SongMeanings | Lyrics | Decemberists, The - The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)

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Decemberists, The
The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)
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Lyrics for The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!) as interpreted by MarcelLionheart

The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!) Lyrics

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Charlotte:
Father I'm not feeling well, the flowers me you fed
Tasted spoiled for suddenly I find that I am dead
But father don't you fear, your children all are here
Singing oh, the hazards of love

Dawn:
Papa turn the water down, the basin's overflown
The water covers everything and me left all alone
But papa here in death, I have regained my breath
To sing oh, the hazards of love
To sing oh, the hazards of love

Isaiah:
Spare the rod, you'll spoil the child, but I prefer the lash
My sisters drowned and poisoned all and me reduced to ash
And buried in an urn, but father I return
Singing oh, the hazards of love
Singing oh, the hazards of love

The hazards of love
The hazards of love

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scarletmagnolia
08-28-2009

Rated 0

Thinking generally about this topic, rather than specifically...
Is it up to the person who feels "wronged" to punish and torment and haunt? Or would the person who did "wrong" have paid for their "crime" on their own terms? I went through an experience where I did wrong and paid dearly on my own. Then the people who felt "wronged" decided it was up to them to teach me a lesson.

Yes, the rotten deeds you do in life will come back to haunt you. You will pay for them (I would never think it was up to me to make someone pay or teach them a lesson, I simply think naturally their conscience will catch up with them). Like William murdering his babies, some people victimize the hearts of people who love them. They rape their souls and laugh. I would never seek revenge.

My blood is on your hands and I forgive you.

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kaun83
06-24-2009

Rated 0

Has anyone considered that William might actually be The Rake? From the Hazards of Love 1, we are introduced to William as a shapeshifter. Perhaps this symbolizes his duality of good and evil. The relationship between him and Margaret is certainly lustful, with them immediately having sex and her becoming pregnant. In the Wanting Comes in Waves, he makes a deal with his adopted mother, the Queen (possibly the Devil?), to have one last night with Margaret, to which she agrees (knowing well that babies will get in the way of his sexual desires). The next song, we are introduced to the Rake (unnamed) and we are left unclear regarding the identity of his wife. I suspect that the Rake is William several years in the future, after the babies from his sexual escapades have severely cramped his style, so he has decided to "divest" his burden by murdering his children. His wife, Margaret, died in childbirth and was transported to the other side of Annan Water (symbolizing death, like the River Styx). The rest of the story revolves around an internal struggle where William fights between his inherent good/evil.

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daedalusbrahms
05-07-2009

Rated 0

to me the idea of the cradle of clay being isaiah's urn is just too cool not to be true...and too much of a coincidence that the queen would mention the cradle's composition. i also figure if she can give william the form of a fawn, then she could have brought him back from the ashes.

thanks, someone, for mentioning that the rake was the villain who kidnaps margaret...for some reason it didn't occur to me, and now it ties the two stories together so nicely! how brilliant is this album anyway...

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SkylinePigeon
05-06-2009

Rated 0

The line that connects William and Isaiah is in the Queen's Rebuke - "he was a baby abandoned, entombed in a CRADLE OF CLAY." The clay part is the kicker--what kind of cradle would be made of clay? None that I can think of... what is made of clay? Urns... things where you would put ashes... ashes of burnt children perhaps? We'll never know unless Colin comes out and says it, but I think the theory is a sound one and I personally believe it, although two burned children in one Decemberists album is not outside of the realm of possibility. :P

Remember the Queen is magic and has special powers, I don't think reviving William/bringing him back to life is outside the realm of possibility.

3 Replies

SkylinePigeon
05-11-2009

Rated 0

Ha, no, it won't ruin the album for me not to believe it... I'm not even sure that I believe it at all, just presenting it because I thought it was an interesting idea when I heard the album! :)

Chapstick, I don't think the story is recent, either, but I don't know why it would be more difficult to make a cradle out of some sticks tied together instead of clay. Clay is not an incredibly common thing to have around, while sticks are... but then again I know nothing about the historical use of cradles. :P I think like daedalus said under me that the Queen's magic powers would allow here to bring back a baby if it was dead, and the "entombed" part again makes me think that, regardless of whether or not William = Isaiah, William was closed in something, most likely an urn. Dried clay is very brittle unless fired, so I don't think anything made of clay would survive being thrown into a river unless it was some thick, fired pottery. So, if they are separate, Isaiah was burned as was William, making it two burned children. But like you said, we don't know for sure, just fun ideas. ;)

As for SecretConviction, first paragraph makes a great point. As for the second one, we're talking about Colin Meloy, a practical walking dictionary, so I'm sure he could have made something rhyme that would get his point across. ;) Also, I'm currently 20, but my mom still calls me her baby on occasion. Same could be true of the Queen. Although William would probably remember his former life (assuming he is Isaiah, unless the Queen magically altered his memory?) which shoots holes in my theory. :P Speculating is fun, regardless. ;)

Perhaps I've been watching too much Lost....

SecretConviction
05-07-2009

Rated 0

Though it's a very interesting idea Skyline, i'm with chapstick. In this very song it says the urn was buried. And unless you put a brick inside it so it sinks, I can't really fathom why you'd chuck the urn with your dead kids ashes into a river.

Also, I think clay was at least partially used because 'and he was a baby entombed in a woven basket of reeds, and I was the soul who took pity and stole him away' just doesn't rhyme. She also says baby, and Isaiah was, at the very least, a young boy when his father murdered him. He was the oldest and not only was he of an age to understand what happened to his sisters, he could fight back. He wasn't exactly a threat, but babies don't fight.

And while Colin loves making sick connections like that, he also gives you all the information by the end at least, and he probably would have sung as Isaiah if that's who William was from the start. But, Isiah is last for a reason, and the whole song starts with William coming upon the Rake with Margaret, and killing him. Then he's stuck in death and with the children that he murdered forever and ever. It's got Colin written all over it as much as William being Isaiah would. But, please. If Isaiah being William is what makes the album for you, don't let me get in the way of that.

chapstickaddict
05-06-2009

Rated 0

How do you figure two burned children? It's not clear whether William was dead or just sickly and abandoned when the Queen found him. Nothing on the entire album suggests that he was burned.

And frankly, I don't get the impression that this story took place yesterday or even within the past few centuries. In the time this story was set, there were fewer accessible building materials. I would guess that any type of cradle could be made of clay, as it would probably take longer to carve a cradle out of wood. Also, if you were going to abandon your sickly child in a river, you probably wouldn't put him in a wooden cradle, which would be reused for all your children. You'd put him in something makeshift, like a cradle made of clay.

The Isaiah = William theory is tenuous at best.

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jackasher
05-04-2009

Rated 0

"Spare the rod, you'll spoil the child, but I prefer the lash"

Any ideas on what is meant by this? Dawn and Charlotte seem to express a sort of sarcastic naivete (Papa, we died on accident, but don't worry, we're back!) whereas Isaiah is clearly aware he and his sisters were murdered (also evident in the Rake's Song). As such, I think this line might be different than the preceding openers by Dawn and Charlotte. I am thinking it could be some sort of threat to his father that in death his father is going to get it. I guess it could also be a reference to his father beating him, but that's no fun.

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salgueira
05-03-2009

Rated 0

I also don't think that William is Isaiah, he seemed pretty definitely dead, beaten to death then burnt? Surely unsurvivable. It'd also make the Rake a bit old, and perhaps past the age of rakish activities. Then again, he was married at 21, so maybe not.

Originally thought it was the Rake's children suddenly appear and haunt him just as he's about to rape Margaret (they were his 'hazards of love' as he just wanted lots of sex, no babies), and he subsequently goes insane and kills himself, or at least is incapacitated so that William is able to break in and rescue her. But now... actually, the idea that William fights him and kills him, then he gets to spend all eternity as a ghost in the company of his vengeful children... ooh. I think that would be a worse fate. Creepy, creepy use of a children's choir, all very discordant and sinister, and are those squeaking taps on Dawn's verse? *shiver*

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orypeci
04-26-2009

Rated 0

This is the most awesome idea.

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blue.painted.tears
04-09-2009

Rated 0

It's pretty neat they got a children's choir to sing this, but it must have been really disturbing for the children...

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2marinerssurvive
04-08-2009

Rated 0

Williams music at the beginning of this song makes think that William makes quick work of the Rake and he's meeting his murdered children's souls in the afterlife.

The wanting comes in waves/reprise then is Williams passionate reuniting with Margaret.

And William is not Isaiah, Isaiah was burned, William was found in the reeds of a river. Also it makes sense that this is the Rake's first act in his new life, so it's fairly recently after killing his children.

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karenina
04-01-2009

Rated 0

I think that this song takes place at the moment when William shows up to save Margaret. I agree with what some others have suggested for this album, that William is Isaiah, and I think that when William shows up, The Rake sees Isaiah and suddenly everything comes back to haunt him. William may even be the one singing the last verse but The Rake hears Isaiah. I don't think the Rake is killed. I just think that he remains hidden away wherever he is and is tormented by what he has done.

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MollyJohnson
03-30-2009

Rated 0

I'm thinking the music at the beginning sounds like a fight between Will and the Rake... and the children come to help Will defeat their father. The last little bit sounds like the Rake dies. Anyone else hear that?

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MollyJohnson
03-30-2009

Rated 0

After reading sedition's comment that William is the Rake's dead son and listening to this song again I expected to hear just a hint of Will's voice in the the son's verse but can't say I did. The first couple times I listened to the cd I had thought the children's ghosts had come back and teleported Margaret to the river, but Will being the son that has returned makes more sense.

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sedition
03-24-2009

Rated 0

If my theory is right than the third verse is actually William talking to the Rake in person when he finally catches up with him. Very subtle but it is kind of a big revelation. It ties up the Rake encounter as William takes revenge and saves Margaret.

Check out my comment in "The Queen's Rebuke/The Crossing" where I dabble in the idea that William is the Rake's killed son Isaiah.

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jGosper
03-22-2009

Rated 0

I think that, rather than demonic children rising from the dead and killing him (which a couple of my friends seem to think), either

what jfoxx said:
"I felt like this was the Rake's greeting into death. That William had killed him, and the first thing he sees upon dying is all his murdered children, which will be with him for eternity in death. A fitting sentence."

or

His conscience finally catches up with him, and his murdered children's voices drive him insane (and possibly making him commit suicide), thus making it easy for Margaret to escape and be reunited with William/William to rescue Margaret.
'but father I return'
I take 'return' to mean the rake is still in the land of the living when the voice is haunting him.
'But papa here in death'
This could mean that he's joined his children in death, but I think it's just them talking from death, and he is still alive.

So yes, I think that he is still alive in this song, although probably not for much longer. Who knows, he might simply run away in his insanity.

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deathwriter08
03-21-2009

Rated 0

I smiled when I heard this. I listened to The Rake's Song so much when it was released, and to hear such a great followup to it was really wonderful.

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brave2285
03-20-2009

Rated 0

I like to believe they get to him before he rapes Margaret.

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TheLegionnaire
03-17-2009

Rated 0

really wish Colin would have sung this one.

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a simple wish
03-14-2009

Rated 0

the children who were murdered by the rake, finally come to haunt their father after his kidnap/rape of margaret. his conscience catching up with him after this whereas before he says "And that's how I came your humble narrator/To be living so easy and free/Expect you think that I should be haunted/But it never really bothers me" in The Rake's Song.

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Aixsponsa
03-10-2009

Rated 0

The three murdered children of the villain from "The Rake" come back to haunt their father. A beautiful and creepy song.

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