The band self-released their first album, Stars Too Small to Use, which led them to the South by Southwest music festival. After recording their first album in a garage, they signed with Jagjaguwar. Okkervil River continued by releasing four more albums, including critically lauded concept album Black Sheep Boy.
After a period of touring for Black Sheep Boy, Okkervil River followed up with The Stage Names. The album sold 10,000 in its opening week in the United States. The group released a free covers album, Golden Opportunities Mixtape from their live performances.
The band has garnered positive critical reception. Especially noted are each song's lyrics, intricate instrumentation, and thematic albums. In addition, they were featured on the talk show Late Night with Conan O'Brien and have performed with high profile bands such as The Decemberists, The New Pornographers, The National, and Lou Reed.
Okkervil River released their most recent album The Silver Gymnasium on September 3, 2013.
Discography:
* 1998 Bedroom EP – Jound
* 1999 Stars Too Small to Use - Jound
* 2002 Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See - Jagjaguwar
* 2003 Down the River of Golden Dreams - Jagjaguwar
* 2003 Julie Doiron/Okkervil River (A split CD with Julie Dorion) - Acuarela
* 2004 Sleep and Wake-Up Songs (EP) - Jagjaguwar
* 2004 Sham Wedding/Hoax Funeral (A split CD with Shearwater) - Jagjaguwar
* 2005 Black Sheep Boy - Jagjaguwar
* 2005 Black Sheep Boy Appendix (EP) - Jagjaguwar
* 2006 Overboard and Down (EP) – Inertia, Australia-only tour EP
* 2007 The Stage Names - Jagjaguwar
* 2008 The Stand-Ins - Jagjaguwar
* 2011 I Am Very Far - Jagjaguwar
* 2013 The Silver Gymnasium - ATO Records
* 2016 Away - ATO Records
* 2018 In The Rainbow Rain - ATO Records
Current band members:
* Will Sheff - acoustic guitar, vocals, harmonica (keyboard occasionally)
* Travis Nelsen - drums, misc. percussion
* Scott Brackett - trumpet, coronet, keyboards, organ, tape player, misc. percussion
* Patrick Pestorius - bass, piano, woodblocks
* Justin Sherburn - keys, guitar
* Lauren Gurgiolo - electric guitar, pedal steel, mandolin
Past band members:
* Seth Warren - guitar
* Zachary Thomas - vocals, bass
* Jonathan Meiburg - vocals, banjo, guitar, accordion, piano, organ
* Mark Pedini - drums
* Brian Cassidy - electric guitar, pedal steel, mandolin, melodica (keyboard and accordion when on tour without Jonathan)
Okkervil River Song
Okkervil River Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Okkervil River's song, "Okkervil River Song", seems to take listeners back in time as the storyteller reminisces about a location known as Okkervil River. The first verse sets the scene, describing the river's slow, silent, thick, and black waters. The singer stares into the water, lost in thought, as the water stares back at him. He speaks of the night and how it falls from the tangles of the branches on the shore, much like it had before.
The second verse is where the storytelling intensifies, the singer speaks of creating an altar with cigarettes and rusty tires down by the river. Together, they start a fire, and as the smoke rises, it fills the air like a thick smog, covering the skunk cabbage and vines where gods were born and died. As the night progresses, the singer speaks about how he and his partner have come from ugliness to find some refuge by the river. He describes how they lay on the ground with bracken as their blanket and how their limbs stick out like bones. The river becomes their escape - a place to be alone.
The third verse takes a darker turn as the singer delves into what sounds like a romantic relationship: "I tried to tell you, as I kissed your hard dry lips, all the things I dreamed about. I touched your bone white hips." Despite their apparent love for each other, the singer still feels estranged from his partner's parents, who are portrayed as sleeping and dreaming of nothing while they watched the fire burn. The river continues to flow silently by, taking the singer's thoughts with it.
Overall, "Okkervil River Song" is a haunting tale of escape and beauty found in unlikely places. It touches on themes of love, despair, and loneliness, as the singer and his partner seek sanctuary by the river.
Line by Line Meaning
Down by Okkervil River slow silent thick and black, I stared into the water, and the water it stared back.
At Okkervil River's dark, still waters, I gazed intently and was met with an unflinching stare from the river.
The night it fell from tangles of the branches on the shore as it had on Okkervil River before.
The night descended from the tangled branches near the shore, as it had done many times at Okkervil River before.
Down by Okkervil River's cigarettes and rusty tires, we made ourselves an altar, we lit our nightly fires.
At Okkervil River's trash-strewn banks, we created an altar and lit our nightly fires.
And the smoke lay thick and smothered all the skunk cabbage and vines where Gods were born and Gods lay down to die.
The thick smoke suffocated the vegetation where new gods were born and old ones came to rest at Okkervil River.
With your hand inside my pocket, you whispered in my ear 'We have come from ugliness to find some refuge here.
As you held my hand in your pocket, you confided in me that we had left behind ugliness to seek refuge at Okkervil River.
With this bracken for a blanket, where these limbs stick out like bones, we have found a place where we can be alone.'
We have discovered a solitary spot under the bracken, where the branches jut out like bones and can be used as our blanket.
And I tried to tell you, as I kissed your hard dry lips, all the things I dreamed about. I touched your bone white hips.
As I kissed your parched lips and felt your bony hips, I attempted to express my aspirations to you.
Far away our parents slept in while we watched our fire burn. They dreamed of nothing and got nothing in return.
As our fire burned, our parents slumbered elsewhere, dreaming of nothing and receiving nothing in return.
And the water slipped on slowly past our bodies in the weeds, pulling plastic wrap and razors on its current through the reeds.
As the water flowed leisurely past us in the weeds, it carried with it plastic wrap and razors through the reeds.
Then I woke up one cold morning, felt an absence at my back, and I searched and stared but only the river stared.
One chilly morning, I realized something was missing from behind me, and, despite my search, I was met only with the River's blank gaze.
Lyrics © WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind