Song of the Week- January 10, 2009

Ah the first Song of the Week for the new year! For this occasion I present "In the New Year" by The Walkmen.

This was probably my favorite song of 2008. The Walkmen released a surprisingly great album last year called You & Me. I think it's their best album- it captures their sound to a T. My friend likes to describe this song as Lou Reed actually making music. I don't think that's too far off. The instrumentation gets large-hall reverb treatment giving it a very vast and sparse sound. The song begins with a clanging guitar with singer Hamilton Leithauser's coming in a few bars later. "Oh I'm still living/ At the old address" he starts. Lyrically, the song sounds like it's written by a loser- a loser in the literal sense of the word: the narrator has many losses under his belt. It's a song about yearning for something better in the new year. This mood really comes out in the chorus as Leithauser's singing becomes a pained howl. This mood is complimented with the ascending organ lick, giving it a hopeful flair- suggesting "yes, most defiantly in the new year."

Alright that's with that. Enjoy

With the cans on,
Greg