The Decemberists - Meloy Opens Up About Autistic Son

THE DECEMBERISTS frontman COLIN MELOY has told how his son's battle with autism inspired a track on the band's hit album THE KING IS DEAD.

The rocker is father to four-year-old Henry 'Hank' Meloy with his wife Carson Ellis, and he admits the experience of raising a child with the condition moved him to write the ballad Rise To Me and dedicate it to his little boy.

Meloy tells Britain's Uncut magazine, "My son... is autistic. So that song is about mine and Carson's challenges.

"Thankfully, Hank is high-functioning. He taught himself to read when he was three, and he can tell you the Greek and Roman pantheon of gods, but can't use a door handle, and has trouble looking people in the eye - this would all be recognised by any parent with experience of autism."

The Decemberists debuted at the top of the U.S. album chart this week (begs24Jan11), scoring their first number one ever with The King is Dead.