The Decemberists vs. the Weakerthans
Mar 13, 2007 in Writing
download Elvira, Mistress of the Dark dvd The new issue of Esquire features their annual music awards (the Esky, also what we call the football team in Edmonton, no?), which features Chris Jones’ patriotic defense of Canadian music. Jones argues that “Canadians are born promoters, not protectionists. We want people to listen to our bands. We have a desire, desparate, that borders on sickness.”
Humanitys End ipod He proceeds to highlight a few Canadian bands he loves including the Weakerthans, whom he calls “the greatest band ever to come out of Winnipeg, Manitoba… make the Decemberists sound downright illiterate.” Oh really Mr. Jones? We’ll just see about that. Without further ado the Decemberists vs. Weakerthans literary challenge.
| Name | John Kristjan Samson, lead singer of the Weakerthans |
Colin Meloy, lead singer of the Decemberists Surfer, Dude buy Beowulf & Grendel trailer Stone Cold full movie  |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Literary Cred | Two-time winner of Canada Reads, runs his own leftist publisher, Arbeiter Ring | Sister is critically acclaimed novelist Maile Meloy | Point Samson |
| Lyrical Content | References one hard-to-read French cultural theorist (Foucault), activists, Winnipeg, the plight of gentrification | References Modernist art (Marcel Duchamp), one Greek muse (Arethusa), hot young author (Myla Goldberg), Romeo and Juliet | Point Meloy |
| Characters in Songs | one cat named Virtue, awkward activists, arctic explorers, Elks (the order, not the animal), Winnipeg ex-pats | Legionnaires, whalers, chimbley sweeps, prostitutes, barrow boys, poor Japanese farmers who find wounded magical birds | Point Meloy |
| Literary Style | Spare, well-observed writing that illuminates contemporary life | Gothic, faux-Victorian, neo-Dickensian | Draw; Point Meloy if you like Dickens, Point Samson if you were tortured by the man in high school |
| Winner | Samson has got the literary indie cred vote all wrapped up. The man is an activist (Propagandhi, G7 Welcoming Committee), and runs a leftist publishing house named after a Jewish socialist group | Meloy is like the precocious grad student at some small liberal arts college in some random northeastern town (look at those glasses and the tweed jackets he wears on-stage), some people would argue he tries to hard. | Meloy gets the gold star and the A+ for being such a good student, but somehow I don’t think Samson cares too much and probably will just go back to photocopying his pamphlets and organizing the next anti-globalization rally. That and writing really, great songs. |