school.)

So. Remember when I said The Rake was easy to hate? Here's why. He is finally introduced, in the aptly named "The Rake's Song." This song is fucked up.

The Rake is telling this story of how he got married and had kids. Great, right? Yeah... this song goes dark as dark can possibly get, when he starts killing off his own children. Like... seriously. This. Song. Is. Fucked. Up.

It's also my favorite on the album. I've included the lyric version, because seriously, you need to get the whole picture of this song.

Yep.

Okay then. Onward. "The Abduction Of Margaret" and "The Queen's Rebuke/The Crossing" are next, which has probably the most flawless transition between two songs that I've ever heard. And due to the tempo of "The Abduction Of Margaret" there's not really a chance to come down after "The Rake's Song." It's somewhat terrible and somewhat brilliant.

"Annan Water"' finally brings the mood back down a little. It's a song from William's point of view, in which he's singing to the river. He's trying to follow the Forest Queen and The Rake, who have abducted Margaret and fled (told in the two preceding songs).

I love the chorus of this song. William is bargaining with the river that if the waters calm enough for him to cross and rescue Margaret, the river can have his body when he dies.

But if you cull 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

I adore the way the chorus is both written and sung. A terribly pretty song.

In "Margaret In Captivity" The Rake seems to be mentally torturing Margaret ("I have snipped your wingspan/ My precious captive swan./ Here, all clipped of kickstand/ Your spirit won't last long.") The chorus is her calling out for William.

"The Hazards Of Love 3 (Revenge!)" sees The Rake's children coming back to haunt him -

Father I'm not feeling well

The flowers me you fed

Tasted spoiled for suddenly

I find that I am dead

But father don't you fear

Your children all are here

Ironic, since the finale of "The Rake's Song" has him saying, "Guess you think that I should be haunted/ But it's never really bothered me." This kind of call back is part of what I love so much about Colin Meloy's lyrics.

In the final two songs, "The Wanting Comes In Waves (Reprise)" and "The Hazards Of Love 4 (The Drowned)" Margaret and William make their escape and say their marriage vows as the river claims them. This is a gorgeous ending to the album, lyrically and musically, one of the definite high points.

While concept albums were relatively common in the late '60s and into the '70s (Think "The Wall," "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway," "Tommy"), they are pretty rare these days. To find such an absolute gem of a concept album made within the last decade was a surprising treat. While there aren't many songs on this album that can stand alone, the few that do are quite stellar.

"The Hazards Of Love" still gives me pause any time I sit and really focus on it as I listen to it. I truly hope some of you give it a listen. There are certainly worse ways to spend an hour of your day.