Portions for Foxes: Laura Stevenson and the Cans

"Portions for Foxes" is a series of weekly posts, each about one song by a woman or a band led by a woman. See the introduction for more.

One of the great tricks across all media is the tonal mismatch - the chipper fairy-tale tone telling stories of woe and despair, the bright smash-cut movie all about ennui. Done right, it throws the material into higher contrast - sometimes with irony, sometimes a blunt honesty.

This song does something very similar, with a tinkling, cheery opening and mostly conversational tone, as Laura Stevenson (and her backing band the Cans) talk directly to some specific listener, telling what I picture as a girl of ten or so that she needs to be brave and strong for her family.

The song is The Healthy One. That's who Stevenson is singing to. And the title gives away the story, just a bit - if there's only one "Healthy One," what does that mean for the others?

Stevenson doesn't say, exactly. We don't know the timeframe. She implies she may not be singing about today. But the repeated chorus at the end gives us a hint, as the music swells and she belts it out:

And you will live long
You will bury them all in the ground
And your body will grow
You will bury them all

This is a song from 2011. I don't think it had a vogue nine years later - it was too much on the nose for right then. But more time has passed, those of us left are living long. I guess we're the healthy ones, for what it's worth.