Idylls of the King

1. Idylls of the King is a long, contemplative cycle of poems by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, built around the legend of King Arthur. I'm not totally sure I see the exact connection, but Tennyson is always about loss, regret, and elegy, and so is Darnielle.

2. "Your face like a vision straight out of Holly Hobby" -- who else could put Tennyson and Holly Hobby together? I always thought this was one of Darnielle's best lines, because you usually can't see Holly Hobby's face at all. It's hidden under her bonnet. Who knows what she's thinking, that deep and brooding country lass.

This song completely reminds me of living back in Tallahassee and the memories surrounding that great town. This whole album is so incredibly composed- I listen to it every time I am homesick.

This song is in the same vein as "First Few Desperate Hours". It's the gnawing realization that they're already doomed, both as individuals and as a couple. Regardless of what they've been telling each other, they did not move to Tallahassee to find a new life; they moved there to die.

The imagery is all evil portents, bad omens, visions of death and decay:

Huge crows loitering by the curb Our shared paths unraveling behind us like ribbons And I dreamed of vultures In the trees around our house And cicadas and locusts And the shrieking of innumerable gibbons

And he actually breaks down and openly asks:

How long will we ride this way about? How long 'til someone caves under the pressure?

there's always bad ideas in our heads reserved for those most important to us.

Gee, I don't know, but this thing is fucking brilliant. The first verse is "lined up" as in hunting, the second is "lined up" as in harmony, the last one is "lined up" as in ready to be taken down (her, his neuroses, etc.)