The Decemberitsts - The Hazards of Love

The DecemberistsThe Hazards of Love

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1. Prelude J e n n y C o n l e e : H a m m o n d B - 3 o r g a n , s y n t h e s i z e rJ i m J a m e s : b a c k i n g v o i c eK e i k o A r a k i , G r e g E w e r : v i o l i n sA d a m H o o r n s t r a : v i o l aC o l l i n O l d h a m : c e l l o

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2. The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won’t Wrestle the Thistles Undone)

F I R S T V O I C E : My true love went riding out In white and green and grayPast the pale of Offa’s WallWhere she was wont to stray

And there she came upon A white and wounded fawnSinging: oh, the hazards of love

She, being full of charityA credit to her sexSought to right the fawn’s hind legsWhen here her plans were vexed

The taiga shifted strangeThe beast began to changeSinging: oh, the hazards of loveOh, the hazards of loveYou’ll learn soon enoughThe prettiest whistles won’t wrestle the thistles undoneUndone

Fifteen lithesome maidens layAlong in their bowerFourteen occupations paidTo pass the idle hourBut Margaret heaves a sighHer hands clasped to her thighSinging: oh, the hazards of loveOh the hazards of loveYou’ll learn soon enoughThe prettiest whistles won’t wrestle the thistles undoneUndone

C o l i n M e l o y : v o i c e , a c o u s t i c g u i t a r

C h r i s F u n k : t e n o r g u i t a r

J e n n y C o n l e e : W u r l i t z e r p i a n o , s y n t h e s i z e r

N a t e Q u e r y : u p r i g h t b a s s

J o h n M o e n : t h e d r u m s , b a c k i n g v o i c e

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3. A Bower Scene

S E C O N D V O I C E : “Thou unconsolable daughter,” said the sister“When wilt thou trouble the water in the cistern?And what irascible blackguard is the father?”

And when young Margaret’s waistline grew widerThe fruit of her amorous entwine inside herAnd so our heroine withdraws to the taiga

C o l i n M e l o y : v o i c e , e l e c t r i c g u i t a rC h r i s F u n k : e l e c t r i c g u i t a r, p i a n o , h a m m e r e d d u l c i m e rJ e n n y C o n l e e : H a m m o n d B - 3 o r g a nN a t e Q u e r y : b a s s g u i t a rJ o h n M o e n : t h e d r u m s

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4. Won’t Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)

M A R G A R E T: Gentle leaves, gentle leavesPlease array a path for meThe woods all growing thick and fast around

Columbine, columbinePlease alert this love of mineLet him know his Margaret comes along

And all this stirring inside my bellyWon’t quell my want for loveAnd I may swoon from all this swellingBut I won’t want for love

Mistle thrush, mistle thrushLay me down in the underbrushMy naked feet grow weary with the dusk

Willow boughs, willow boughsMake a bed to lay me downLet your branches bow to cradle us

chorus

W I L L I A M :O my own true love!O my own true love!

Can you hear me love?Can you hear me love?

chorus

B e c k y S t a r k : v o i c e

C o l i n M e l o y : e l e c t r i c g u i t a r, 1 2 - s t r i n g a c o u s t i c g u i t a r, v o i c e

C h r i s F u n k : e l e c t r i c g u i t a r

J e n n y C o n l e e : p i a n o , H a m m o n d B - 3 o r g a nN a t e Q u e r y : e l e c t r i c b a s s J o h n M o e n : t h e d r u m s , b a c k i n g v o i c e

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5. The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)

W I L L I A M :And here I am softer than a showerAnd here I am to garland you with flowersTo lay you down in a clover bedThe stars a roof above our heads

And all my life I’ve never felt the tremorAll my life — that now disturbs my fingersI’ll lay you down in a clover bedThe stars a roof above our heads

And we’ll lie ’til the corncrake crowsBereft the weight of our summer clothesAnd I’d wager allThe hazards of loveThe hazards of love

Take my hand, cradle it in your handTake my hand. Feel the pull. The quicksand.I’ll lay you down in a clover bedThe stars a roof above our headsAnd we’ll lie ’til the corncrake crowsBereft the weight of our summer clothesAnd I’d wager allThe hazards of loveThe hazards of love

C o l i n M e l o y : v o i c e , a c o u s t i c g u i t a r, e l e c t r i c g u i t a r C h r i s F u n k : e l e c t r i c g u i t a r, p e r c u s s i o n

J e n n y C o n l e e : p i a n o , H a m m o n d B - 3 o r g a nN a t e Q u e r y : e l e c t r i c b a s s

J o h n M o e n : t h e d r u m s , p e r c u s s i o nB e c k y S t a r k : b a c k i n g v o i c e

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6. The Queen’s Approach

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7. Isn’t It a Lovely Night?

M A R G A R E T:

Isn’t it a lovely night?And so alive with fireflies providing us their holy lightAnd here we made a bed of boughsAnd thistledown that we had found to lay upon the dew y ground

And isn’t it a lovely wayWe got in from our playIsn’t it babe? A sweet little baby

W I L L I A M :

Wasn’t it a lovely breezeThat swept the leaves of arbor eavesAnd bent to brush our blushing knees?

M & W:

And here we died our little deathsAnd we were left to catch our breathsSo swiftly lifting from our chests

chorus

B e c k y S t a r k : v o i c e C o l i n M e l o y : v o i c e , a c o u s t i c g u i t a r C h r i s F u n k : p e d a l s t e e l g u i t a r, s y n t h e s i z e r J e n n y C o n l e e : a c c o r d i o nN a t e Q u e r y : u p r i g h t b a s sJ o h n M o e n : t h e d r u m s

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8. The Wanting Comes in Waves / Repaid

W I L L I A M : Mother I can hear your footfall nowA soft disturbance in the deadfall howIt precedes you like a black smoke pallStill the wanting comes in waves

And you delivered me from danger, thenPulled my cradle from the reedy glenSwore to save me from the world of menStill the wanting comes in waves

In waves, and wavesAnd the wanting comes in wavesAnd the wanting comes in wavesAnd I want this nightAnd I want this night

Q U E E N :

How I made you I wrought youI pulled you

From ore I labored youFrom cancer I cradled you

And now: this is how I am repaid?This is how I am repaid?Remember when I found youThe miseries that hounded you

And I gave you motionAnointed with lotions

And now: this is how I am repaid?This is how I am repaid?

W I L L I A M :Mother hear this proposition rightGrant me freedom to enjoy this nightAnd I’ll return to you at break of lightFor the wanting comes in waves

And waves, and waves Still the wanting comes in wavesStill the wanting comes in wavesStill the wanting comes in wavesAnd you owe me lifeAnd you owe me life

Q U E E N :

And if I grant youThis favor to hand you

Your life for the eveningI will re-take by morning

And so: consider it your debt repaidConsider it your debt repaid

C o l i n M e l o y : v o i c e , e l e c t r i c g u i t a r, a c o u s t i c g u i t a r

S h a r a Wo r d e n : v o i c e , b a c k i n g v o i c e C h r i s F u n k : e l e c t r i c g u i t a r, s y n t h e s i z e r

J e n n y C o n l e e : h a r p s i c h o r d , p i a n o , H a m m o n d B - 3 o r g a n N a t e Q u e r y : e l e c t r i c b a s s , u p r i g h t b a s s

J o h n M o e n : t h e d r u m s , p e r c u s s i o n

9. An Interlude

C o l i n M e l o y : a c o u s t i c g u i t a r R o b y n H i t c h c o c k : e l e c t r i c g u i t a r

C h r i s F u n k : b o u z o u k i

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10. The Rake’s Song

R A K E :

I had entered into a marriage

In the summer of my twenty-first yearAnd the bells rang for our weddingOnly now do I remember it clear

All right, all right, all right!No more a rake and no more a bachelorI was wedded and it whetted my thirstUntil her womb started spilling out babiesOnly then did I reckon my curse

All right, all right, all right!

First came Isaiah with his crinkled little fingersThen came Charlotte and that wretched girl DawnUgly Myfanw y died on deliveryMercifully taking her mother along

All right, all right, all right!

What can one do when one is a widowerShamefully saddled with three little pestsAll that I wanted was the freedom of a new lifeSo my burden I began to divest

All right, all right, all right!

Charlotte I buried after feeding her foxgloveDawn was easy: she was drowned in the bathIsaiah fought but was easily bestedBurned his body for incurring my wrath

All right, all right, all right!

And that’s how I came your humble narratorTo be living so easy and freeI expect that you think that I should be hauntedBut it never really bothers me

All right, all right, all right!

C o l i n M e l o y : v o i c e , a c o u s t i c g u i t a r S h a r a Wo r d e n : y e l l i n gN a t e Q u e r y : e l e c t r i c b a s sJ e n n y C o n l e e : t h e d r u m sC h r i s F u n k , J o h n M o e n : t h e d r u m s , p e r c u s s i o n , y e l l i n g

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11. The Abduction of Margaret

F I R S T V O I C E :

And all the while whispering arbors provide coverWhat previous witnessed ardors of our loversOur heroine here falls prey to her abductor!

All a’gallop with Margaret slung rude ’cross withers

Having clamped her innocent fingers in fettersThis villain must calculate crossing the wild river!

C o l i n M e l o y : v o i c e , e l e c t r i c g u i t a r

C h r i s F u n k : e l e c t r i c g u i t a r, s y n t h e s i z e r, p i a n o , h a m m e r e d d u l c i m e r

J e n n y C o n l e e : H a m m o n d B - 3 o r g a nN a t e Q u e r y : e l e c t r i c b a s sJ o h n M o e n : t h e d r u m s

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12. The Queen’s Rebuke / The Crossing

Q U E E N : I’m made of bones of the branches, the boughs, and the brow-beating lightWhile my feet are the trunks and my head is the canopy highAnd my fingers extend to the leaves and the eaves and the brightBrightest shine, it’s my shine

And he was a baby abandoned, entombed in a cradle of clayAnd I was the soul who took pity and stole him awayAnd gave him the form of a fawn to inhabit by dayBrightest day, it’s my day

And you have removed this temptation that’s troubled my innocent childTo abduct and abuse and to render her rift and defiledBut the river is deep to the banks and the water is wildBut I will fly you the far side

Shara Worden: voice Colin Meloy: electric guitar Chris Funk: electric guitar, baritone guitar Jenny Conlee: Hammond B-3 organNate Query: bass guitarJohn Moen: the drums

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13. Annan Water

W I L L I A M :Annan water, you loom so deep and wideI would cross over if you would stem the tideOr build a boat that I might ford the other sideTo reach the farther shore where my true love lies in wait for meIn wait for me

O gray river, your waters ramble wildThe horses shiver and bite against the bridleBut I will cross if mine own horse is pulled from meThough my mother cries that if I try I sure will drowned beDrowned be

But if you calm and let me pass

You may render me a wreck when I come back

So calm your waves and slow the churnAnd you may have my precious bones on my returnAnnan water, oh hear my true love callHear her holler above your water’s pallGod that I could, that my two arms could give me wingAnd I would cross your breadth and wrap my breast about her amber ringHer amber ring

But if you calm and let me passYou may render me a wreck when I come back

So calm your waves and slow the churnAnd you may have my precious bones on my returnAnd you may have my precious bonesAnd I will call your depths my homeAnd you may have my precious bones on my return

Colin Meloy: voice, acoustic guitar Chris Funk: mandolin, hurdy-gurdy, autoharp, synthesizer, marxophone, hammered dulcimer Jenny Conlee: accordion, Hammond B-3 organNate Query: upright bassJohn Moen: hand drum, percussion

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14. Margaret in Captivity

R A K E : I have snipped your wingspanMy precious captive swanHere all clipped of kickstandYou spirit won’t last long

Don’t you lift a fingerDon’t you snap and jawLimber limbs akimboRest ’til rubbing raw

M A R G A R E T: O my own true loveO my own true love

Can you hear me loveCan you hear me love?

R A K E : Don’t hold out for rescueNone can hear your call’Til I have wrest and wrecked youBehind these fortress walls

M A R G A R E T:

O my own true loveO my own true loveCan you hear me love?Can you hear me love?Colin Meloy: voice, acoustic guitar, electric guitar

Becky Stark: voice Chris Funk: electric guitar Jenny Conlee: piano, Hammond B-3 organNate Query: bowed bass, electric bass, synthesizerJohn Moen: the drumsJim James: backing voiceKeiko Araki, Greg Ewer: violinsAdam Hoornstra: violaCollin Oldham: cello

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15. The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)

C H A L O T T E : Father I’m not feeling well, the flowers me you fedTasted spoiled for suddenly I find that I am deadBut father don’t you fearYour children all are hereSinging: O the hazards of love!

D AW N :

Papa turn the water down, the basin’s overflow’dThe water covers everything and me left all aloneBut Papa here in deathI have regained my breathTo sing: O the hazards of love!

I S A I A H :

Spare the rod, you’ll spoil the child but I’d prefer the lashMy sisters drowned and poisoned, all, and me reduced to ashAnd buried in an urnBut father, I returnSinging: O the hazards of love

Natalie Briare, Clara Ell, Joseph Ell: voicesJenny Conlee: harpsichordChris Funk: synthesizerColin Meloy: percussionKeiko Araki, Greg Ewer: violinsAdam Hoornstra: viola

Collin Oldham: cello

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16. The Wanting Comes in Waves (reprise)

W I L L I A M : Here come the waves!And the wanting comes in wavesAnd the wanting comes in waves

And the wanting comes in waves!

And I want this nightColin Meloy: voice, acoustic guitar

Chris Funk: electric guitar

Jenny Conlee: piano, Hammond B-3 organ, harpsichordNate Query: bass guitar John Moen: the drums Jim James, Shara Worden: backing voicesKeiko Araki, Greg Ewer: violinsAdam Hoornstra: violaCollin Oldham: cello

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17. The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)

W I L L I A M :

Margaret, array the rocks around the hole before we’re sinkingA million stones, a million bones, a million holes within the chinking

And painting rings around your eyes, these peppered holesSo filled with cryingA whisper-weight upon the tattered down where you and IWere lying.

So tell me now, O tell me this: a river’s son, a forest’s daughterA willow wand, a will-o-wisp, our ghosts will wander all of the water

W & M :

So let’s be married here today, these rushing waves to bear our witnessAnd we will lie like river stones, rolling only where it takes usBut I pulled you and I called you here(Didn’t I, didn’t I, didn’t I)And I caught you and I brought you here(Didn’t I, didn’t I, didn’t I)But these hazards of loveNever more will trouble us

W I L L I A M : O Margaret the lapping waves are licking quietly at our anklesAnother bow, another breath; this brilliant chill has come to shackle

W & M :

But with this long, last rush of air let’s speak our vows in starry whisperAnd when the waves came crashing down, he closed his eyesAnd softly kissed her

chorus

Colin Meloy: voice, acoustic guitar, Nashville guitar

Chris Funk: pedal steel guitar, banjo

Jenny Conlee: piano, Hammond B-3 organ, marxophoneNate Query: bass guitar

John Moen: the drums Becky Stark, Rebecca Gates, Jim James: backing voices

Keiko Araki, Greg Ewer: violins

Adam Hoornstra: viola

Collin Oldham: cello

All songs written by Colin Meloy, except “Prelude” by Jenny Conlee All songs published by Music of Stage Three/Osterohzhna Music, admin. by Stage Three Music Inc. (BMI)

String arrangements by Jenny Conlee and Nate Query

Produced by Tucker Martine and The Decemberists

Recorded July–September 2008 at Flora in Portland, ORRecorded and mixed by Tucker MartineAssisted by Rich HippMixed in October 2008 at Supernatural Sound in Oregon City, OR Mastered at SAE by Roger Seibel

Management: Jason Colton and Ron Laffitte, Red Light ManagementBooking: Kevin French, Big Shot TouringLegal: Gillian Bar, Carroll, Guido & Groffman

Design: Carson Ellis, Colin Meloy, and Mario Hugo for Hugo & MarieIllustration: Carson EllisBand photo: Autumn de Wilde

Jim James of My Morning Jacket appears courtesy of ATO Records.Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond appears courtesy of Matador Records.Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond appears courtesy of Asthmatic K itty Records.Robyn Hitchcock appears courtesy of Yep Roc Records. The Decemberists thank: Natalie Briare, Clara & Joseph Ell, Michael Mayer, Olivier Sultan, Tom Hulce, Gillian Bar, Lionel Conway, Rosemary Carroll, Laurel Stearns, Ambrosia Healy, Sharon Lord, Jennifer Bird, Taylor Brigode, Chris Nary, Brian Stowell, Amy Davidson, Rick Sanger, Dan Cohen, Alison Tarnofsky, Cem Kurosman, Nicole Frantz, Ashley Stagg, Matt K roepel, Geoff Travis, Ruth Patterson, Ben Ayres, Rob Jones, David Weise, Wendy Robinson,Chuck Pettry, Laura Veirs, Aaron Stewart-Ahn, Mike Scott, Robyn Hitchcock, Carson Ellis, Marissa Maier, Steve Drizos, Sarah Z. Dykes, Louise B. Moen, Hank Meloy, Scout Funk, Eric Lovre, Chad Crouch, Corinna Repp, Paul Dalen, Asif Ahmed, James Worden, Bob Stark, Alan Garren, Silverfox Drumsticks, Alex Auxier & Orange Ampli-fiers, Ed DeGenaro & THD Amplifiers, Pro Sound and Lighting, Dan Lakin & Lakland Basses

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