Decembrists

This song was hard for me to gauge, and I think that's a large part of why I found it so intriguing. At times, the song sounds like a sort of old English ballad, something that would be accompanied by a lute. Of course, at other times in the song, the electric guitar and hard drums come in, so there is very much a contrast in styles within the song itself. I'm a huge fan of The Who, and their song "A Quick One, While He's Away" is very similar to the Decembrists "Come and See." It has several short songs within one complete song, and also changes tempo, theme and style frequently.

The presence of alliteration in the song especially struck me. One example is found in the second and third verses in the "Come and See" chorus: "With this bare waking eye/ Who rose like the wind." The "w" sound corresponds perfectly with the theme of the chorus: the swirling tide and the whirling wind.

This might be a rather obvious observation, but the language used at various points in the song is not very modern. "Thou" instead of "you", and the mention of "saber" just made me think of old, rural England. I think the use of these words combined with the way the music at times sounds minstrel-like is what brings this kind of image to the forefront of my mind.