Book Description

Featured in The New Yorker and Rolling Stone As Recommended in the Buzzfeed Holiday Gift Guide “There is something quite moving about seeing these fifty-five songs collected and assembled this way. Themes of family, friendship, love, destiny, loss, nature, and honest living bridge all of the albums and form the core set of concerns of this body of work. At the same time, you can see the evolution of the minds and hearts at work behind the lyrics.” —Brandon Taylor Since the release of their breakout debut album in 2008, Fleet Foxes and their front man, singer-songwriter Robin Pecknold, have enjoyed international critical and commercial acclaim. Their music has helped reshape the American indie-folk sound through songs that are acoustically and melodically driven, steeped in gospel-like harmonies, and propelled by Pecknold’s resonant, earthy, and timeless lyrics. Wading in Waist-High Water: The Lyrics of Fleet Foxes contains Pecknold’s complete lyrics from fifty-five songs, capturing the poetic and inventive storytelling that is a hallmark of the band’s music. These richly layered lyrics explore the complexity, darkness, and beauty of physical and emotional landscapes, both pastoral and modern. Accompanying the lyrics, Pecknold includes notes on his creative processes, inspirations, and motivations. With an introduction by celebrated novelist Brandon Taylor, and an afterword by Pecknold, Wading in Waist-High Water is a moving and intimate look at the art of songwriting, the joy of music-making, and what it means to produce meaningful and memorable sound.