Song Review
The title-track from Noah and the Whale’s 2009 LP The First Days of Spring opens with the line “It’s the first day of spring and my life is starting over again”, and immediately sets the melancholic tone for the remainder of the album. The release, which is the band’s sophomore full-length effort, narrates lead singer Charlie Fink’s coming to terms (or as it often seems, not coming to terms) with the demise of his relationship with former band member Laura Marling. Whether on purpose, or simply the unintended product of where Fink’s head was at following the breakup, the flawed logic in this song does a wonderful job of compounding the sense of despair. While this was undoubtedly a disgusting time in Fink’s life, writing music is the second stage of healing post-breakup (following heavy drinking) and promises that the end is now on the horizon.
It’s the first day of spring
And my life is starting over again
The trees grow, the river flows
And its water will wash away my sins
For I do believe that everyone has one chance
To fuck up their lives
But like a cut down tree, I will rise again
And I’ll be bigger and stronger than ever before
For I’m still here hoping that one day you may come back
For I’m still here hoping that one day you may come back
There’s a hope in every new seed
And every flower that grows upon the earth
And though I love you, and you know that
Well I no longer know what that’s worth
But I’ll come back to you in a year or so
And I’ll rebuild, be ready to become
Oh the person, you believed in
Oh the person, that you used to love
For I’m still here hoping that one day you may come back
For I’m still here hoping that one day you may come back
