The Decemberists have been described as “rock music for English majors”, a label that the band’s lead singer Colin Meloy totally embraces. Meloy’s songs are definitely more like stories, frequently featuring pirates, circus performers, ghosts, and a ton of other memorable characters. His lyrics are littered with plot twists and tragic endings that rival the screenplays of todays major Blockbusters. Here are just a few of this Portland band’s tracks that would translate amazingly from song to screen!
1. "Leslie Ann Levine"
Album: Castaways and Cutouts
From the very first track on their very first album, The Decemberists showcased their preference for storytelling with this tale of the ghost of a Victorian baby who falls in love with a chimbley sweep.
2. "Shankill Butchers"
Album: The Crane Wife
The perfect opening track to a horror film about a gang in Northern Ireland in 1970s who was responsible for over 23 gruesome deaths.
3. "Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect"
Album: Castaways and Cutouts
The lyrics of this ballad are full of gorgeous imagery of the French countryside set against the life story of an aging aristocrat. Can you say Oscar bait?
4. "Yankee Bayonet"
Album: The Crane Wife
This duet tells the tragic romance between a woman and a Civil War solider attempting to maintain a long-distance relationship through letters.
5. "The Infanta"
Album: Picaresque
This song opens with the arrival of a princess on an elephant and only gets more over the top from there as the listener enters into the life of luxury of a young toddler worshiped by her subjects.
6. "The Crane Wife Parts 1, 2, and 3"
Album: The Crane Wife
Based on the old Japanese folk tale about a poor man who finds an injured crane on his doorstep and nurses it back to health, this multi part story would make a beautiful animated feature.
7. "O Valencia!"
Album: The Crane Wife
An action-packed romance reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, this high tempo song tells the story of two Italian lovers from warring families that attempt to run away together in the midst of battle.
8. "All of The Hazards of Love Album"
Conceived as an epic rock opera, every track on the Decemberists fifth album plays a part in telling the story of Margaret who falls in love with a magical man named William who seduces her by shape-shifting into a dear.
9. "The Bagman’s Gambit"
A complicated political conspiracy wrapped up in less than four minutes. This song tells the dramatic love story of two rival secret agents within the federal government.
Album: Picaresque
10. "The Mariner’s Revenge Song"
Album: Picaresque
The band’s biggest showstopper. This 12-minute epic is a bigger revenge tale than The Reverent. Detailing a son’s fifteen yearlong plan to kill the man who abandoned his mother, the song ultimately culminates in a show down inside the stomach of a whale!
