"Dawn breaks... like a bull through the hall..."

Track 6 from the Shins' debut album Oh, Inverted World, an incredible breathless quiet lullabye of a pop song. If I should ever have children I'm going to sing this to them. This song captures the feeling of the tenderest moments of Nick Drake or John Lennon without the overt pandering to the original one finds in, say, Neutral Milk Hotel or the like (don't get me wrong, I have nothing but love for that stuff -- but this is something different).

There's something about the verses of this song that really strikes me; I think it's because I would have never thought of it, were it my song to write. The lines keep sounding like they're coming to a resolution or end and yet they never do -- which in itself isn't so remarkable as the fact that it is done with the most wonderfully delicate light touch. There is no 'gotcha! there's another line!' here... He's just not done yet and that suits me fine. I could listen to this song all day.

This song can allegedly be heard in a McDonald's commercial but I implore you not to let that get in the way of your appreciation.

The full title of the track is "New Slang (When You Notice The Stripes)"

(I've removed the lyrics, for two reasons. The first, and frankly less important to me, is the updated copyright policy. I have no doubt that I could probably get permission to use them here, but I'm not going to bother. The second, and more significant, is that the words alone just can't do justice to the wonderful quiet melody of the song. Just go find it already.)

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