Red Right Ankle - Live
While Indie Mom is the bigger Decemberists fan of us two, I do like many of their songs, and I think Colin Meloy is a tremendous songwriter. I'm just kind of lukewarm on The Crane Wife. I enjoyed the concert we attended on October 21, but I was disappointed that my very favorite Decemberists' songs, Red Right Ankle, was not performed.
I have asked myself, what do I especially like about this song that makes it stand out from the others? Maybe that it is not so theatrical or tediously repetitive, and played on only two instruments? Maybe that it doesn't have a storyline? Maybe that it is short and simple? Yes, maybe all of that, but the simplicity is deceptive. What may stop other people from liking this song as much as I do is that they can't figure out what it's about precisely because it is so much more subtle than the more popular story-songs. Today's post is to explain what I get out of this song.
Red Right Ankle is composed of three distinct sections, sometimes written as verses, depending upon which lyric site you visit. Each section deals slightly differently with damage, protection, and healing. Link to lyrics.
Verse 1: "This is the story of your red right ankle." 
We have all experienced physical injury, but in our minds the hurt sometimes becomes more important than the fact that in time it faded. This verse reminds us that the body inherently wants to put itself back together. Pain is inevitable, but so is healing.
Verse 2: "This is the story of your gypsy uncle."
There are some types of damage for which healing is not possible; for instance, once a secret is told, it cannot be hidden again. For this type of harm, the only way to avoid damage is to never allow a door to be opened.
Verse 3: "This is the story of the boys who loved you."
The person being sung to did not hide away her heart to protect it. She allowed her heart not only to be broken, but for her lovers "to rend your ventricles apart." Yet the heart is not in danger of permanent damage like the secret hide-out in Verse 2. The heart mends like the ankle and is able to love again. The singer may even be the new lover, further proof of love's resilience.
I'm not hearing songs on The Crane Wife that have this kind of depth. I want more in my mouth than cinnamon. If anyone feels differently and wants to convince me, drop a comment below.
For those of us who didn't get to hear it, here is "Red Right Ankle" live, as the Decemberists played it on October 30 in Washington, D.C. It was the first song of the encore in this concert, a place in the limelight it richly deserves.
the Decemberists: Red Right Ankle -live
5 comments:
Oh yes. Red Right Ankle makes me weep. It's an amazing song. I would also have to say that Shiny has the same effect on me. Both songs are, to me, devastating and gorgeous.
On the Crane Wife, you may be right in saying that no song quite hits the mark of Red Right Ankle, but that is after all quite a mark to hit. The Crane Wife song cycle, I think, comes close. I guess for me the litmus test is Does it move me to tears? and the songs Crane Wife 1-3 move me to tears.
thanks for the post -
Thanks for your thoughts! I also like Shiny as well as Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect. After long consideration, I think I like them because they are not story-songs. But I also like We Both Go Down, so there. I'll keep listening to Crane Wife, and maybe I'll change my mind. :)
i'm with karen on the crane wife 1-3.
i just saw the decemberists here in cleveland. it was a great show. they played red right ankle as the first encore here, followed by a cautionary song, briefly interrupted for a "reenactment" of the battle of the somme.
my (admittedly minor) disappointment was not hearing california one youth and beauty brigade.
I dont know if you'll get this, since its an older post and I've only just found your site, but I love that song for several reasons.
1) Favorite verse ever: The second verse, about throwing the key away, is the moment I knew I loved the Decemberists and its a moving gesture for anyone to give up their curiosities to protect the memory of a loved one.
2) It's simple. I think this one song is a good way to show someone who's never heard the band the sound of the Decemberists.
3) It has a clarity to it in its simplicity that makes you listen to the words.
It's one of my favorite songs ever. Blanket Music did a cover of it where they tried to make it happy by changing the chords. One of my friends who's not a big decemberists fan sent it to me because he liked it, and I was slightly disgusted. The song is perfect and shouldn't be changed.
Our Columbus, OH show got it played.
This was the first Decemberist song I'd ever heard, and it's still my favorite.
I attended the Madison, WI concert on 4/20, and was slightly (again, SLIGHTLY) disapointed that they didn't play this.
I'll admit to not being a big fan of The Tain, and when that was the encore, I got bored.
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