Post-Millennial Classic: The Wondrous “Hannah Hunt” by Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend is that rare group that has managed to grow and develop from their initial buzz-band status without deviating too far from what made people love them in the first place. By the time they made it to their third album, they were hitting impressive new heights, including on the bittersweet ballad “Hannah Hunt.”

The song was a perfect fit for the sonic and lyrical content surrounding it on the record—which was odd since the writing of it began well before that. Here’s the story of the alliterative, alluring “Hannah Hunt,” a Vampire Weekend gem.

Secondary Modern

Vampire Weekend came out with so much hype surrounding them that skeptics naturally wondered if they were worth it. Considering they were Ivy Leaguers and played music featuring copious world music accents, they were ripe for critics who believed they were musical dilettantes of sorts, dipping into their influences without transcending them.

That was never quite true of the quartet, and they managed to shake off those concerns by improving with each release. Their songs kept the specificity of lead singer Ezra Koenig’s experiences, but touched on themes relatable to people from all walks of life. That the music was always sprightly and unpredictable only cinched the deal even further.

By the time they reached their 2013 album Modern Vampires of the City, they had amalgamated their influences into a sound distinctly their own, one that was accented by the bold touches of co-producer Ariel Rechtshaid. For example, “Hannah Hunt,” as a musical construct, is as elusive and fascinating as the title character, starting with plentiful open spaces in between strange sonic globules, then briefly kicking into a peppy jaunt before returning to its mournful mood.

In case you’re wondering, there was indeed a girl named Hannah Hunt that Koenig knew while he was in college. But he only used her name in the song. The story, which he began writing when he was still at Columbia University, was completely fabricated.

As the years passed, Koenig periodically worked on “Hannah Hunt,” but the band struggled to find the right arrangement for it, which is why it wasn’t used on either of their first two albums. Luckily, they found the perfectly disjointed musical motif for it in time for Modern Vampires of the City.

The Meaning Behind “Hannah Hunt”

“Hannah Hunt” tells the story of a cross-country road trip taken by the narrator and the title character. Koenig parcels out the tale in tiny details, and in doing so slowly makes clear this trip is only serving to expose the fissures in this relationship, rather than bringing these two people closer together.

Along the way, Koenig touches on themes of faith and perception. While the narrator eventually comes to believe a gardener’s assertion about mobile plants because he sees evidence of it on their journey, he can’t quite believe in an omniscient deity: A man of faith said hidden eyes / Could see what I was thinking / I just smiled and told him that was only true of Hannah.

While the early stops on the trek go benignly enough, the West Coast finds them frustrated and fighting. I miss those freezing beaches, Hannah complains, and her using The New York Times as kindling is somehow symbolic of how their former East Coast good times have dissipated. By song’s end, he can no longer hold back his feelings, and he unleashes on her: If I can’t trust you, then damn it, Hannah / There’s no future, there’s no answer.

You and me, we got our own sense of time, the narrator asserts throughout “Hannah Hunt.” By all signs, it’s clear time is running out on them. But we as listeners can be thankful Vampire Weekend took their own sweet time in getting this wondrous song just right.

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