I think william gets there too late and margaret is already dead.
I think that The Wanting Comes in Waves song right after the revenge song can tell a lot about this one. It's William's light motif, so it's clearly about him at that moment. He says "here comes the waves" and I think this is literal, that he is jumping in to cross the river. The music is heroic, like he's rushing toward her, and then suddenly turns ominous, like horror. At that moment He sees he is too late.
"A million stones, a million bones, a million holes within the chinking"
Her bones are broken in a million pieces
"And painting rings around your eyes, these peppered holes too filled with crying"
She has black eyes from being beaten, and cuts on her face, possibly even lost her eyes
"A whispered weight upon the tattered down where you and I were lying"
She's now just an empty body "a whispered weight"
So he sees she is dead, or possibly near death and decides to walk into the river with her so they can be married in death.
On a side note, I think it's so cool that they make a few musical allusions to Pink Floyd's The Wall. The unintelligible screaming between A Bower Scene and Won't Want for Love sounds just like the transition between two of the songs in The Wall, and later between the Revenge Song and the Wanting Comes in Waves there is a bit of organ music that sounds like the transitions Pink Floyd uses.
Also doesn't work because both sing the end of the song indicating that Margaret is still alive. Also there is indication that they are on a ship being washed away together in the Annan Water throughout the song.
Also doesn't work because both sing the end of the song indicating that Margaret is still alive. Also there is indication that they are on a ship being washed away together in the Annan Water throughout the song.
dead people sing all the time in Decemberists songs - the mariner's revenge song and eli the barrow boy on picaresque and the kids in the Hazards of love revenge song. I'm not entirely convinced they are on a boat, but even if they are, it can still be a kind of suicide pact - she is going to die or is dead and he wants to die with her. Kind of like in the "We both go down together" on picaresque. After all, he knows the river will take him if he crosses, why bother crossing then? Why not...
dead people sing all the time in Decemberists songs - the mariner's revenge song and eli the barrow boy on picaresque and the kids in the Hazards of love revenge song. I'm not entirely convinced they are on a boat, but even if they are, it can still be a kind of suicide pact - she is going to die or is dead and he wants to die with her. Kind of like in the "We both go down together" on picaresque. After all, he knows the river will take him if he crosses, why bother crossing then? Why not go live somewhere else.
I think william gets there too late and margaret is already dead. I think that The Wanting Comes in Waves song right after the revenge song can tell a lot about this one. It's William's light motif, so it's clearly about him at that moment. He says "here comes the waves" and I think this is literal, that he is jumping in to cross the river. The music is heroic, like he's rushing toward her, and then suddenly turns ominous, like horror. At that moment He sees he is too late.
"A million stones, a million bones, a million holes within the chinking" Her bones are broken in a million pieces
"And painting rings around your eyes, these peppered holes too filled with crying" She has black eyes from being beaten, and cuts on her face, possibly even lost her eyes
"A whispered weight upon the tattered down where you and I were lying" She's now just an empty body "a whispered weight"
So he sees she is dead, or possibly near death and decides to walk into the river with her so they can be married in death.
On a side note, I think it's so cool that they make a few musical allusions to Pink Floyd's The Wall. The unintelligible screaming between A Bower Scene and Won't Want for Love sounds just like the transition between two of the songs in The Wall, and later between the Revenge Song and the Wanting Comes in Waves there is a bit of organ music that sounds like the transitions Pink Floyd uses.
Also doesn't work because both sing the end of the song indicating that Margaret is still alive. Also there is indication that they are on a ship being washed away together in the Annan Water throughout the song.
Also doesn't work because both sing the end of the song indicating that Margaret is still alive. Also there is indication that they are on a ship being washed away together in the Annan Water throughout the song.
dead people sing all the time in Decemberists songs - the mariner's revenge song and eli the barrow boy on picaresque and the kids in the Hazards of love revenge song. I'm not entirely convinced they are on a boat, but even if they are, it can still be a kind of suicide pact - she is going to die or is dead and he wants to die with her. Kind of like in the "We both go down together" on picaresque. After all, he knows the river will take him if he crosses, why bother crossing then? Why not...
dead people sing all the time in Decemberists songs - the mariner's revenge song and eli the barrow boy on picaresque and the kids in the Hazards of love revenge song. I'm not entirely convinced they are on a boat, but even if they are, it can still be a kind of suicide pact - she is going to die or is dead and he wants to die with her. Kind of like in the "We both go down together" on picaresque. After all, he knows the river will take him if he crosses, why bother crossing then? Why not go live somewhere else.