Something about the mood and setting of this album, Moon Colony Bloodbath always hits me like a movie. There's the weird harmonica and bells and the quiet strings, but moreover there's the sense of a real story behind it. This song is about an astronaut (maybe?) living in Colorado; he lives alone with a television and speakers and computers and technology (maybe?); a storm cuts him off from the rest of the world (maybe?) and he's thrilled and delighted (maybe?). As ever, lyrical interpretations only go so far. The rest of the album suffers (and benefits from) the same wonderful vagueness that is so rich and rewarding to listen to. The arrangements of the music only make it the richer.
To quote John Darnielle:
"Some of the songs have something to do with a loose rock opera/'concept album' idea about organ harvesting colonies on the moon and the employees thereof, who spent their off months living in secluded opulence in remote American locations. Concepts like this are actually more fun when you abandon them but leave their traces kicking around, so that's what we did."
And it's so wonderful.
