February 22 - Orange Ball Of Pain

And welcome back to folk territory. The guitar and vocals are soft and meditative storytelling, allowing the lyrics to perform a one-two punch of undermining and then reinforcing.

Let's not beat around the bush: this song is built around a pun. And as with the best pastiche is works largely because it is a genuinely delightful version of what it is sending up. The line repetition and the slow building of ideas are hallmarks of the best folk, and in this case the tracks of Nick Drake in particular are carefully followed. And doing a song that follows this track about, basically, eating a bread roll, is perfect John Darnielle. Take the meaningful, subvert it, and then make the subversion meaningful again.

We'll come back to this as we go along. It's a joy to see John play in several senses.