The Cripple Lilies

The Cripple Lilies, at first listen a lovely, melodic, perhaps benign folk collective, sets itself apart by delighting in unusual perspectives. Take, for example, "Henry Darger," which is sung from the point of view of the titular outsider artist.

The Chicago recluse was so moved by the news story of the murder of a 5-year-old child named Elsie Paroubek that he wrote and illustrated 15,000 pages of fantastical prose. Set in an imaginary world, the tale told of slave children revolting against their captors. The band's song envisions Darger, on the day that he lost his prized photo of Elsie, as shy, powerful, angry, sad and hopeful. Folk music should be about folks, and the Lilies invoke folks with the best.