It Never Really Bothers Me

The Decemberists “The Rake’s Song”

Colin Meloy’s nasal, needling, nerd-like voice tends to miss the mark when he plays the part of the heroic protagonist in his songs, but it is very well suited to portraying villains and creeps, as he does in this atypically simple verse-chorus-verse rocker from the Decemberists’ latest album of English folk/prog/metal amalgamations. “The Rake’s Song,” a tune sung from the perspective of an effete widower recounting the way he murdered his young children in order to gain freedom from responsibility, gives Meloy full license to chew the scenery, and to allow the least attractive elements of his voice to become an asset in selling the character. He sounds perfectly smug and affected, which in combination with the unrepentant creepiness of the lyrics adds up a sort of refined menace comparable to Michael Emerson work as Lost‘s primary antagonist Benjamin Linus.

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