January Hymn

Album: The King Is Dead (2011)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Frontman Colin Meloy moved to a rural location ten minutes north of Portland, Oregon in late 2009 with his wife, the illustrator Carson Ellis, and their young son, Henry. This beautiful, stripped down tune was inspired by the first January Meloy and his family spent in their new home, when the winter brought three feet of snow. "Portland alone shuts down when there's any snow, but up here we just don't get touched," he told UK newspaper The Guardian. "We hardly get any services up here anyway, so when the snow came we were stranded for 10 days with no garbage, no mail." He added, smiling. "It was awesome. So that song is just about shoveling snow, and thinking about all the snow I shoveled as a kid."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Which Restaurants Are Most Mentioned In Song Lyrics?

Which Restaurants Are Most Mentioned In Song Lyrics?Song Writing

Katy Perry mentions McDonald's, Beyoncé calls out Red Lobster, and Supertramp shouts out Taco Bell - we found the 10 restaurants most often mentioned in songs.

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: Tarantino Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: Tarantino EditionMusic Quiz

Whether he's splitting ears or burning Nazis, Quentin Tarantino uses memorable music in his films. See if you can match the song to the scene.

Carl Sturken

Carl SturkenSongwriter Interviews

Hitmaker Carl Sturken on writing and producing for Rihanna, 'N Sync, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Donny Osmond, Shakira and Karyn White.

Amy Grant

Amy GrantSongwriter Interviews

The top Contemporary Christian artist of all time on song inspirations and what she learned from Johnny Carson.

Lita Ford

Lita FordSongwriter Interviews

Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.

Francesca Battistelli

Francesca BattistelliSongwriter Interviews

The 2011 Artist of the Year at the Dove Awards isn't your typical gospel diva, and she thinks that's a good thing.