In the live intro to this song Meloy said it was about miners. So I imagine it's about labor disputes (i.e., the kind they used to have, fighting for basic things like limited work weeks, no child labor, the right to go on strike and not get arrested, etc.). Not quite as dramatic as a war to make the world safe for democracy, perhaps, but it rather fits with the Decemberists' style to tell a story from the perspective of the people in it--to them, this would've been important enough to justify the dramatic imagery.
In the live intro to this song Meloy said it was about miners. So I imagine it's about labor disputes (i.e., the kind they used to have, fighting for basic things like limited work weeks, no child labor, the right to go on strike and not get arrested, etc.). Not quite as dramatic as a war to make the world safe for democracy, perhaps, but it rather fits with the Decemberists' style to tell a story from the perspective of the people in it--to them, this would've been important enough to justify the dramatic imagery.
That's what they sing about, the hardships of people, death and war.
That's what they sing about, the hardships of people, death and war.