So this might be kind of a stupid thing to have just realized now, but Chains is probably about either slavery, either that or building the transcontinental railroad. So here I stand, a pick in callused hands, as the sun beats down on my back. All of that to the rhthmic pounding of chains (definitely makes me think of building a railroad, but slavery would make just as much sense, there are even whip (claps) noises). Slavery could make sense as ben is from a multiracial family. It could also very much be that the character was arrested (I believe they made convicts work on the railroad, which would fit the chains motif as well) and would also fit other parts of the song nicely.
Oh, that was another thing mentioned in the commentary. You were right with the convict idea, he said it is specifically about the idea of a chain gang with prisoners all tied together with chains. Chains still puzzles me. The bit you quoted above makes sense but I can't make out what/who the rest of it is about.
The rest is about the friendship. He's locked up with all these other prisoners and forced to work on building a railroad (presumably), and he's remembering better times, and the friend he once had who due to the circumstances of his life, he will never see again. The prisoner thing is only the setting, the song is about nostalgia. Thematically the song feels very similar to the story between judah and his brother. Judah is a rougher grittier person, and he ends up committing a crime which forces him to run, presumably something similar happened to the character in chains, except he never got to run very far.
Yeah I think the guy in chains is definitely a prisoner doing labor, and the railroad seems to be a fitting circumstance.
I also have a feeling Chains and From the Mouth Of An Injured Head are related. MOAIH is possibly also related to Second Family Portrait as well...
So perhaps in one of the most odd message relay's I've ever seen, I received a comment on a video I posted on youtube a few days ago. The message was written by the user "leoff" and says the following: (here is a link to his comment, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baHj...qnvpgfd0r23wdrj5lnisfxiyt04&google_view_type=)
You're right, its a shame he can't use the forum, what a good spot! I remember reading the interview he linked to because it was the first place I'd seen the name "Radical Face" explained as being from a damaged flyer! But, yeh, all "leoff"s evidence seems to suggest that Crooked Kind could be the granddaughter.
I just watched the Holy Branches music video and I noticed a journal with the inscription Severus on it. This leads me to believe that Holy Branches is probably the continuation of Stone's story. Either him as an adult, or his offspring.
Wow, how did I miss that one. Everyone watch out for more unknown songs that could be on the next album.
Yeh, I saw that a week or so ago and I was like "Hey, I recognise this one!". I'll play close attention to any videos from live shows, though I don't think Ben was playing any unknown songs on his last tour.
It's fun to see folks making some of these connections. I can never tell if that is actually interesting to anyone other than me. And as I said in another thread, I'll post some details about how some things relate. So for some songs that go together: One already covered is that Ghost Towns leads to Reminders (hence the similar picking patterns and such). Judah's bastard son (Walter, or Walt) is the subject. Mountains is connected to Always Gold, and later, Letters Home. Robert is the subject of Always Gold. He has two sons with Genevieve, who later dies of an early onset cancer. The sons are Kyle and David. Kyle is who is the narrator in Mountains. David is the one on leave. David is writing Kyle from his hospital bed in the song Letters Home. As noticed, Holy Branches is about Stone much later in life. The video explains some of this, in a roundabout way. When Severus dies, Stone watches. Through the link they share as twins, Severus doesn't quite move on. He winds up living inside Stone's head, and Stone becomes more or less schizophrenic. The video is actually about a thing called survivor's guilt, which is a condition some people have when they survive and a loved one doesn't. They wind up feeling like it was a mistake, that they should have been the one to go. Stone has this most of his life, and as such, Severus can't really move on. He's trapped in his head. So the music video is about how Severus is forcing Stone to collect reminders of him during the night (his journal, his old pocket knife), while sleepwalking, and make him bury them in the yard (but, in his dream-state, it looks like their family tree ... the pictures on the tree and around the house are all the same ones from the booklets of the CDs). Also, the cutting of the hand does not show blood, but a black liquid. Represents guilt. The song Kin is related to The Crooked Kind. In Kin, Virgil (son of William), gets a blood transplant from Stone. But with that side of the family being a bit strange and supernatural, he starts hearing and seeing his dead relatives. The Crooked Kind is about his son, Abraham. That is now a family trait, that they are aware of their dead relatives, and in the children (Abraham and Daniel), it is more advanced. They can communicate back and forth, and they are taught things. The song is about him coming to grips with being a bit strange. And yes, I do use this phrase in Always Gold. Some of these things are just family colloquialisms I decided on, which is why certain phrases are repeated. Just the little things you're parents always said as general terms of phrase and you use them without thinking. The Mute is about Tom's son. Tom being Victoria's neighbor. He never made his feelings clear to Victoria, and eventually settled for a woman he never really had feelings for. When his son was born mute, he took it very hard, as a sign he'd done the wrong thing. Hence considering him a cross to bear. Chains involves Thomas, who is the brother in Always Gold that the narrator talks about. He eventually leaves and makes his home on the east coast. The song follows him and the friend he made when first arriving, and how he dragged them into trouble. His brother is no longer there to talk sense into him, and he winds up in jail. The song is written as a letter to his old friend, and yes, he's building a railroad. There's more to this stuff, but I need to go make dinner. I'll punch up some other connections soon.
Awesome! Thank you for writing that out for us Ben. One of the things I've loved so much about these albums and that's really engaged my listening in a completely unique way is the jigsaw puzzle of how the stories fit together. I can say I spent a few solid weeks really thinking about this album a lot, and always making new correlations (or false correlations) and changing my perspective a bit, so it's great being able to see how good our detective work was. One of the things I found particularly interesting was the part you said about phrasing passing through lineage with a slight change of emphasis. The nurture aspect (nature/nurture), I rather liked that intention a great deal, and I think it makes the symbolism even stronger.
Ooh, only just saw this, thanks so much Ben! I've been really looking forward to seeing these. Knowing more about these back stories makes listening to Branches have more depth to it. Like with Letters Home (Aftermath) you can understand the Dads silent acceptance of his sons death when you know about his own father's temperament and the dearth of his wife. Just one thing I'm a bit confused about, I thought Always Gold was about Judah and Robert, from Robert's point of view - but I never heard this Thomas guy mentioned before. Did we get the family tree wrong before or is he another brother on that Branch? And yeh, thanks again for doing the backstories, I look forward to the other ones (Summer Skeletons especially!)
Finally got round to buying the CD of The Branches (have owned the vinyl since release). Are all presses of the CD in a mini gatefold case? I was half expecting something like The Roots which was a book with pages. Did that style of packaging ever exist for branches?
I just checked my copy I've had since release to confirm and it is in the book form (I think they call it a digibook) very similar to The Roots one. I suppose they must have released a normal CD as well, but I've never seen one. The only copy available at amazon seems to be the digibook version.
Well mine is a card case not a normal plastic jewel case. However it's just a gatefold style like you get with vinyls. So if your is book style, does it have pages with artwork? Could you upload some pictures since I can't find any on the web?
