The Dear Hunter

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The Dear Hunter circa Act III: Life and Death

The Dear Hunter is a diverse musical project formed in 2005, not to be confused with indie band Deerhunter or the homophonous film The Deer Hunter. The band's lineup has changed many times since its formation, but at its core are Casey Crescenzo (lead singer/multi-instrumentalist/producer/songwriter) and his brother, Nicholas Crescenzo (drums/percussion/backing vocals).

The band's Pun-Based Title is derived from the tale told throughout the band's discography. To paraphrase, the story is basically about a boy who grows up in complete innocence out in the country with his loving mother.

Things go downhill from there.

The bulk of the band's chronology is the boy's experiences as he is forced to come into contact with the real world, which quickly proves itself to be unforgiving and corrupt.

In the story's canon are the albums Act I: The Lake South, the River North (2006), The Meaning of, and All Things Regarding Ms. Leading (2007), and Act III: Life and Death (2009).

The band has also released several extended plays which are a departure from the story, most notably The Color Spectrum (2011), a series of concept albums, four songs apiece, which chronicle the 7 colors of the color spectrum along with black and white (9 extended plays and 36 songs in total).

The Dear Hunter provides examples of the following tropes:

General

• Badass Beard: Casey Crescenzo sports quite an impressive one.
• Berserk Button: Don't ask Casey to play "Camera." He will hurt you.
• Concept Album: So far, all their albums.
• Old Shame: The aforementioned "Camera" and, to a lesser degree, the songs on the Dear Ms. Leading demo album that weren't redone for Act II.

Act I: The Lake South, the River North

• Alliteration: "The Pimp and the Priest" has bucketloads of this.
• Bilingual Bonus: "Battesimo del Fuoco" is Italian for "Baptism of the Fire".
• Heroic Bastard
• Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Ms. Terri is one of these.
• Meaningful Name: Ms. Terri.
• Non-Appearing Title: Most of the songs. This goes for all of the acts.
• Sinister Minister: The Priest of the City's church is a pimp by night. He also sends for Ms. Leading and her then-unborn child to be killed.
• Son of a Whore
• You Can't Fight Fate: "Battesimo del Fuoco" prefaces the story with a prophecy of things to come. Guess what ends up happening?

Act II: The Meaning of, and All Things Regarding Ms. Leading

• Alliteration: "Vital Vessel Vindicates".
• Bilingual Bonus: "Blood of the Rose" has a section in Spanish which translates to: "Blood, blood of a rose / Continue in peace without the past / Pray, pray for her soul / She will die in the baptism of the fire."
• Break the Cutie: And how!
• Break Up Song: "Dear Ms. Leading".
• Broken Record: "One life for another one life for another one life for another one life for another one life for another one life for another one life for another one life for another" ad infinitum ("The Procession").
• Crapsack World: What did you expect?
• Epic Rocking: "The Lake and the River", at nine-and-a-half minutes.
• Grief Song: "The Procession" is the Boy's reaction to the sudden death of his mother and his decision to leave for the City: He proceeds to the road beyond the home he learned to call his own.
• Intercourse with You: The basis of "The Bitter Suite III: Embrace".
• Last-Note Nightmare: After five-and-a-half minutes of cheery sentimentality, the orchestra in "Vital Vessel Vindicates" suddenly goes crazy, then cuts out completely, leaving the listener with just the haunting piano part from "The Lake South" and the sounds of a harbor fading in.
• Love At First Sight: The protagonist feels this for Ms. Leading. He doesn't know she's just a prostitute and doesn't really love him.
• Mad Oracle: The oracles from "The Oracles on the Delphi Express", of course. The Dear Hunter doesn't listen to them.
• Meaningful Name: "Ms. Leading".
• Triumphant Reprise: "Vital Vessel Vindicates" contains lyrical and melodical reprisal from "The Bitter Suite III: Embrace", "The Pimp and the Priest", "Battesimo del Fuoco", and "The Lake South".
• Unexplained Recovery: "Let's just say she is better off somehow / Let's just say she has never been happier than she is now" ("Black Sandy Beaches").

Act III: Life and Death

• Animated Music Video: "What It Means to Be Alone" has one.
• I Banged Your Mom: "He Said He Had a Story" is pretty much the protagonist overhearing his soon-to-be-revealed Father recounting how the Dear Hunter was presumably conceived. The manner in which he tells his story doesn't exactly evoke the listener's sympathy.
• I Warned You: In the opening track "Writing on a Wall", the oracles from Act II reprimand the protagonist for not taking ear to their prophecy.
• Long Lost Sibling: "Saved" is about the Dear Hunter discovering his half-brother on the battlefield.
• Matter of Life and Death
• Mood Whiplash: The transition from the upbeat "Go Get Your Gun" to the melancholy "Son" can be pretty jarring.
• Protest Song: "Mustard Gas", on the topic of war: "Scream at the sky and beg, beg for a reason he would allow this / Look to the sky and say we would be better off without this / Who would allow this?"
• Revenge: The Dear Hunter kills his father with poison acquired from the Poison Woman.
• "Somewhere" Song: "This Beautiful Life".

The Color Spectrum

• Anti-Love Song: "Lillian" from the Violet EP.
• Break Up Song: "Crow and Cackle" is a sad song about a relationship on the verge of collapse.
• The Cameo: Andy Hull from Manchester Orchestra lends his voice to all four songs on Red EP.
  • Additionally, Casey's dog, Aurora, is depicted on the album art of Orange EP.
• The Cynic: A perspective frequently taken on Black and Red.
  • "This Body" from Black is a great example: "Your body's not a temple, it's a prison!"
  • Of course, "A Curse of Cynicism" from Red has to be mentioned as well.
• Genre Shift: Between each EP, pretty much. Black contains influence from dubstep and heavy metal, Green from country/folk, Indigo from ambient/electronica, and so on.
• Info Dump: When the The Color Spectrum was released, The Dear Hunter fans suddenly had two-and-a-half hours of music to catch up on. Not that that's a bad thing...
• Mondegreen: "Mr. Malum's got a secret / He keeps 'em in his peaches!"
• Reincarnation: The idea that all life will cycle and repeat infinitely is a recurring theme on Indigo and White.
• Silly Love Song: Everything on Yellow EP, except for "The Dead Don't Starve."
• There Is No God: "No God" is a literal example of this.
• This Is Sparta: SOMEONE'S GOT! BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS!