Helicopter

Deerhunter front man Bradford Cox has cited American novelist Dennis Cooper as an important lyrical influence. This heartbreaking song and its refrain of "Now they are through with me," was inspired by the writer's account of the shocking death of a teenage gay prostitute in Russia.

Cox explained to Q magazine November 2010 what draws him to Dennis Cooper's work: "When my dad heard Helicopter and I told him about the story that inspired it, he said it kept him up at night. I think most people can relate to the hopelessness of that song. Dennis Cooper's writings tend to haunt you most not when they are shocking or intense but when they have these moments of pastoral sadness that just radiate."

Cox explained the album title to Q: "It's supposed to be like a collection of short dispatches. The use of the word Halycon is misleading. It has a lot to do with the way people romanticize the past, even if it was horrific."