Verse 1: I had entered into a marriage / In the summer of my twenty-first year / And the bells rang for our wedding / Only now do I remember it clear / Alright, alright, alright
Verse 2: No more a rake and no more a bachelor / I was wedded and it whetted my thirst / Until her womb started spilling out babies / Only then did I reckon my curse / Alright, alright, alright / Alright, alright, alright
Verse 3: First came Isaiah with his crinkled little fingers / Then came Charlotte and that wretched girl Dawn / Ugly Myfanwy died on delivery / Mercifully taking her mother along / Alright, alright, alright
Verse 4: What can one do when one is a widower / Shamefully saddled with three little pests? / All that I wanted was the freedom of a new life / So my burden I began to divest / Alright, alright, alright / Alright, alright, alright
Verse 5: Charlotte I buried after feeding her foxglove / Dawn was easy, she was drowned in the bath / Isaiah fought but was easily bested / Burned his body for incurring my wrath / Alright, alright, alright /
Verse 6: And that’s how I came your humble narrator / To be living so easy and free / Expect that you think that I should be haunted / But it never really bothers me / Alright, alright, alright / Alright, alright, alright
Tempted to name your next kid Myfanwy? Didn’t think so.
Only after playing this for my wife did I realize there’s probably something wrong with me for liking this one. Yup, the humble narrator murders his three kids. I believe it’s part of a larger drama that unfolds on the album, but I’ve not verified this, so, that’s fine. Go on thinking I’m a monster. The song’s entertaining, kinda like Sweeney Todd. I mean, I don’t have to agree that grinding people into sausage is a worthwhile pursuit in order to like that musical, right? Same here.
On this recording, I like that the children’s voices enter on the chorus (“alright, alright, alright…” etc.), almost like the narrator is haunted after all.
I just read that Pitchfork says it isn’t cool to like this album. Well, whatever.
Album info: The Hazards Of Love (2009)
