Вторник 18 Апр 2006, 11:50

I have been an avid listener of Death Cab for Cutie music for over a year now. It's weird; I have a different Death Cab for Cutie song for every ex-girlfriend I've ever had.

Summer Skin makes me think of my first true love. Things went so well, until we had to leave for college. After dating happily for a year and a half, we broke up in October and even had completely stopped communication by mid-December. We had left our love in our summer skin. On a musical and tonic level, if you'll notice, the instrumental melody is taken at a slow pace, the notes only struck as the previous note fades out. This gives us the feeling that we are barely hanging on to the melody. The scarceness of the melody makes it that much more powerful, playing second fiddle to the drum beat, a characteristic of this piece which grips me.

I totally relate to Tiny Vessels. It makes me think of my ex, Casey. Not good times, and as such this is a very depressing song. It couldn't be phrased any better. I just lost the feeling, it wasn't really anyone's fault. I couldn't tell her I love her anymore. Anyone who has experienced something like this knows exactly what I'm talking about, and that's what is so gripping about this song; it's a song that everyone can lyrically relate to, from both sides of the coin (as the person being left, and the person leaving another, after the love fades). The slow build from the quiet echoes of the beginning gives the listener the sensation of the confusion and sorrow, soon building to the booming chorus, immediately grabbing your attention, symbolizing the turning point of this relationship, then fading once again into quiet as he snaps back to the reality of the situation. Very powerful.

Enough of my sappy stories. There are a lot of favorite songs of mine, especially Death Cab for Cutie songs. In my humble opinion, A Lack of Color is one of the most beautiful lyrical pieces.
If you know how to read it and have a general understanding of the metaphor, it really hits you hard. Revel in it, figure it out. It's a tough cookie to crack, but it's worth it. :)

"And when I see you
I really see you upside down
But my brain knows better
It picks you up and turns you around
Turns you around, turns you around

If you feel discouraged
That there's a lack of color here
Please don't worry lover
It's really bursting at the seams
Absorbing everything
The spectrum's a to z"

On a musical level, the effect of the lone guitar gives this piece a very solitary sensation, a sensation of "black and white" continuing with the reference to color, as mentioned in the song and in the title. The bus engine in the background gives this song a true feeling of a man just thinking to himself about their lover. One could even look deeper and assume that the lyrics are really a poem, and that the "speaker" is writing them while riding a bus (a common practice of poets).

Musically and tonically speaking, one of the most intriguing songs is Little Fury Bugs, awkward but sweet dissonances in every bar, the slow melodic guitar line containing a very depressing overtone, with the dissonance used to paint the picture of the difficulties in this relationship.

Transatlanticism is yet another favorite song of mine, as both a lyrically and musically astounding piece, the 8-minute epic gradually building from a quiet intro filled with watery echoes to an explosive ending of dynamicly high volumes.

The entire Transatlanticism album is all-around my favorite of their albums, with more than 3/4 of it acting as some of my favorite songs by them, and the ability to listen straight through the album every time adding to the enjoyment and replayability factors.

I'm glad to have discovered Death Cab for Cutie, as they have been one of the greatest musical powers in my life over the past year, as I hope they will continue to be in the future.