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Song Premiere: Colin Meloy, 'Do You Remember Walter'

Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy is back with another covers project. This time its for music by The Kinks. Meloy began releasing Colin Meloy Sings cover EPs in 2005 to coincide with his various solo tours. So far he's recorded songs by Morrissey (2005), Shirley Collins (2006), and Sam Cooke (2008). His latest, Colin Meloy Sings The Kinks, features five songs by the band, including "Do You Remember Walter?"

"Do You Remember Walter?" tells a wistful tale of lost friends and failed dreams, a classic story song that would fit comfortably alongside any of Colin Meloy's work with The Decemberists. It originally appeared on the 1968 album The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society. Meloy says he decided to cover the Kink's music after passing on other randomly selected albums from his personal library. "I drew five different records off my shelf at random and determined myself to cover one of those artists," he tells us via email. "They were: Nico, Quasi, Clannad, Kinks and Don Everly. Briefly flirted with the idea of Quasi - particularly the remarkable body of work of one Sam Coomes - but I found that his range is way too high for me. I'm not good on Gaelic so Clannad was out; Nico and Don Everly? Nah. So the Kinks it was!"

Colin Meloy Sings The Kinks will only be available at his live shows, which begin Nov. 1 with a performance at New York City's Town Hall. Here's the full track listing:

1. "Waterloo Sunset"
2. "Harry Rag"
3. "The Way Love Used To Be"
4. "Do You Remember Walter?"
5. "Days"

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Robin Hilton is a producer and co-host of the popular NPR Music show All Songs Considered.