The Handsome Family – Amelia Earhart vs. The Dancing Bear (1996)

The Handsome Family are, quite simply, one of the best bands of the last 15 years. And this, is an awesome track.

Picking up the “Alt.Country” baton from Uncle Tupelo, The Jayhawks, etc, the Handsome Family took melancholy to new depths while touching the highest peaks of melody and songcraft …. 

The lyrics tend to be written by Rennie Sparks while her husband, Brett, writes the music. He also does most of the singing but you always suspect the odd disagreement over the family dinner table.

Surely this is the only song of the last half century to namecheck the 27th President of the United States of America, William Howard Taft. For lyrically convenient reasons, William Randolph Hearst also gets a mention (the lead character in Citizen Kane was heavily drawn from Hearst). 

Fantastic lyrics, killer guitar and a wonderful video.