Crucial Track for January 22, 2026

"Epilogue" by The Antlers

#365songs (22 / 365)

"Epilogue" is the last song on The Antlers' album Hospice, a fairly devastating concept piece whose protagonist is a nurse for a woman who seems to be on the verge of death for the whole thing. She dies at the end, but I think the whole "hospice" framing is a metaphor for an emotionally abusive relationship. There seem to be some people who think this album is sad because it's romantic in some way and the woman dies, but to me "Epilogue" makes it clear that Hospice is a horror story. Its melody reprises that of an earlier song, "Bear," which seems to be pretty clearly about an abortion, and I find it quite chilling and effective to echo that melody in a description of how the abuse the protagonist suffered reverberates through his life even after its perpetrator is gone. Hospice is a great if kind of hard-to-listen-to album, and "Epilogue" to me is the skeleton key that turns it from sad to frightening.