I was listening to NPR on Saturday and they did a segment on a new folk opera called Hadestown. And they played a clip from this song. Greg Brown’s voice gave me shivers it was so perfect for the emotion of this song. As soon as I could I found the full song.
Greg Brown’s voice is so low it doesn’t seem possible that is could be beautiful and yet it is beautiful in it’s darkness.
And the song is so morose and sad but yet it is talking about keeping others out. And though the singers indicate they believe that being separate is good, the sense of the song is the separation is very sad. Whether the people realize it.
The lyrics are so moving in their simplicity. “The war is never won.”
The instruments at the end almost sound like a broken pipe organ which adds to the broken nature of the song.
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