{"id":1312,"date":"2011-11-22T11:43:26","date_gmt":"2011-11-22T19:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/?p=1312"},"modified":"2015-01-12T09:31:51","modified_gmt":"2015-01-12T17:31:51","slug":"the-annotated-decemberists-no-6-the-apology-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/2011\/11\/the-annotated-decemberists-no-6-the-apology-song\/","title":{"rendered":"The Annotated Decemberists No. 6: &#8220;The Apology Song&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/anotateddecemberists.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-641\" title=\"The Annotated Decemberists\" src=\"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/anotateddecemberists-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/anotateddecemberists-300x300.jpg 300w, http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/anotateddecemberists-150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/anotateddecemberists.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Perhaps no band\u2019s lyrics better lend themselves to pseudo-academic analysis than those of The Decemberists.\u00a0<a href=\"..\/category\/overanalyzing-pop-culture\/the-annotated-decemberists\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Annotated Decemberists<\/a>\u00a0is an attempt to puzzle through the Portland, Oregon, group\u2019s entire catalog song by song\u2014examining all the obscure vocabulary, historical references and poetic subtext\u2014or go crazy trying.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ve arrived at the sixth and final entry from The Decemberists&#8217; debut EP, <em>Five Songs.<\/em> Yes, you read that right. There are six songs on <em>Five Songs.<\/em> When the band initially self-released the recording in 2001, it had but five tracks. Then <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hushrecords.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Hush Records<\/a> re-released it in 2003 with &#8220;The Apology Song&#8221; as a contradictory addition.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Apology&#8221; is as straightforward as a Decemberists song gets. Colin Meloy has said repeatedly when performing it in concert\u2014including a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/templates\/story\/story.php?storyId=5171264\" target=\"_blank\">solo acoustic performance<\/a> archived at NPR&#8217;s All Songs Considered\u2014that it is a completely true story.<!--more--><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;This song was actually written with a specific utility in mind. It was sung over the phone to somebody in England, apologizing for having their bicycle stolen.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In a deliciously ironic epilogue to the tale, Meloy has also said that he eventually found the stolen bicycle and returned it to its owner, only to accidentally crush it later on while trying to help his friend move. The moral of the story: Don&#8217;t let Colin Meloy anywhere near your bicycle.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Apology Song&#8221;<\/strong><br \/>\nfrom <em>5 Songs<\/em> (2003)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZctK51RwK8A\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m really sorry, Steven<a class=\"fn-ref-mark\" href=\"#footnote-1\" id=\"refmark-1\"><sup>[1]<\/sup><\/a><br \/>\nBut your bicycle\u2019s been stolen<br \/>\nI was watching it for you<br \/>\n\u2018Til you came back in the fall<br \/>\nGuess I didn\u2019t do a good job after all<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1316\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1316\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carsonellis.com\/portfolio\/madeleine.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1316\" title=\"madeleine\" src=\"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/madeleine-300x252.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"252\" srcset=\"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/madeleine-300x252.jpg 300w, http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/madeleine.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1316\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fig. 1: &quot;Madeleine,&quot; a sketch by Carson Ellis for the liner notes of The Decemberists&#39; album Castaways and Cutouts. (via carsonellis.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>I was feeling really sorry, Steven<br \/>\nAnd I spent all morning grieving<br \/>\nAnd everybody\u2019s saying<br \/>\nThat you\u2019ll take the news gracefully<br \/>\nSomehow I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll be getting off so easily<\/p>\n<p>I meant her<a class=\"fn-ref-mark\" href=\"#footnote-2\" id=\"refmark-2\"><sup>[2]<\/sup><\/a> no harm<br \/>\nWhen I left her unlocked<br \/>\nOutside the Orange Street Food Farm<a class=\"fn-ref-mark\" href=\"#footnote-3\" id=\"refmark-3\"><sup>[3]<\/sup><\/a><br \/>\nI was just running in<br \/>\nDidn\u2019t think I\u2019d be that long<br \/>\nI came out, she was gone<br \/>\nAnd all that was there was some bored old dog<br \/>\nLeashed up to the place where your bicycle had been<a class=\"fn-ref-mark\" href=\"#footnote-4\" id=\"refmark-4\"><sup>[4]<\/sup><\/a><br \/>\nGuess we\u2019ll never see poor Madeleine again<\/p>\n<p>Let this be consolation, Steven<br \/>\nThat all the while you were in England<br \/>\nI treated her with care and respect<br \/>\nAnd gave<a class=\"fn-ref-mark\" href=\"#footnote-5\" id=\"refmark-5\"><sup>[5]<\/sup><\/a> her lots of love<br \/>\nAnd I was usually pretty good \u2019bout locking her up<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1315\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1315\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.daemonsmovies.com\/2009\/12\/09\/hesher-movie-photos-with-natalie-portman-joseph-gordon-levitt\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1315\" title=\"hesher2-550x365\" src=\"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/hesher2-550x365-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/hesher2-550x365-300x199.jpg 300w, http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/hesher2-550x365.jpg 550w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1315\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fig. 1: Joseph Gordon-Levitt in &quot;Hesher.&quot; (via daemonsmovies.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Where has she gone?<br \/>\nWell, I bet she\u2019s on the bottom of a Frenchtown pond<a class=\"fn-ref-mark\" href=\"#footnote-6\" id=\"refmark-6\"><sup>[6]<\/sup><\/a><br \/>\nRudely abused on some hescher\u2019s<a class=\"fn-ref-mark\" href=\"#footnote-7\" id=\"refmark-7\"><sup>[7]<\/sup><\/a> joyride<br \/>\nSo I wrote you this song<br \/>\nIn the hope that you\u2019d forgive me<br \/>\nEven though it was wrong<br \/>\nBeing so careless with a thing so great<br \/>\nAnd taking your poor Madeleine away, away<\/p>\n<div id=\"footnote-list\" style=\"display:inherit\"><span id=fn-heading>Exegesis Manifest<\/span> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(&uarr; returns to text)<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li id=\"footnote-1\" class=\"fn-text\">The actual name of the friend who asked Meloy to watch his bicycle<a href=\"#refmark-1\">&uarr;<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"footnote-2\" class=\"fn-text\">Referring to a cherished vehicle is one of the only occasions in the English language when it is acceptable to use a gendered pronoun for an inanimate object, an extension of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wisegeek.com\/why-are-boats-called-she.htm\" target=\"_blank\">the tradition of sailors attributing a benevolent female spirit to their ship<\/a>. Indeed, as we learn in a few lines, the bicycle even had a female name: Madeleine.<a href=\"#refmark-2\">&uarr;<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"footnote-3\" class=\"fn-text\">A <a href=\"http:\/\/www.orangestreetfoodfarm.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">supermarket<\/a> in Missoula, Montana, where Meloy lived before moving to Portland and forming The Decemberists, meaning this song predates the band.<a href=\"#refmark-3\">&uarr;<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"footnote-4\" class=\"fn-text\">Did the thief abandon his dog in favor of the bicycle? No. Probably not. Still, if I were Meloy, I would have taken the dog in for questioning.<a href=\"#refmark-4\">&uarr;<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"footnote-5\" class=\"fn-text\">The official lyrics at <a href=\"http:\/\/decemberists.com\/epsingle\/5-songs\/\" target=\"_blank\">decemberists.com<\/a> have this as &#8220;have,&#8221; but I&#8217;m about 99 percent sure that&#8217;s a typo.<a href=\"#refmark-5\">&uarr;<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"footnote-6\" class=\"fn-text\"><a href=\"http:\/\/visitmt.com\/categories\/moreinfo.asp?IDRRecordID=3076&amp;siteid=1\" target=\"_blank\">Frenchtown Pond State Park<\/a> is a &#8220;five-acre, spring-fed lake (with) a maximum depth of about ten feet (and) a variety of fish-sunfish, bass and bullhead&#8221; about 15 miles west of Missoula.<a href=\"#refmark-6\">&uarr;<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"footnote-7\" class=\"fn-text\">It&#8217;s not clear if this is what Meloy means, but &#8220;hesher&#8221; is slang for a mullet-sporting, pot-smoking heavy metal enthusiast. Chuck Klosterman used the term in a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2002\/12\/29\/magazine\/29RAMONE.html\" target=\"_blank\">2002 essay<\/a> on the death of Ratt guitarist Robbin Crosby, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt played an archetypal hesher in the 2010 film &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hesherthemovie.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Hesher<\/a>.&#8221; The word&#8217;s origins are unclear, but <a href=\"http:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=5GpLcC4a5fAC&amp;pg=PA710&amp;lpg=PA710&amp;dq=%22jonathon+green%22+hesher&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=2yfOW9kmCa&amp;sig=mHGy7Im9uuOlxIp1f2VesbdUxPg&amp;hl=en&amp;ei=ffPLToncA6ffiAK95MDGCw&amp;sa=X&amp;oi=book_result&amp;ct=result&amp;resnum=2&amp;ved=0CCwQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\">Cassell&#8217;s Dictionary of Slang<\/a> says it dates back to the &#8217;80s and could be a combination of &#8220;heavy metal&#8221; and &#8220;thrash.&#8221; Other theories abound. Rooting around online, I found folks who insisted it was derived from skateboarding culture (where skaters are either <a href=\"http:\/\/www.caughtinthecrossfire.com\/skate\/skate-news\/hesh-vs-fresh\/\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;hesh&#8221; or &#8220;fresh&#8221;<\/a>) and a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.odps.org\/glossword\/index.php?a=term&amp;d=4&amp;t=14803\" target=\"_blank\">persistent theory<\/a> that it is a reference to <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Hessian_%28soldiers%29\" target=\"_blank\">Hessians<\/a>, German mercenaries who fought for the British during the Revolutionary War.<a href=\"#refmark-7\">&uarr;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n\n<!-- Share-Widget Button BEGIN -->\n<a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" myshare_id=\"mys_shareit\" myshare_url=\"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/2011\/11\/the-annotated-decemberists-no-6-the-apology-song\/\" myshare_title=\"The Annotated Decemberists No. 6: &#8220;The Apology Song&#8221;\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\" return false;\" style=\"text-decoration:none; color:#000000; font-size:11px; line-height:20px;\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-content\/plugins\/share-widget\/img\/share-button-white-small.png\" height=\"20\" alt=\"Share\" style=\"border:0\"\/><\/a>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n<!--\nvar _myssmw=true;\n\n\/\/-->\n<\/script>\n<!-- Share-Widget Button END -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The sixth and final entry from The Decemberists&#8217; debut EP, Five Songs. Yes, you read that right. There are six songs on Five Songs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[836,94,291],"tags":[535,537,534,538,536,296,89],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1312"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1321,"href":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1312\/revisions\/1321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}