For music fans, there are few things cooler than discovering a b-side or rarity by your favourite band. It’s the musical equivalent of pouring yourself a bowl of cereal and watching in ecstatic disbelief as the dollar-store prize tumbles out.
I had been a fan of Death Cab For Cutie and its electronic half-brother The Postal Service for a while when this little gem made its way into my ears, a b-side off the single for “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight”.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. The lyrics. Although this is a cover of a song by The Flaming Lips, the lyrics are perfectly in line with Benjamin Gibbard’s patented way of capturing feeling without sounding pretentiously artistic. In this case, it’s the feeling of sudden realization that your life is completely different from the way it once was.
2. The layered “aaah” vocals that float over the song, like a freshly shaken-out blanket settling onto a bed.
3. The Rhodes piano, which lends the song a slightly Radiohead-ish feel. The instrumentation in the original version of this song is totally different…this is one of those rare cover versions that improves upon the original.
Recommended listening activity:
Putting away groceries.