#85 (of 365) "Westfall" Okkervil River

One of the greatest joys of my concert going life is the moment when the entire crowd sings along to the climactic verse of this song: "And when I killed her, it was so easy, that I wanted to kill her again."

It's a song about the random murder of a young woman in the woods by Colin Kincaid's house "out on Westfall" by our sadistic narrator, a high school senior. Much like many of the sadistic narrators in Will Sheff's early work, the brutal nature of their crimes, and their nonchalant reactions are what draws the listener in, to wonder what compels such evil people to do such evil things.

In the years that followed this song's release, evil people have reached the highest levels of our government (much like, I suppose, they have done for centuries (millennia) all over the world) and I guess the line "when I killed her it was so easy, that I wanted to kill her again" is pretty spot-on for a description of why evil people in power do the terrible things they do. It's easier to kill that to create, to fix, to build. Just bomb the fuck out of Iran for reasons(?) and post videos of the murders of people online like you're a fucking 12th grade sociopath who took out two girls "Colin knew from Kenwood Christian." I hate this country right now, the people running it. Pete Hesgeth, JD Vance, fucking Stephen Miller, Pam Bondi, the dear departed Kristi "dog-killer" Noem. Trump's the worst of them, not the least of all for hiring the most evil depraved horrible sadists/12th grade sociopaths to run things. But fuck. We're all out on Westfall right now. And we're all one of the girls "Colin knew from Kenwood Christian."

One was named Laurie.
That's what the story
Said next week in The Guardian.
Said next week in The Guardian.

And when I killed her, it was so easy, that I wanted to kill her again.
I got down on both of my knees and
She ain't coming back again.
​She ain't coming back again.

​Now with all these cameras focused on my face, 
You'd think they could see it through my skin
They're looking for evil, thinking they could trace it
But evil don't look like anything.
Evil don't look like anything.

"Westfall" - Okkervil River // Down the River of Broken Dreams (2003)