Album Analysis: Hospice by The Antlers

There is a close relationship between poetry and music - in particular, lyrical music. To be fair, they have their differences: lyrics tend to have more repetition, and poems are more wont to be less consistent in their meter and rhythm. Still, many of the same devices and features that are useful in analyzing poetry are similarly useful in examining songs.

With that in mind, I want to analyze a few songs from an album that I've recently found to be one of my favorite ever. This album is Hospice, by the Antlers.

The basic concept of Hospice revolves around a single main conceit, comparing the interactions of a terminally ill cancer patient and a hospice worker taking care of her to a controlling, dysfunctional relationship. Three specific songs highlight this metaphor: Kettering, Syliva, and Bear.

The first of those three is the most straightforward. Both in its sounds and in its words, it heavily alludes to the idea of a hospital:

But something kept me standing
By that hospital bed
I should have quit but instead
I took care of you

This is probably the most straightforward explanation of this album's theme, displaying the way people may feel responsible and locked into a relationship, and thus stay in it even when it is unhealthy.

"Sylvia" is a bit more subtle, making allusion to the writer Sylvia Plath and her atttempts at suicide. This clearly comes through in the reference through "Sylvia, get your head out of the oven/Go back to screaming and cursing". Less directly, this is a plea from the narrator to his significant other not to give up on life, even if the alternative is her anger and lashing out.

Even less clear is the third song, "Bear". The most obvious interpretation is of an unwanted pregnancy and abortion - and the emotional consequences that follow. However, I read this in terms of the cancer metaphor as almost a fear of getting better; it's a fear of happiness and of a future, and the difficulties that follow.

Well we're not scared of making caves
Or finding food for him to eat
We're terrified of one another
And terrified of what that means
But we'll make only quick decisions
And you'll just keep my in the waiting room
And all the while I'll know we're f***ed
And not getting unf***ed soon
When we get home we're bigger strangers than we've ever been before
You sit in front of snowy television, suitcase on the floor