{"id":206,"date":"2011-01-19T22:33:21","date_gmt":"2011-01-20T06:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/?p=206"},"modified":"2015-01-12T09:31:55","modified_gmt":"2015-01-12T17:31:55","slug":"here-it-is-your-handy-dandy-decemberists-glossary-for-the-king-is-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/billchapin.net\/allthecitylights\/2011\/01\/here-it-is-your-handy-dandy-decemberists-glossary-for-the-king-is-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"Here it is, your handy dandy Decemberists glossary for “The King is Dead”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
What have you got there, Colin? Some sort of vitelline efflorescence? (by Autumn De Wilde via EMI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This has been a week for expanding the ol’ vocabulary, because I’ve been listening to the new album by The Decemberists on a constant loop\u2014or as Colin Meloy might say, on a sempiternal picot.<\/p>\n

While “The King is Dead” eschews the Dickensian\u00a0whimsey and prog-rock grandiosity that characterized previous albums, Meloy is still a man in love with the rhythm and texture of the English language. These ten country-folk tunes are sprinkled with archaic linguistic nuggets.<\/p>\n

Personally, I enjoy a band that forces me to get my Webster’s New World College Dictionary off the shelf with each new release, but for those gainfully employed fans who haven’t the time for such research, I hereby offer a reference guide, organized by song, that will allow you to decipher the new album. You’re welcome.<\/p>\n

“Don’t Carry It All”<\/span><\/h3>\n
\"Plinth\"<\/a>
Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth (by Sarah Lee via www.guardian.co.uk).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Archaic linguistic nugget:<\/strong> plinth
\nCan you use it in a sentence please?:<\/strong> “A monument to build beneath the arbors upon a plinth<\/em> that towers towards the trees.”
\nDefinition:<\/strong> “The square block at the base of a column, pedestal, etc.”
\nSo, what’s he trying to say?:<\/strong> The song is a plea to “bear your neighbor’s burden,” so \u00a0I think that spirit of cooperation is intended to be a figurative monument which, of course, needs a figurative foundation.<\/p>\n

“Calamity Song”<\/span><\/h3>\n
\"Andalusia\"<\/a>
(via www.map-of-spain.co.uk)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Archaic linguistic nugget:<\/strong> Andalusian
\nCan you use it in a sentence please?:<\/strong> “And the Andalusian<\/em> tribes, setting the lay of Nebraska alight.”
\nDefinition:<\/strong> “Of Andalusia (‘region of S. Spain on the Mediterranean & the Atlantic’), its people, or their language or culture.”
\nSo, what’s he trying to say?:<\/strong> In an apocalyptic dream, he imagines the American heartland falling to the same fate as Rome, being sacked by the Vandals and\/or Visigoths.<\/p>\n

\"Hetty<\/a>
Hetty Green (via National Women's History Museum)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Archaic linguistic nugget:<\/strong> bonhomie
\nCan you use it in a sentence please?:<\/strong> “Hetty Green, queen of supply-side, bonhomie<\/em>, bone-drab.\u00a0(Know what I mean?)”
\nDefinition:<\/strong> “Good nature; pleasant, affable manner; amiability.”
\nSo, what’s he trying to say?:<\/strong> Well, Hetty Green was the most successful female investor of the Gilded Age, but with a nickname like “The Witch of Wall Street,” she wasn’t known for bonhomie. (“Well, it’s nonsense, isn’t it?” Meloy told NPR<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\"Loam\"<\/a>
(via Osborne Nursery)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Archaic linguistic nugget:<\/strong> loam
\nCan you use it in a sentence please?:<\/strong> “When you’ve receded into loam<\/em>, and they’re picking at your bones.”
\nDefinition:<\/strong> “A rich soil, composed of clay, sand and some organic matter.”
\nSo, what’s he trying to say?:<\/strong> We’ll all be loam someday, folks.<\/p>\n

“Rox in the Box”<\/span><\/h3>\n
\"Lee<\/a>
(via yachtpals.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Archaic linguistic nugget:<\/strong> lee
\nCan you use it in a sentence please?:<\/strong> “And it’s one, two, three, on the wrong side of the lee<\/em>.”
\nDefinition:<\/strong> “A sheltered place, esp. one on that side of anything away from the wind.”
\nSo, what’s he trying to say?:<\/strong> You’re exposed to the elements, so get back in your place before you die, dummy.<\/p>\n

“Down by the Water”<\/span><\/h3>\n
\"Gabardine\"<\/a>
(via coolspotters.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Archaic linguistic nugget:<\/strong> gabardine
\nCan you use it in a sentence please?:<\/strong> “All dolled up in gabardine<\/em>, the last flash of Lita, pure 19.”
\nDefinition:<\/strong> “A cloth of wool, cotton, rayon, etc. twilled on one side and having a fine, diagonal weave, used for suits, coats, dresses, etc.”
\nSo, what’s he trying to say?:<\/strong> See, in the context of the lyrics of “America,” I’d always assumed the spy with the bow-tie camera was wearing a suit by some designer named Gabardine. Turns out it’s a fabric. Thanks, Decemberists!<\/p>\n

“June Hymn”<\/span><\/h3>\n
\"Panoply\"<\/a>
(via www.mlahanas.de)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Archaic linguistic nugget:<\/strong> panoply
\nCan you use it in a sentence please?:<\/strong> “And you were waking, and day was breaking, a\u00a0panoply<\/em> of song.”
\nDefinition:<\/strong> “Any complete or magnificent covering or array.”
\nSo, what’s he trying to say?:<\/strong> As the sun rises, the musical splendor of nature busts out all over.<\/p>\n

“Dear Avery”<\/span><\/h3>\n
\"Nape\"<\/a>
Matt Damon's nape (via Defamer)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Archaic linguistic nugget:<\/strong> nape
\nCan you use it in a sentence please?:<\/strong> “I could just grab you by the nape<\/em> of your neck.”
\nDefinition:<\/strong> “The back of the neck.”
\nSo, what’s he trying to say?:<\/strong> OK, we’ve all heard the term “nape of the neck,” but as I was describing this song to my fiancee, she asked, “What is a nape, exactly?” And I wasn’t 100 percent sure. It turns out “nape of the neck” is redundant. Still: pretty song, no?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\"Share\"<\/a>\n