Today marks the release of “Tiny Changes: A Celebration of
Frightened Rabbit’s The Midnight Organ Fight,” which is a song-by-song cover of
Frightened Rabbit’s 2008 album “The Midnight Organ Fight” by musical friends/admirers
of the great Scots band, among them members of The National, The Hold Steady,
Death Cab for Cutie, and Josh Ritter.
It’s a good lineup and a bittersweet cause. Scott Hutchison,
the primary singer/songwriter for Frightened Rabbit (trust me; terrible name,
fantastic band) committed suicide in May, 2018. He battled depression all his
life, wrote movingly about it, and wrote a song on the original “Midnight Organ
Fight” album about throwing himself from a bridge into the Firth of Forth,
which is in fact how he met his demise last spring. If it sounds dour and
horrific, and it does, let it also be noted that Hutchison’s songs exuded a rare
hope and a devastating sense of humor. “Make tiny changes to earth” is a line
from the song linked below. It not only gives the tribute album its name, but
it’s a reasonable and manageable rallying cry for those of us left on the
planet, alternately shrugging our shoulders and shaking our fists at the ever-worsening
shitshow, and ultimately resolving to do what we can do.
I miss Scott Hutchison. But the tribute album, and all the wondrous Frightened Rabbit albums, reminds me that there will always be a
place in my heart for disarming frankness, world-weariness tinged with hope, and
a great Scots brogue.
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