This thread is in appreciation of The Decemberists third album, Picaresque!

In the Spring of 2005, The Decemberists released their third studio album to acclaim. Picaresque is a lyrically satisfying and narratively rich record. It captures vignettes, snapshots of the lives of disjoint characters. The wealthy, the powerful, the destitute, and the desperate all take turns sadly regaling the listener or pleading with him. Many of the stories told are first person, making for a much more intimate setting. Additionally, to those bothered by the poetic nature of the earlier albums, the actual word choice and sentence complexity here is simplified. Not that this is strictly a good thing on it's own, but that it's an easier place to start with in their discography. That said, I believe the combination of (slightly) more complex musicality and (slightly) simpler lyrics of Picaresque makes for a stronger album than the simpler songs with lyrics that you needed a (French) dictionary and undergrad philosophy student for.

While much can be discussed and debated regarding the lyrics, the musicality of the recording isn't to be overlooked. Front man Colin Meloy challenged the band to push their boundaries while recording this in Portland. The result speaks for itself. Several songs are structured like a symphony, often including orchestral instruments. Atypical instruments such as the accordion and hurdy-gurdy make appearances. There are a lot of treats for your ears buried in this quaint yet approachable release.

The back-to-back songs The Engine Driver and On the Bus Mall (especially gapless) make this my favorite Decemberists album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uhL1npXgTI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbKN7OrqTxQ

Something that really became apparent to me this listen was the use of the grammatical second person. The characters are speaking to (you). The listener assumes the role of the object of passion from the protagonist. (You) are the lover. (You) are leaping to your death. (You) are the son of a bitch who fucked my mother.
>I laid you down on the grass of a clearing/ You wept, but your soul was willing
>And if you don't love me let me go
>On the lam from the law, on the steps of the capitol/ You shot a plains clothes cop on the ten o'clock

It's paralyzing. It will make you feel guilty.

Would I could afford to buy my love a fine robe
Made of gold and silk arabian thread
But she is dead and gone and lying in a pine grove
And I must push my barrow all the day...

As I've been going through the companion EP, Picaresqueties. While it is excellent, I can tell why Bridges & Balloons and Constantinople didn't make the cut given their reversion to hyperliterate lyrics delivered over simple song structures. They also lack the second person voice.
>We sailed away on a winter′s day
>With fate as malleable as clay
>But ships are fallible, I say
>And the nautical, as all things, fade
>But I do recall our caravel
>A little wicker beetle shell
>With four fine masts and lateen sails
>Its bearings on Cair Paravel

It's almost comical how simple the lyrics of the chorus are.
>Oh, my love
>Oh, it was a funny little thing
>To be the ones to have seen

Only to go back to something equally as thicc as the first verse.
>The sight of bridges and balloons
>Makes calm canaries irritable
>And they caw and claw all afternoon
>Catenaries and dirigibles
>Brace and boil the living room
>A womb of metal, a warp, woof, wimble
>And a thimble's worth of milky moon
>Can beat hearts larger than a thimble

WITH THE CAPTAIN OF THE OTHER TEAM
AND ALL OF THIS IS CLEAR TO ME
THEY CONDESCEND
FIX ON ME A CROWN
OH HOW THEY LOOOOOVE
THE SPORTING LIIIIIIIIIFEEEE

The Mariner's Revenge Song is the GOAT

>>127150373
bridges and balloons is a cover, but her lyrics are that same kind of nauseating decemberist babble

>>127150500
Is it an old folk tune like when Colin does Shirley Collins?