Saint John

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIZmsviQl3s

This song is called "Saint John" by Cold War Kids.  It tells the story of a man who, while trying to protect his sister, accidentally kills her attacker.  There are a few aspects of this song that make it one of my favorites.  (Sidenote: I am not sure which of the bandmembers actually writes the song, and I don't want to naively just name the vocalist.  So, for clarity's sake, I shall ambiguously refer to the author of this song as "he".)

The first is the way that he tells the story.  It's first person, and nothing is revealed too quickly.  The song opens with the lines "Suppertime in the hole / I shame my family / Shame my home" and then a description of "Old Saint John on death row...just waiting for a pardon", but with no explanation as to the relevance of these details.  The verses then slowly tell the story of the drunken men approaching his sister and "grab[bing] her by the waist", causing the narrator to pick up a brick and throw it "at the tallest boy's face".  He tells us that "the other boys ran" while "this one stayed on the ground and...would never move again".  Only after he builds suspense through the telling of the entirety of the story does he say that "all us boys on death row, we just waiting for a pardon", meaning that he, too, waits on death row.

Another piece of this song that I think deserves recognition is his adeptness at characterization.  He uses few words, but describes so much about each character in this song.  The attackers are "white boys in their stay-pressed slacks...home for the summer from college" who are "looking for trouble uptown".  They walk down his street "Yelling all kinds of obscenities, about women and God and law".  These few lines, with their carefully chosen descriptions, paint a clear picture as to the nature and motivations of these boys.  On the other hand, his sister is described as a "Young girl...with her clerk dress on" who "Just got off the night shift at Penningtons Place...[and] just [wants to] go home and get some sleep".  This short description not only serves to illustrate his sister, but to provide validation for his story and sympathy for his cause and actions.  During the attack, the boys are told to have "caffeine eyes" and "hands all figdet and 'lectric".  This poetic description builds suspense and makes the boys into even clearer antagonists.  Last, we are told that the narrator "couldn't believe what [he] had just done" and describes himself as "Yours truly on trial".  We are distressed at his situation and its wrongfulness because of what he has told us of himself.  These descriptions, in a song with only two sets of verses, creates complex and meaningful characters that we come to care about in the song.

The last part of this song that I admire is its format.  The song plods methodically during its storytelling, as though it has been told many times, and resignedly through its description of death row, as to signify an acceptance of the situation.  However, in the background is a chaotic combination of drums that is never truly quieted, echoing the chaos felt by the storyteller in his circumstances.  The song intensifies some as it continues, but it never reaches the frenzy that is expected before it cuts off suddenly - as the life of the death row narrator himself.  Though this method does not translate directly into the verbal mode of writing, I think there is much to be taken from this song in terms of making the format of your work support the story you are telling, whether it be paragraph form, length of sentences, or even just voice.

But besides all this mumbo jumbo (I'm feeling a bit like a high school English teacher in what may have been over-analysis), this song is just plain good.  I suggest giving it a listen.