Frightened Rabbit
Of snow fights at recess
Last week, my son was telling me that the three snow forts built by kids in the schoolyard were a contention of dispute at recess. See, each fort had its own faction of kids who were loyal to the cause of the fort they allied themselves to. The cause was similar for each fort: be the best fort.
Evaluation criteria for the best fort was on two aspects: the size of the fort and the size of the fort’s snowball stash.
This obviously lead to random vandalism on opposing forts and wanton pilfering of hoarded snowballs. Then, in turn, lead to hard feelings, arguments, and, ultimately, fights.
My son, being the good natured little boy that he is, couldn’t handle any more of these fights. He had told me the schoolyard had become tense, recess was no more fun because of the incessant squabbling. Therefore, he took it upon himself to advise a teacher that everyone was always fighting and the forts were to blame.
He did it to restore peace to the playground. He did it to wash the ugly away from recess. But when the teacher told him they would destroy all three forts, he was stunned. That wasn’t what he was expecting. The fact that they were going to disappear took him by surprise. He felt anxious.
And with the playground doing what it does best, word spread quickly that he was the one who “snitched.”
So he did succeed in ending all the arguing and fighting, but he did it by uniting all the kids against him. “I tried to explain to everyone how I felt, but nobody understood,” he told me. “I’m all alone, now.”
He found some solace in the fact that he did stop the fighting, but feelings of solitude are much more overbearing. That situations is essentially the basis of the song Modern Leper by Frightened Rabbit: having the impression that one’s feelings ostracize one from the world. And musically, it’s a slow burn indie rock achievement with profound folk sensibilities. It climbs and climbs in a crescendo of melodious self-depreciation, the tempo-setting pace of the intro graduating through expansive wall-of-sound guitarwork and ear-popping drum bursts. It’s as successful in its authenticity as it is absorbing.
If it’s any consolation, my son’s friends are all speaking to him again this week. He also feels proud of what he did, even though he found it hard. I asked him if anyone had thought about re-building the forts. “They’d better not,” was his answer.
MP3: Frightened Rabbit - Modern Leper
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