Video: Cass McCombs, “Executioner’s Song”

story Matthew Schnipper

The lyrics to “Executioner’s Song,” are about how much Cass McCombs, or his narrator, loves his job. There’s no specific mention of noose tightening or subsequent hangings. It’s a fairly oblique, quiet and contemplative, song and could be about being a waiter or a nurse practitioner or an English teacher. When viewed through the eyeballs of a death profession, it’s creepy, but expanded from its title’s horizon, it’s celebratory, if somewhat controlled. But Aaron Brown’s video for the track gets right to the point, putting McCombs’ into the position to ring his death knell somewhere in the pretty woods.