Song of the Day: Death Cab For Cutie "Soul Meets Body"
(AKA "Everyone congratulate me, I'm finally getting into Death Cab.")
I have had the chorus of "The Sound of Settling" stuck in my head since I started walking back from law school ten minutes ago. Not just the regular chorus, mind you, but a much more emphatically vocaled imaginary chorus: "ba BAA, ba BAA, this is the SOUND of settling." The less-screaming approach in the actual song is a little more subtle, to the point where I didn't relate to the melody until I heard it in some movie trailer. I get it now. The song rocks.
But that is not the song that hooked me into Death Cab For Cutie. Shout out to fellow first-year NYU law student and fellow resident of a politically extreme home state Tim Foster for suggesting several Death Cab songs for me to check out. See, Death Cab For Cutie, for me, for a long time, had been one of those bands that everyone really loves and I honestly completely 100% could not see it. Now, granted, there are plenty of songs that I just don't get, at all, and then literally years later I finally discover what's so great about it. That's why, when I want to see why I should be into a band like Death Cab For Cutie, I ask for the advice of experts, i.e. people who are really into the band themselves. You want to know the best They Might Be Giants songs? I can knock you out with "She's An Angel," "They'll Need A Crane," the lesser-known version of "Sensurround" or a hundred others. You want to know the best Death Cab For Cutie songs, you ask someone who knows.
I first listened to "Soul Meets Body" this morning before class. Actually, to put it more precisely, I listened to "Soul Meets Body" about ten times this morning before class. Over and over and over again. The whole thing is great, but my favorite part is the thumping guitar/bass line running through the end. See, the first few times around the chorus they have this beautiiful melody, but after a few more repetitions they start making it pound a little more, to rock out a little better and make everything sound a little more important. It becomes impossible to avoid rocking out to this song. My only regret is that it ends too soon. As everyone says, these guys know how to make finely crafted songs with the best of them, but they know how to hit you when the need arises. That's how I know I'm correct to imagine "The Sound of Settling" with a thumping chorus too, because of one simple truth: Death Cab rocks.
Here are the lyrics.
UPDATE: I seem to be getting a ton of hits from people searching for the lyrics. So, here they are:
I want to live where soul meets body
And let the sun wrap its arms around me
And bathe my skin in water cool and cleansing
And feel, feel what its like to be new
Cause in my head there’s a greyhound station
Where I send my thoughts to far off destinations
So they may have a chance of finding a place
where they’re far more suited than here
I cannot guess what we'll discover
We turn the dirt with our palms cupped like shovels
But I know our filthy hand can wash one another’s
And not one speck will remain
I do believe it’s true
That there are roads left in both of our shoes
If the silence takes you
Then I hope it takes me too
So brown eyes I hold you near
Cause you’re the only song I want to hear
A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere
Where soul meets body
Where soul meets body
Where soul meets body
I do believe it’s true
That there are roads left in both of our shoes
If the silence takes you
Then I hope it takes me too
So brown eyes I hold you near
Cause you’re the only song I want to hear
A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere
A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere
A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere
A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere
Comments
heh, the radio dj last night was doing a halloween theme, and he said, "but not all of the songs will be halloween-related. coming up next is DEATH...cabforcutie's 'soul meets body'".
i finally got to see them a couple weeks ago, and yes, you are the last person alive to get into them. this girl next to me kept screaming how she loved them on the OC.
Posted by: erin | November 1, 2005 12:08 PM
They may be good, but are they like a rock? If they keep going against the wind, there may have to be a shakedown. They've got tonight, but if they can't turn the page during the hollywood nights and are still the same after their night moves, it may be time for some old time rock and roll, because rock and roll never forgets.
Posted by: The Silver Bullet Band | November 1, 2005 5:28 PM
i still don't get death cab. never have - not a huge fan of ben gibbard. (but if you dig his style, a song very worth checking out is dntel's "this is the dream of evan and chan" - he sings the vox and even i think it totally kills.)
Posted by: rajeev | November 1, 2005 8:12 PM