Lord Huron is an American indie band founded by Ben Schneider, a Michigan-b… Read Full Bio ↴Lord Huron is an American indie band founded by Ben Schneider, a Michigan-born visual arts major.

Origins
In the spring of 2010 Schneider traveled from Los Angeles to Northern Michigan. At Lake Huron, he developed songs for the first Lord Huron EP. He named the recording, Into the Sun. Upon his return to L.A., Schneider set to work putting a band together. The first to join him was his percussion-playing childhood friend Mark. Each of the band members of band hail from Michigan.

Into The Sun and Mighty
Lord Huron released two EPs in 2010, Into the Sun and Mighty. Pop & Hiss, the LA Times Music Blog, described Mighty as "full of lush acoustic guitars and Midwestern-accented harmonies as warm as a winter fireplace, but it's the Caribbean-influenced percussion that fans Lord Huron's folk sound into flame,"and Pitchfork could only classify it as "a stylistic superball, bouncing off any wall you put around it." NPR's World Cafe wrote "the band's lush harmonies are backed by a hazy whirlpool of polyrhythmic tropical drums and folk guitars."
Despite the fact that Schneider played all of the instruments on both EPs, he has gathered a band for live performances, which have also gotten positive reviews. "The totality of the experience was like being on hand for a combination drum circle, chamber performance, and Calypso street party," wrote LA Weekly.Some of the larger shows the band has performed at include Lollapalooza (2011) and Outside Lands (2011), as well as a marathon ten shows in four days at the SXSW (2011) music festival.

Discography

EPs
Into The Sun (2010)
Mighty (2010)
Time to Run (2012)

LPs
Lonesome Dreams (2012)
Strange Trails (2015)
Vide Noir (2018)
Long Lost (2021)

Dead Man's Hand
Lord Huron Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Yellow lines in the dead of the night
I was heading back out west
Trying to keep my eyes open wide
I'd gone days without any rest
Saw him lying in the road looking bad about 20 yards ahead
You come back from a trip to the east
But you don't come back from the dead

Sure as hell he was dead as they come
And he was already starting to smell
Just a kid with his hair slicked back
And a knife tucked into his belt
Was he unforgiven or just tired of living a life
That never felt like his?
Though I was was worn and weary, I thought I'd bury him
And lay his soul to rest out in the desert night

I laid him down in a grave in the sand
And he grabbed my arm with his dead man's hand
He said: "I know I'm dead but I don't wanna lie
In a grave out here where the coyote's cry

I stared right into the endless void
And I ain't going back if I got any choice
I know how to live, I don't know how to die
And there ain't no thrills in the afterlife

So lift me up out of here my friend
And I'll wander the night 'til the ages end."
Lit by the moon he walked through the sand
And he waved goodbye with his dead man's hand

He will roam forever, haunting the desert

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Lord Huron’s “Dead Man’s Hand” tell a compelling tale about a man traveling in the dead of night out west when he stumbles upon a dead body lying in the road. The man decides to give the deceased a proper burial, laying him to rest in the sand. However, as he is laying him down, the dead man grabs his arm with his dead man’s hand and gives a haunting request. He asks the man not to leave him in the desert with the howling coyotes and instead help him roam the night forever.

The interpretation of this song could vary for each individual. Some may view it as a story about the dead man’s unwillingness to accept death and let go of his earthly existence. He wants to continue to see the world and live in a realm that he is used to, even if it is not “alive” per se. Alternatively, some may interpret this as a metaphor for the fleetingness of life, and how even when we choose to let go, a part of us will forever wander the Earth. Whatever the interpretation, the vivid imagery of the lyrics helps to strengthen this idea of loss and of being lost.

In conclusion, Lord Huron’s “Dead Man’s Hand” is a lyrically and narratively rich song that tells a story of death and the unrelenting will to live forever. It is an interesting song, which exudes its fascination via the underlying story of loss, wandering and the transient nature of human existence.

Line by Line Meaning

Yellow lines in the dead of the night
The singer was driving in the middle of the night, and the yellow lines were the only source of light

I was heading back out west
The singer was driving towards the western part of the United States

Trying to keep my eyes open wide
The singer was tired and struggling to stay awake

I'd gone days without any rest
The artist had been awake for days without any sleep

Saw him lying in the road looking bad about 20 yards ahead
The artist saw a dead body in the road that was about 20 yards away

You come back from a trip to the east
The dead man was returning from a trip to the eastern part of the United States

But you don't come back from the dead
The dead man cannot come back to life

Sure as hell he was dead as they come
The dead man was certainly dead

And he was already starting to smell
The dead man's body was beginning to decompose

Just a kid with his hair slicked back
The dead man was a young person with slicked back hair

And a knife tucked into his belt
The dead man had a knife in his belt

Was he unforgiven or just tired of living a life That never felt like his?
The artist wonders if the dead man was unforgiven for something, or if he was just unhappy with his life

Though I was was worn and weary, I thought I'd bury him And lay his soul to rest out in the desert night
Despite being tired, the singer decided to bury the dead man and give him a proper resting place

I laid him down in a grave in the sand And he grabbed my arm with his dead man's hand
After burying the dead man, his hand came out of the sand and grabbed the singer's arm

He said: "I know I'm dead but I don't wanna lie In a grave out here where the coyote's cry
The dead man spoke and expressed his desire to not be buried in the desert where his body would be disturbed by coyotes

I stared right into the endless void And I ain't going back if I got any choice
The artist looks into the void (death) and decides that he does not want to go there

I know how to live, I don't know how to die And there ain't no thrills in the afterlife
The dead man reflects on his life and how he never learned how to die. He also acknowledges that there is nothing thrilling about the afterlife

So lift me up out of here my friend And I'll wander the night 'til the ages end.
The dead man asks the singer to lift him out of the grave and he will wander the desert forever

Lit by the moon he walked through the sand And he waved goodbye with his dead man's hand
The dead man walked through the sand in the moonlight and said goodbye to the singer with his undead hand

He will roam forever, haunting the desert
The dead man will wander the desert forever and haunt it with his presence

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BEN SCHNEIDER

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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