You had me worried, so worried that this would last

My Morning Jacket - 'Dondante' (Z - 2005)

Trigger Warning - discussion of suicide in this post.

‘Dondante’ is one of those epic closing tracks, a final track stretching beyond five minutes towards ten that goes on a musical journey that is distinctive despite the simplicity of the melody. The song appears on Z, the acclaimed fourth album by the Kentucky band My Morning Jacket.

Z is a record where the band started playing with different textures. There is dub, there is reggae, and there are synthesisers brought in to augment their sound. On ‘Dondante’, a simple saxophone guides us home to the album's end.

The band placed ‘Dondante’ as the album’s finale as a deliberate statement. It makes for a powerful closing and serves as a fitting and dramatic musical climax and a narrative arc to the album. The song builds on the album’s encompassing themes of loss, acceptance, and growth. It explores personal grief and is a metaphor for the band's evolution.