Transatlanticism

Chillllllllllllllll

Transatlanticism by Death Cab for Cutie

Recommended by Kim

"I have to confess that Death Cab was my favorite band back when I was a little tween in middle school. I think I got hooked after some boys in my English class brought in their guitars and played I Will Follow You into the Dark. Honestly, I couldn't pick my favorite song off of this album, so I just went with the title song. Front man Ben Gibbard defines transatlanticism as 'the incomprehensible emotional gap between two lovers separated by comprehensible distances—the continental United States, an entire ocean, or, most likely, just a couple floors in your freshman dorm.' Some real emo s*** right there. All jokes aside, it's a great song, a great album, and I just have a lot of great memories listening to them."

Okay, first of all, I think we can attest to the fact that the floors of a freshman dorm are far from insurmountable. Maybe if the elevators were out of order...

When I saw that you recommended Death Cab, I had I Will Follow You Into the Dark in mind. Because, you know. Obviously.

But Transatlanticism sounds nothing like I Will Follow You Into the Dark. Aside from Ben Gibbard's voice, I don't feel a lot of similarities at all. This song is more muddled, lyrically and melodically. The message is more poetic and abstract, and it's more electronic. That swirling, sparkling techno-drone gives it a dreamy vibe that's completely different from the simple, acoustic feel of I Will Follow.

It seems almost like you're floating in that ocean or lake or moat or whatever he keeps talking about. You're floating there, and your ears are underwater, which is why it sounds so...blurry. And you're either looking up at the sky or closing your eyes and imagining the stars shining above.

And, I guess, you're thinking about your soul mate up on the ninth floor of the dormitory while you're stuck down on ground level.

Anyway, I like this song. I looked at the Wikipedia page for the album, and apparently the whole thing is based on the concept of "long-distance love." That's heart-breaking and therefore sounds like something I would be into.

I love the idea of a song being part of a bigger story, in the context of the whole album. Maybe I'll switch from a song a day to an album a week for 2017.

Overview:

Genre:
Indie Rock

Favorite Lyrics:
The distance is quite simply much too far for me to row.

Verdict:
Really calming, kind of a "you're fine; go to sleep and deal with it tomorrow" type song

PS This is embarrassing, but I think I was imagining stars because this song reminded me a little bit of the Shooting Star Summit theme from Paper Mario. Check it: x

But also, it just objectively sounds like stars, though, right