I first heard Band of Horses when they were opening for Pearl Jam on their midwest tour this past spring. In most cases I am totally unimpressed with opening bands. I’m looking at you Autolux. Sometimes I am pleasantly surprised, but either way the opening act usually is just a rest stop on the way to what I am actually there to watch. Band of Horses was awesome though. So much so that I am seeing them all on their own later this month.

This song is definitely my favorite. I owe this in part to the slide show they played with it. It was a montage of photos they’d taken from their previous gigs and travels. It was hilarious.

The sound of Band of Horses,  definitely has a country vibe. Not the neo-country bull crap which, I’m sorry, I cannot get behind. It has an old school country vibe. Like Cash and Willie Nelson. And this song definitely highlights that sound.

The lead vocals warble like the best old country. The beat of the song has a cadence like you’re riding a slow horse through the back country. Even the piano sounds has a high plunky sound that reminds me of the sound of a piano in an old salon.

The lyrics are almost non-sensical:

The fourth of July, looks like the tide is going home.
In time I’d find a little way to your heart, down to the general store for nothing specific,
Gonna wash my bones in the Atlantic shore – only for you and me

And yet they speak to me. I think you can sense the emotion through the sound and the words together. It makes me think of my husband and I. We’ve had some great times, we’ve had some crazy times, we’ve had some awful times, and we just keep on going.

I am a little disappointed that the montage of photos with the music isn’t available online. But the official video is pretty hilarious in its own way.

Video for The General Specific