Tag Archives: deserter’s songs

#999: Mercury Rev – Opus 40

Leave a reply

I can sort of remember listening through Deserter’s Songs that first time round. How I came upon it was by going through the best albums of 1998, according to the website besteveralbums.com. Why that year? I couldn’t tell you. It had also received a 9.3 out of 10 rating on Pitchfork. As an avid follower of the site during that time, 2013/14, it only made sense that I should hear what it was all about. If Pitchfork said so, it must be good, right? Jeez, that place has changed. They weren’t wrong though. ‘Opus 40’ arrives in the centre of Deserter’s Songs. Not to say that I wasn’t a fan of the track on the first listen. I do recall thinking the chorus was nice. But it was the revisits from then on that properly unveiled how great the whole thing was.

The lyrical matter is actually very dark. Seems to be about a woman who’s terribly sad and tries to kill herself on multiple occasions but never dies. Mentions of ‘scratching her wrists’, ‘collapsing down upon the ocean floor’ and the obvious ‘Woke up and climbed from the suicide machine’ would probably lend to that interpretation, suffice to say. Despite all this, the music surrounding it is some of the most gracious and elevating pieces put to tape. Strings, maybe oboes/clarinets, trippy synths and an organ solo. Every instrument that you wouldn’t usually associate with a traditional rock band. They’re all in there. The music video only provides what I assume to be the radio edit, but the album provides an extended outro where the music settles down accompanied by harmonising backing vocalists and a whistling solo. It’s a beautiful take on the usual sad lyrics/happy music dynamic.

The track itself also serves as a bit of an ode to the music of the The Band and the Catskill Mountains in New York. How so, you might ask Well, this article gives a band-given recollection of how the track came to be. Reading it, it seemed to be generally good times when recording the track. How could it not be with the OG Levon Helm drumming on the song that you wrote as an homage for his band. Can only imagine the satisfaction. Yep, this is a good one. I’m also aware that the next song will be the 1000th entry on here. Big cheers. Stay tuned.

My iPod #550: Mercury Rev – Hudson Line

Leave a reply

There are three figures that normally come to my mind when Mercury Rev is in discussion. The first being Jonathan Donahue, original member who turned frontman after the band’s original singer left. Next is Dave Fridmann, the band’s bassist and main producer – a man who has looked over album recordings by The Flaming Lips, Spoon, and Sleater-Kinney. Last but not least comes Sean Thomas Mackiowack, commonly referred to as “Grasshopper”, the band’s shades-wearing lead guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. Today’s song “Hudson Line” was written by him, and it is the sixth track on the band’s 1999 album Deserter’s Songs.

Here, Grasshopper sings about having to leave a beautiful city where silver clouds are chased away by satellites and children play with kites and balloons. In contrast to Donahue’s high-pitched and nasally vocals, Grasshopper sings his lyrics with a wistful low whisper, repeating the simple lullaby-like melody in the verses and chorus. Deserter’s Songs is an album of grandiose instrumentation; “Hudson Line” doesn’t stray from that concept, and really adds to it with raspy saxophones and groovy keyboard licks. The vocals end after the second repetition of the chorus. That comes just past the song’s midway point, leaving another minute and a half of beautiful string arrangements and synths.

My iPod #444: Mercury Rev – Goddess on a Hiway

Leave a reply

I have a vivid memory of watching the music video for this song on the TV, years before I really knew who Mercury Rev were or properly listened to Deserter’s Songs, and thinking that it was one of the most depressing ones I’d seen in a very long time. In it, three members from the band go out camping in a landscape dominated by dull shades of grey while front man Jonathan Donahue mouths the lyrics with a solemn and sad appearance on his face. And at the end of it is assumed that he lets himself drown in the pond whilst the other two members look out at the stranded boat he was once in. I can’t specifically remember how old I was then, but it was a downer to witness at a young age.

It still is at nineteen years of living. But the visuals do accompany the music very well, so I can’t complain. “Goddess” was released as the first single from 1999’s Deserter’s Songs a few months after the album’s release, though the song’s creation goes as far back as 1989 when Donahue was still a member of fellow band The Flaming Lips. The lyrics on that version are basically the same, but recorded very hastily I guess on with very limited resources. But it was on Deserter’s Songs where it got proper treatment like all of the other songs and was recorded finely with a range of instrumentation.

Starting off with a lone piano and bass, “Goddess” follows the dynamic of the ‘quiet verse/loud chorus’. Donahue sings rather softly accompanied by the rhythm section and aforementioned piano before exploding into the chorus where every other instrument bursts into the mix from a whimsical recorder to distorted guitars. The title is played with a bit too which is quite noteworthy. It isn’t until the last verse that the title is actually uttered, but at the beginning the lyric states “I got us on a highway” which… I don’t know why it always strikes me when it gets to that last verse.

It is a haunting listen. One which requires much attention. Great song from a great album.

My iPod #328: Mercury Rev – Endlessly

Leave a reply

“Deserter’s Songs” is an album that I have only listened to quite recently. A few months ago, I think. Seeing that it was called one of the best albums of 1998 by a few websites increased my curiosity.

It is a lovely one to listen to. The instrumentation varies from one track to another. One minute you will be listening to three minutes of flutes and twinkling harps, the next you’ll be hearing to raspy saxophones and loud electric guitars.

“Endlessly” is a song that makes use of the lush, woodwind, acoustic atmosphere. I have never really paid attention to the lyrics just because of how damn sweet it sounds. Reminds me of something from a Disney film. I don’t mean that as an insult, but I could really imagine this, “Tonite It Shows” and “Hudson Line” all being sung in a Walt Disney Picture. Like Aladdin or something.