http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5kY-h-Eqt8

In “1 Samuel 15:23,” a supposed crystal healer speaks of their life and the choices they’ve made.

Track: “1 Samuel 15:23”
Album: The Life of the World to Come (2009)

Every song on The Life of the World to Come is titled after a biblical verse, but the album is not about Christianity. John Darnielle has said that he likes the literature of the religious text, and the source material of 1 Samuel 15:23, the first track on the album, is exceptionally compelling. In the preceding verse, the prophet Samuel chastises King Saul. He tells him that obedience to the Lord is more powerful and more important than complicated religious sacrifices and burnt offerings: “To heed is better than the fat of rams.” In our title track here, he continues the condemnation and likens rebellion (to the Lord) as “like the sin of divination” and compares insubordination to idolatry.

Greater people have broken down what those two verses mean, but in the world of The Life of the World to Come, they seem to describe our narrator’s ability to heal but not to save themselves. They can heal you with crystals and they can protect you when you lack protection, but they seem unfulfilled by it. Samuel warns the king to avoid things like crystal magic, but our speaker here says it works for them. One thing to be clear about: they says it works for them. Maybe you get healed and maybe you don’t, they aren’t really clear on that. All they’re saying is that their career as a healer who is spoken of as powerful is working. There’s no commentary on if rejecting dark magic or embracing the light of the Lord is the purer (or more successful) path.

The album has lots to say about the emotions tied up in biblical language, but “1 Samuel 15:23” is about making your way through life as best you can. If all else fails, plant grapes.