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Look, everybody! I got a comment from somebody who thinks I know something...

Hey, this Internet thing works after all. Someone out there in the inky void of cyberspace stumbled across my Decemberists Glossary and posted a comment asking my opinion—me!—on a lyrical detail from...

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For anyone who has wondered how grindcore connects to crossover thrash, The...

Having covered music in smallish Michigan towns has given me a considerably deeper understanding of the various subgenres of heavy metal than I might have otherwise. I’ve done my share of profiles of...

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Nitpicking the Hits: Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull want everyone “On the...

In this new feature, I’ll be examining the lyrics to a current Top 10 hit in excruciating detail for no reason other than to mock it. The hit: “On the Floor” by Jennifer Lopez, featuring the stylings...

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The Annotated Decemberists No. 1: ‘Oceanside’

I don't want to dwell too much on the song's title because it might just be a pretty word, but there's something odd about trying to get someone to come "oceanside" when they're already at the beach....

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The Annotated Decemberists No. 2: “Shiny”

In his typical, understated fashion, The Decemberists' songwriter Colin Meloy has said little about this ballad other than, "This is a song about a gypsy." In it, a dejected narrator pines over a young...

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Nitpicking the Hits: Pitbull wants you to “Give Me Everything,” and by...

Pitbull advises all the dudes in the club to live for the moment and find a sexual conquest to take home, echoing the famous biblical passage Isaiah 22:13 (and I'm paraphrasing here): "Eat, drink and...

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Fun With Charts: The true cause of America’s fiscal problems REVEALED, and it...

As you can see, America's debt didn't start skyrocketing until those no-account Bay Area troublemakers in the Kingston Trio charted with "Greenback Dollar" in 1962. Continue reading →

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The Annotated Decemberists No. 3: “My Mother Was a Chinese Trapeze Artist”

As related to Sean Nelson for a detailed article in the Seattle alt-weekly paper The Stranger, "My Mother Was a Chinese Trapeze Artist" was inspired by a particularly awful family canoe trip. Continue...

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Nitpicking the Hits: OneRepublic hopelessly endures the ‘Good Life’

This song somehow found its way into the top tier of the Billboard Hot 100 this summer despite the fact that it was released in 2009. As with so many things, its popularity can be traced back to the...

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The Annotated Decemberists No. 4: “Angel, Won’t You Call Me?”

The narrator's relationship to this "Angel" is not explained in detail and therefore left open to interpretation, but basically we have a fairly straightforward musical love letter—albeit one couched...

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Zoning for Clifford (the Big Red Dog)

Lately, we’ve been reading a lot of Norman Birdwell’s children’s classic “Clifford the Big Red Dog” in my household. Like pretty much every night. There is one page that was confusing to me, though....

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