Down by the Water is a song on the American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

The Decemberists The Decemberists are an American indie rock band from Portland, Oregon. The band consists of Colin Meloy ( lead vocals, guitar, principal songwriter), Chris Funk (guitar, multi-instrumentalist), Jenny Conlee (piano, keyboards, accordion), Nate ...

' sixth album, '' The King is Dead''. It was released as a single in 2010.

Lyrics and music

"Down By the Water" includes

Peter Buck Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. He also plays the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his car ...

and singer-songwriter

Gillian Welch Gillian Howard Welch (; born October 2, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, bluegrass, countr ...

, who contribute 12-string guitar and vocal harmonies, respectively. It also features accordion riffs and heavy harmonica reminiscent of

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

; particularly the song " Heart of Gold". "Down By the Water" has been compared to the music of

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

. It was featured for free download on November 2, 2010, on their official website. Meloy has said that ''The King Is Dead'' is more straightforward and heavily influenced by R.E.M., and "Down By the Water" is a prime example. Meloy himself has said that the song "started out as more of a

paean A paean () is a song or lyric poem expressing triumph or thanksgiving. In classical antiquity, it is usually performed by a chorus, but some examples seem intended for an individual voice (monody). It comes from the Greek παιάν (also πα� ...

to R.E.M. than I think any of us really wanted it to be". Lyrically, "Down By the Water" is vaguely mournful. It has been described as "folksy", "uptempo", and "country-esque", and the chorus as "booming". Though "Down By the Water" has been called "catchy" and radio-friendly, it is also said to lack the quality of prose found on earlier Decemberists' work.

Release and reception

The song reached number 33 on the U.S. Rock songs chart. It was favorably reviewed by critics.

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

considered it one of the top 100 songs of 2011. It was ranked the 97th best song of the year by Pazz and Jop. The song was nominated for both Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song at the

54th Grammy Awards The 54th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 12, 2012, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles being broadcast on CBS honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011. LL Cool J hosted the ...

Chart performance

References

{{authority control The Decemberists songs 2010 songs Country rock songs Songs written by Colin Meloy