Composer Reacts to The Antlers - Two (REACTION & ANALYSIS)

[@mrdetonia]

Slight lyrical spoiler if you (or anyone reading) wants to check out the rest of the album: On the confusion about the doctor / patient / third person at the beginning of the song - this album is narrated from the perspective of a nurse at a cancer ward that falls in love with a patient; you're spot on that this is more metaphorical, as the singer wrote this album as a metaphor for an abusive relationship that he'd just come out of.

[@Noelia768]

I belive it was very intentional the whole sad undertone that never fully reaches the cathartic peak since it always goes back to the happy sound. This could represent the whole process of evaluating the former relationship and whenever the singer seems to realize that everything was very abusive and dark, his brain takes him back to the happy moments and tries to reduce the importance of the abuse he was exposed to (still kind of romanticizing a relationship that's rather a trauma bond). I belive your analysis around looking towards the past for meaning is very accurate and I think it's a respectable position thinking that the song is repetitive and boring, however, I still think that's kind of intentional. Everything is unresolved and makes you feel frustrated as he was feeling at that time. And that even gets highlighted in the last sentence "...and this all bears repeating"

[@TheProgCorner]

One of my favorite songs ever. So beautiful. So moving. So perfect.

[@moccles]

Spot on with the lyrical analysis. The whole album follows this metaphor of patient/carer and an abusive relationship.

[@powdanjr]

Do this whole album please.

[@SpiralOfWhite]

Yeah, this is not just one song this a story album. I can't think of any other album like it. Flaming Lips,Arcade Fire and the Decemberists have tired or have done it but they not needed to be take as a whole

[@powdanjr]

@@SpiralOfWhite Dont forget The Dear Hunter who as far as im aware have been doing the same story for multiple albums.

[@_venetian_9514]

this album is an absolutely massive masterpiece. I listen to it often. It’s so so sad and by the end of it i am always in tears. But it is wonderfully written and so powerful!

[@SpiralOfWhite]

Same if I am on the edge of crying or just need to get some thoughts out I put on.

[@Noelia768]

Regarding the quality of the sound or the dirty sound is sometimes kinda intentional and sometimes it isn't, but the album was home-made in 2009

[@bodylan11]

Its funny i used to listen to this to bring me into a good mood from a sad/bad mood

[@notrightnow3995]

In honor of the recent 30th anniversary of Angel Dust from Faith No More, maybe next week’s theme could be Mike Patton side projects? Tomahawk, Peeping Tom, Fantomas, Mondo Cane or any of the other two-hundred options.

[@CriticalReactions]

Mike Patton really has done everything 😂

[@ambassadortourettes753]

Please please please 🙏 Do an analysis on The Birthday Song 🤷🏻‍♂️🙏

[@djcrouton2680]

There’s really no point in analyzing a single song from the middle of a concept album. This is an amazing album but you can’t split out individual songs. That’s not how concept albums work.

[@SpiralOfWhite]

This is unfair to play just this song. I think few would like it by itself. The full album is wonderful.

[@jonathanhenderson9422]

While I enjoyed the emotional tonality of it I was disappointed by the relentless repetition after a while. Like you I ended up getting rather bored after a while and I was also ready for something different. It's very much an example of a one-trick pony song where you have to REALLY love the emotional vibe/tone to want to stick with the musical sameness that's used to render it. I also don't really get much lyrical dissonance from this. I think maybe some people are mistaking bittersweetness for genuine lyrical dissonance. To me, the former is music that mixes "sweetness" (something pleasant) with something sad or melancholy or pensive or something darker. To me, a song like King's X's Goldilox is the epitome of musical bittersweetness; so is much of the music of Henry Purcell. However, true lyrical dissonance is epitomized by so many of the songs on Paramore's After Laughter: Hard Times, Rose-Colored Boy, Fake Happy, Pools... to me, those are songs where the music is so happy and poppy that you'd never expect the lyrics to be as depressing as they are.

[@SpiralOfWhite]

This song is boring because of what happens before and after but yes, it's not a single but I mean any song should be able to stand alone.