The band's fifth album shows influences of the Arizona desert with producer Craig Schumacher (Calexico, Neko Case) to create a compendium of short stories inspired by the varied moments the band experienced since the release of A Mad & Faithful Telling (Anti-, 2007).
Like many bands, DeVotchKa spent much of their early years traveling the highways and byways searching for gigs and a musical direction. As time went on, the band began to foster important musical collaborations with the unequivocal Calexico and the seminal gypsy punks Gogol Bordello. International tours with Gogol and recordings with Calexico have helped spread the band’s sound around the globe.
Originally a backing band for burlesque shows, in their early years DeVotchKa also toured with fetish model Dita von Teese. Numerous nationwide tours in support of self-released records earned the band an underground following. Their song "How It Ends" introduced the band to a wider audience after being featured in the trailer for Everything Is Illuminated, in a Gears of War 2 trailer called "The Last Day", and in an episode of Everwood (Season 4).
Arcade Fire singer Win Butler suggested to DeVotchKa that they cover the Siouxsie and the Banshees song "The Last Beat of My Heart". The musicians found the idea interesting and they recorded that song for the now critically acclaimed Curse Your Little Heart EP. The band did a world tour in support of their previous album, A Mad & Faithful Telling (released March, 2008). The album reached No. 9 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and No. 29 on the Top Independent Albums chart.["New World" and "Head Honcho" were featured in a season 4 episode of the Showtime television show Weeds.
DeVotchKa's first big break happened when Nic Harcourt, former music director for KCRW, introduced his listeners to a then unknown rock band of worldly sounds on his daily radio show, "Morning Becomes Eclectic". Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton, who were listening that day, stumbled upon the sound for their movie, "Little Miss Sunshine". A critical and box office hit, the film was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar and, for DeVotchKa's soundtrack, a Grammy. The little gypsy wedding band from Denver was suddenly known all across the US, playing large venues and major music festivals, including Coachella, Bumbershoot, Lollapalooza, and Mile High Music Festival. After years of toiling in obscurity, the band was selling out shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco and First Avenue in Minneapolis, with breakout performances at Bonnaroo and Austin City Limits Music Festival. The love spread to Europe, which has become a yearly destination for the band.
"100 Lovers" is the album DeVotchKa had always wanted to make. "How it Ends" was recorded and mixed in only nine days, mainly due to lack of funds. On "A Mad and Faithful Telling,” the band had more time and conducted complex arrangements and experimental recording techniques. For "100 Lovers", DeVotchKa spent over a year defining their sound, taking multiple trips to the desert studio to craft twelve new recordings. The final product is the bands strongest album to date, filled with songs fans will love, songs to draw in new listeners, and exciting numbers that fit nicely into their rousing live sets. Guests on the album include members of Calexico and Mauro Refosco, David Byrne and Thom Yorke’s go-to percussionist. With a full tour lined up for the spring and dates booked all over the world, 2011 is gearing up to be the biggest year for DeVotchKa yet.
DeVotchKa is:
Nick Urata: Vocals, guitars, Theremin, trumpet, piano
Jeanie Schroder: acoustic bass, sousaphone
Shawn King: drums, percussion, trumpet
Tom Hagerman: violin, viola, accordion, piano
DEARLY DEPARTED
DeVotchKa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
How I miss your heart
Beating next to mine
The right words
Were always hard to find
When all our time was fine
When darling you were mine, all mine
And I know, I know you had no choice
But I how I miss your voice
Singing right with mine
Flesh of my flesh
Soul of my soul
I come back home
All this darkness, cannot hurt us
Cause they made you from the light
Here on birthplace, don't be nervous
You will make it through, this night
Sweetheart
How I miss your heart
Beating next to mine
Flesh of my flesh
Soul of my soul
I come back home
DeVotchKa's "Dearly Departed" is a hauntingly beautiful song that explores the pain of losing someone you love deeply. The song features a mournful melody that is carried by the singer's soulful voice, which is filled with raw emotion. The lyrics are powerful and speak to the depths of grief and loss.
In the song's opening lines, the singer expresses his longing for his lost love, saying, "Sweetheart, how I miss your heart beating next to mine." He goes on to lament the fact that he was never able to find the right words to express his feelings when they were together, and that he now misses her voice singing in harmony with his own.
The chorus of the song is particularly moving, with the singer proclaiming that his lost love was the "flesh of his flesh" and the "soul of his soul." He then declares that even though the darkness cannot hurt them anymore, he has come back home to be with her once again.
Overall, "Dearly Departed" is a song that speaks to the universal human experience of loss and grief, and it does so in a way that is both deeply moving and relatable.
Line by Line Meaning
Sweetheart
Addressing a loved one that is no longer present
How I miss your heart
Expressing sadness and longing for the presence of the loved one's heart beating next to theirs
Beating next to mine
Reference to the physical closeness of the loved one, and the desire to feel that closeness again
The right words
Acknowledging the difficulty in finding the right words to express feelings
Were always hard to find
Continuation of acknowledgement of difficulty in communication
When all our time was fine
Reflection on a time when things were good
When darling you were mine, all mine
Nostalgic recollection of a time when the loved one was owned romantically and emotionally
And I know, I know you had no choice
Understanding that the loved one didn't have an option in leaving
But I how I miss your voice
Emotionally missing the sound of the voice of the loved one
Singing right with mine
Referencing moments in the past when the loved one sang together with the artist
Flesh of my flesh
Emotionally connected identity between the singer and loved one
Soul of my soul
Emotionally connected identity between the artist and loved one
I come back home
Reaffirmation of the singer's return to a place of emotional connection with the loved one
All this darkness, cannot hurt us
The singer assures the loved one that despite any negative circumstances, there exists a connection that cannot be severed
Cause they made you from the light
Reference to a belief that the loved one is inherently good despite external factors
Here on birthplace, don't be nervous
Sense of reassurance to the loved one, in a familiar environment - childhood home or similar setting
You will make it through, this night
Hope and optimism, that despite difficulty or challenges, the loved one will overcome it
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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