|
Back in 2009, a little known band from Brooklyn called The Antlers self-released a concept album called Hospice that later got pick up and re-released by Frenchkiss Records. Set in New York City's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, which the second track is named after, Hospice tells the story of a relationship between a hospice worker and a female patient suffering from terminal bone cancer, their ensuing romance, and their slow downward spiral as a result of the woman's traumas, fears, and disease. The story of her deterioration also serves as a metaphor for an abusive relationship. Frontman Peter Silberman has been reluctant to divulge explicit details regarding the meaning of the record, and the extent to which it is autobiographical. The album was released to critical acclaim. NPR Music placed the album at number one on their list of the top ten albums of early 2009. At the end of the year, Pitchfork placed it number 37 on their list of the best albums of 2009, praising its "power to emotionally destroy listeners." Beats Per Minute named it the best album of 2009, while Rhapsody deemed it the 24th best album of 2009. "Two," at least for me, forms the centerpiece. Starting out with Silberman's lightly spoken falsetto that increases in volumes through a crescendo chorus that ends with "and this all bears repeating." And then he repeats the same notes and chorus a second time and it's somehow all the more powerful. Just a gorgeous, perfect song that I listened to a lot back in 2009-2010 and literally made me cry when I revisited for this today. In the middle of the night I was sleeping sitting up When a doctor came to tell me, "Enough is enough." He brought me out into the hall, I could have sworn it was haunted And told me something that I didn't know that I wanted: To hear that there was nothing that I could do to save you The choir's gonna sing, and this thing is gonna kill you Something in my throat made my next words shake And something in the wires made the light-bulbs break There was glass inside my feet and raining down from the ceiling It opened up the scars that had just finished healing It tore apart the canyon running down your femur I thought that it was beautiful, it made me a believer And as it opened I could hear you howling from your room But I hid out in the hall until the hurricane blew When I reappeared and tried to give you something for the pain You came to hating me again and just sang your refrain: You had a new dream, it was more like a nightmare You were just a little kid, and they cut your hair Then they stuck you in machines, you came so close to dying They should have listened, they thought that you were lying Your daddy was an asshole and he fucked you up Built the gears in your head, now he greases them up And no one paid attention when you just stopped eating "Eighty-seven pounds!" and this all bears repeating "Two" - The Antlers // Hospice (2009) Comments are closed.
|
RSS Feed