I’m coming late to the Decemberists, missed their rise of critical acclaim upon the backs of some fine albums, but now with The King is Dead, I’m finally paying attention. The country-inflected, bluesy Appalachian, indie rock works like a collage—patches of pictures of yellowed newspapers, antebellum images, museum stories, and obtuse poetic turns of phrases. It’s one part T. Bone Burnett, another part R.E.M. It’s Ry Cooder ethno-musicology in the hills and hollers, but it’s also Blue Mountain AltCountry.
The King is Dead opens with the coming together tune “Don’t Carry It All,” beginning with a stomp, a bluesy harmonica wail, and a country swagger. It’s flecked with hints of R.E.M.’s Reckoning even as it recalls the Mississippi swamp AltCountry of Blue Mountain’s Dog Days, before pulling back for some Sam Bush-like mandolin.
“Don’t Carry It All” ranges through a faint storyline of a call to arms of sorts, a call to help the neighbor. While it doesn’t paint a clear picture of that story, even seeming to speak of coming together to support the mourners of a dead boy, still the chorus recalls the words of Jesus when He calls on us to set our burdens on Him and to take His yoke which is light and easy.
The chorus says:
And nobody, nobody knows
Let the yoke fall from our shoulders
Don’t carry it all, don’t carry it all
We are all our hands and holders
Beneath this bold and brilliant sun
And this I swear to all.
In Jesus, we don’t need to carry it all. We can let the yoke of sin, pain, and suffering fall from our shoulders. He has taken that yoke, even to the point of death, so that we can be set free, given hope, comfort, peace, and eternal life.
Because Jesus has taken our heavy yoke, we are freed up to care for others around us (“We are all our hands and holders”). Since we know our sufferings are light and momentary troubles in the grand, eternal scheme of things, we are free to come alongside others who are suffering and speak this hope to them: “Let the yoke fall from our shoulders.” Let the burden fall upon Christ.
The final verse of the song says:
So raise a glass to turnings of the season
And watch it as it arcs towards the sun
And you must bear your neighbor’s burden within reason
And your labors will be borne when all is done.
Bear the burdens of your neighbors as best you can, because in the end, you know that your labors will be borne by Jesus. He will lift you up as you care for others. It’s a song of coming together which fits pretty well with the call of Jesus, since He calls us to come together in love—love for God, love for one another. He calls us to come together in His Name knowing that He has done the great, eternal work of bearing our burdens and giving us freedom from sin, death, and the devil.
Sing on, then, Decemberists! Sing on, and let these collage pieces fit together to paint a picture of hope beyond this world.
