Showing posts with label The King Is Dead. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The King Is Dead. Show all posts

Sunday, June 8, 2014

The Decemberists' "Rox in the Box"

I listened to some Decemberists albums this morning, including The King Is Dead.  I've always liked the lines "and you won't make a dime / on this gray granite mountain mine" in "Rox in the Box," but listening to the song this time, I realized why I like it.

First, there's the alliteration between gray and granite and between mountain and mine, which somehow I had never noticed.  Apparently, I'm really bad at recognizing alliteration if it isn't written.

Second, the rhythm of the line is engaging.  Despite having been an English major, I know virtually nothing about meter and stressed syllables and all that, so I can't actually explain the rhythm of this line, but I like it nonetheless.