Crucial Track for February 18, 2026

"The Butcher" by Owen Pallett

#365songs (49 / 365)

I like it when musicians indulge in their own mythmaking. Phil Elverum of The Microphones and Mount Eerie does a lot of this. Destroyer does it, kinda. The Mountain Goats sorta do. But I don't think anyone has ever done it quite like Owen Pallett, who recorded the EP, Spectrum, 14th Century, that originally contained "The Butcher," under the name "Final Fantasy" before wisely changing it so as not to incur the wrath or litigation of Square/Enix.

I mention the name change because of the lyric "Put all your fear, your fire, your family / Into the mouth of Final Fantasy," which does, yes, refer to the musical act Final Fantasy. See look. "Spectrum" is an imaginary world that Owen Pallett made up and Spectrum, 14th Century is about that world. It's kind of a medieval fantasy world, and it contains a country or something called "Heartland" (the LP that came after Spectrum, 14th century was also called Heartland) and some people in Heartland worship a deity named Owen. "This land is big, this land is bigger, but never as big as the mouth of a singer," sings Owen Pallett, non-coincidentally, in "The Butcher."

The absolute fucking chutzpah, to write a song as good as "The Butcher" as part of a multi-album fanfic about a world that you are the god of by virtue of having literally sung it into existence! Now that's indulging in your own mythmaking!