#365songs (200 / 365)

Third song on The Stage Names. Like my last third of three songs it brings the intensity down a little bit for something funkier and more bass-forward. It feels to me like it's wrapping up the "intro" section of The Stage Names, as most of the rest of the album is more tightly focused character studies. Hence my feeling that the introductory three songs are scene-setting, and of course this song's title doesn't do anything to convince me otherwise.

I learned in reading about this song to prepare for writing this that the first two verses are actually specifically and precisely about two TV shows that Okkervil River's music had been used in, so "A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene" continues the precedent of fourth-wall breaking set by the first two tracks (this is also much less common on the rest of The Stage Names). Overall a nice end-of-the-beginning of the album, and of course (he said, once again almost as an afterthought) a great song in its own right. Despite the over-the-topness of the last verse and chorus and the melodrama of everything preceding them, the cheeky horns and handclaps make it fun and the bassline makes it groove. Fantastic conclusion to one of my favorite three-song runs on any album.