Today is Memorial Day, a holiday officially set aside to honor those who have died while serving their country. But pick any date on the calendar and it’s certain to hold tremendous meaning for a number of people. Someone they loved, armed forces or not, is no longer around. Those 365 days are decorated with memories that come flooding back with the turn of a page, year in and year out.

I felt it fitting today to feature “Rusty Chains,” a bonus track on Put Your Back N 2 It, the latest album from Perfume Genius, aka Seattle singer-songwriter Mike Hadreas. “Rusty Chains” is “a song for a man whose lover has died,” Hadreas explains. “He remembers a time, before his partner took sick, where everything felt safe and endless. He asks to be taken next, so they can be together again.”

While the death in question took place far from any battlefield, and the construct specific, the impact — heard through Hadreas’ heartbreaking, hushed tone — is universal. Anyone who has experienced enormous loss (everyone, at some point), will find it difficult not to be affected by “Rusty Chains,” a simple but absolutely moving piece of music.

Learn more about Perfume Genius through this interview with The Independent, conducted with Michael Stipe (who counts himself a fan) in attendance.

Free download of Perfume Genius – “Rusty Chains” via Matador Records.