Lyrics of the Day: Fleet Foxes

“I was raised up believing

I was somehow unique

Like a snowflake distinct among snowflakes

Unique in each way you can see 

And now after some thinking

I’d say I’d rather be

A functioning cog in some great machinery

Serving something beyond me”

- Fleet Foxes, “Helplessness Blues”

Probably due to the fact that it was released earlier in the year, Fleet Foxes’ sophomore record, Helplessness Blues, will probably fall lower on year-end lists than it actually deserves. ResonantPassage was guilty of this as well, being a prisoner of moment just like everyone else. Robin Pecknold and company had the challenge of following up their self-titled debut, which was rated the number one album of 2008 by Billboard’s Critic’s Choice and ultimately went platinum in the UK. They did not falter under the pressure for the second record, and instead delivered an LP that expanded their sound while maintaining the elements that made their first such a hit in the indie community. Recalling Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Fleet Foxes craft folk whose subject matter is firmly entrenched in the spiritual and natural realms. The lyrics of “Helplessness Blues” are concerned with one’s life purpose. The protagonist, after much thought, has come to the conclusion that he desires to work in unison with the rest of society in serving a purpose beyond himself. Even after this assertion, however, the subject still has doubts about just what that larger goal will be, and is wary of the higher-ups determining his future for him. All in all, he feels helpless as to what to do and how to fulfill the purpose that he desires, hence the title of the song.