The Dear Hunter – “Waves”
Can a relatively conventional 4 minute alt-rock track really contend for song of the decade? Considering there is always something out there that’s more innovative, brilliant, and weird, I have to admit it is unusual. However when you are as talented as The Dear Hunter is, any feat is made to look easy. Effortless is as good of an adjective as any to describe their 2015 smash hit “Waves” – a track that combines all of your standard breakup cliches with a gorgeously bleak burial-at-sea metaphor. As lead vocalist Casey Crescenzo passionately pleads “I can see the lighthouse”, it feels like bargaining, as images of waves knocking his ship sideways come more and more into focus. It’s not your typical breakup song because The Dear Hunter is an atypically skilled bunch. So when the experience wraps up with the utterance “I thought that I knew love, but it was just a wave crashing over us”, it feels all too easy to relate to.
It’s amusing to think that a band as eccentric as The Dear Hunter (who have composed an act in five parts and who also once wrote a 9-EP, 36-song collection) might see one of their most straightforward offerings ascend to the top of their entire discography. “Waves” isn’t part of some grand scheme or concept, it’s just pure emotion set to the most sweeping melody that the band has ever written. Sometimes, that’s all you need.
Read more from this decade at my homepage for Sowing’s Songs of the Decade.
https://open.spotify.com/user/sowingsputnik/playlist/5JjmQsvmmmOBFnUjP7FLu4?si=das-vuzoQU69pBVkMdtRLQ
03.14.19
this song is amazing for what it is
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I also really like the lyrical throwback to it on The March
03.15.19
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The Color Spectrum is also amazing
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Dylan listen to Misplaced Devotion it's the last song from Yellow
03.15.19
Also, Dylan, I personally found Act I and II grating and pretentious (still haven't tried III). IV is a lot tighter and while some of the story details and recurring motifs will be lost on you, it's still a great album (this song and A Night On the Town in particular). Act V is even better -- almost every track is phenomenal (including the aforementioned Gloria)
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To me Gang of Youths topped the 2017 charts even though that's undoubtedly untrue lol
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pretty much all my favourite Dear Hunter moments are on 1, 2 or Colour Spectrum
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03.19.19
The entirety of the Acts is a grand scheme! Not that I knew that as Waves my introduction to TDH (I've gone hella deep into the lore since though), but if ever there was a perfect song to hook you into a band, I can't think of one better than this!