"The last great book I read was Hunger by Elise Blackwell. It’s about the siege of Leningrad in World War II, and there was a botanical institute. During the siege, which lasted a long time, the entire population were starving, but all of the botanists in the institute swore themselves to protect the catalog of seeds and plants and things, from not only a starving population, but also from themselves. It’s pretty amazing. I actually ended up writing "When the War Came", a song on the new record, about that."
I found out through my English Professor, Elise Blackwell, that her book Hunger was the basis of this song. She said that this is her only claim to coolness that the Decemberists wrote this song about her book, but she also said she did not enjoy the song very much. I personally enjoy the song and feel that it is obviously about the book, but the references are hard to understand unless you have read the book.
I found out through my English Professor, Elise Blackwell, that her book Hunger was the basis of this song. She said that this is her only claim to coolness that the Decemberists wrote this song about her book, but she also said she did not enjoy the song very much. I personally enjoy the song and feel that it is obviously about the book, but the references are hard to understand unless you have read the book.
From an interview from Pitchfork:
"The last great book I read was Hunger by Elise Blackwell. It’s about the siege of Leningrad in World War II, and there was a botanical institute. During the siege, which lasted a long time, the entire population were starving, but all of the botanists in the institute swore themselves to protect the catalog of seeds and plants and things, from not only a starving population, but also from themselves. It’s pretty amazing. I actually ended up writing "When the War Came", a song on the new record, about that."
I found out through my English Professor, Elise Blackwell, that her book Hunger was the basis of this song. She said that this is her only claim to coolness that the Decemberists wrote this song about her book, but she also said she did not enjoy the song very much. I personally enjoy the song and feel that it is obviously about the book, but the references are hard to understand unless you have read the book.
I found out through my English Professor, Elise Blackwell, that her book Hunger was the basis of this song. She said that this is her only claim to coolness that the Decemberists wrote this song about her book, but she also said she did not enjoy the song very much. I personally enjoy the song and feel that it is obviously about the book, but the references are hard to understand unless you have read the book.