Narrow Stairs: You're gonna need therapy, but it's really great
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I will admit, I’m an instant gratification type of girl…I do one hour photo, microwavepopcorn, and I downloaded the new Death Cab for Cutie album early. Before anyone gets all uptight…don’t worry. I will buy it, more than one copy, actually. But I wanted to spend some quality time with my hometown boys and their new tunes and wanted to do it NOW.Anyhow…the album has gotten some great reviews from the music press and as I fan, I fully expected to enjoy the album. What I really didn’t expect was to be so moved, so ??influenced?? by it.I have a 45 minute commute to work and back. This is MY time, and I usually spend it absorbing my latest music love, replaying the songs that catch my ear over and over and over. This was my time to meditate with Ben Gibbard’s lyrics and over the past 10 days or so my favorite songs have shifted, my interpretation of the songs was enhanced, my love for this album cemented. I’m didn’t want to go song by song, but I just couldn’t help it. So stop reading now if you don’t want to hear what I think, at least briefly. But each song demanded its own moment, good or bad. (I also sprinkled a couple of photos I took at their show last April, lauching their current tour...I couldn't help it. Words need pictures.)
The first song on the album is the one that speaks the clearest to me. Bixby Canyon Bridge chronicles Ben’s attempt to channel Jack Kerouac’s spirit, looking for insight into his future, while those around him settle down. He seems to fear that he’s “missing a dream†and the music soars into a reverb heavy, almost shoe-gazey sound before Ben returns to his car, “no closer to any kind of truth, as I must assume was the case with youâ€. A song that can cause middle-aged angst in the most confident of people…and I’m not sure you even have to be middle-aged to feel it.Chances are you’ve all heard the 5 minute menacing bass line of the stalker anthem, I Will Possess Your Heart (love it! Creepiness at it’s best!) and No Sunlight has Ben’s inner optimist dying, set to a happy poppy back beat. Too good.The 4th tune seems (to me, at least) to return to the subject of the song Company Calls Epilogue (from the album We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes), a loved woman, marrying the wrong man. But the pain in that song seems dulled and the revisit to the wedding is more a view of pity than sorrow. It’s like its 10 years later and the lyrics are from a more mature perspective. Still sad, just not so full of anguish and loss.Talking Bird is my least favored song on the CD. Maybe it’s too analogous for me…I mean, I like a metaphor as much as the next person but, come on. Maybe I just find it offensive that the singer seems to have such little respect for his little pet “talking bird†and you just feel he thinks she’s stupid to stick around, that he’s just daring her to fly.You Can Do Better than Me, coming in at just under 2 minutes is short but anything but sweet and is a brutal song. The final line says it all: There’s times I think of leaving, but it’s something I’ll never do/ Cause you can do better than me, but I can’t do better than you†Ouch.Grapevine Fires is perhaps the best song on the CD, although not my personal fave. It is also the only song with hope for the future, with a positive thread woven through the dark beauty of fire, graves and prayers. Lovely visual lyrics that show Ben Gibbard at his best, IMO.Twin Sized Bed is sad sad sad. “You look so defeated lying there in your new twin sized bed, your single pillow underneath your single head.†The melody here is a standout, with haunting guitar hooks that my 8 year old daughter really digs; she wants to bring this song to her guitar lessons as one of the next songs to learn. I’m not quite sure what her teacher will think of the lyrics, but, oh well. Long Division is rapidly becoming one of my favorites on this album, although it did take several listenings for it to do so. About a relationship that just isn’t working, that keeps having to carry the remainder in a long division equation that never comes out with an even solution. ??This?? is the good use of analogy. I mean, long division is ??hard?? and we all had to work hard at it. Love the song as much as I hated math in school.Pity and Fear…seems to be the same fellow from Tiny Vessels; feeling bad for not feeling worse when he uses a lover but doesn’t love them, an emotional void where affection and regret should be. 
And the last song: The Ice is Getting Thinner. Maybe because it’s so slow tempo’d, maybe because it hasn’t gotten the playtime the rest of the album has because of it’s bringing up the rear, but although the words are melancholy magic, the song leaves me tired…so I start all over with Bixby. Heh.So, there’s the album recap, from my ears to your eyes, for what it’s worth. You listen and you may get a whole different take. You should try it. Bet you’ll like it. The critics kept saying that this is a make or break album; that fans of 2005’s Plans might not like Narrow Stairs. And they might not. I don’t know if the younger fans will really get the uncertainty the songs display. These songs aren’t about college parties, or being afraid of making your move on the girl of your dreams, or making drunken phone calls trying to win back your lost love. These songs are about whether you’re making a mistake not taking the road ??most?? traveled, about settling for a relationship that isn’t mind blowing, but is merely comfortable, about being a loser in the game of love. I’m not sure ??I’m?? ready to face these things and I’m probably twice the age of the average Death Cab fan. However, another MOGGER told me he thinks this is the album Death Cab was meant to write and record, the album hinted at with Tiny Vessels and We Looked Like Giants and I think that is perfectly put. I don’t think they have reached their ultimate potential, but have climbed another rung on the ladder toward it.The only thing about this album that bothers me is probably the greatest compliment I can give it; the music is powerful enough to taint your emotions with a generalized sense of discontent and disillusionment. It’s made me look at my life and wonder ??is this all there is?? ? which is CRAZY because I have a FABULOUS life, with a great husband, kids, job, friends…but then I KNOW my husband can do better than me, but I can’t do better than him…??would?? I leave if I had better prospects? Probably not but…Damn you, Ben Gibbard.
The first song on the album is the one that speaks the clearest to me. Bixby Canyon Bridge chronicles Ben’s attempt to channel Jack Kerouac’s spirit, looking for insight into his future, while those around him settle down. He seems to fear that he’s “missing a dream†and the music soars into a reverb heavy, almost shoe-gazey sound before Ben returns to his car, “no closer to any kind of truth, as I must assume was the case with youâ€. A song that can cause middle-aged angst in the most confident of people…and I’m not sure you even have to be middle-aged to feel it.Chances are you’ve all heard the 5 minute menacing bass line of the stalker anthem, I Will Possess Your Heart (love it! Creepiness at it’s best!) and No Sunlight has Ben’s inner optimist dying, set to a happy poppy back beat. Too good.The 4th tune seems (to me, at least) to return to the subject of the song Company Calls Epilogue (from the album We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes), a loved woman, marrying the wrong man. But the pain in that song seems dulled and the revisit to the wedding is more a view of pity than sorrow. It’s like its 10 years later and the lyrics are from a more mature perspective. Still sad, just not so full of anguish and loss.Talking Bird is my least favored song on the CD. Maybe it’s too analogous for me…I mean, I like a metaphor as much as the next person but, come on. Maybe I just find it offensive that the singer seems to have such little respect for his little pet “talking bird†and you just feel he thinks she’s stupid to stick around, that he’s just daring her to fly.You Can Do Better than Me, coming in at just under 2 minutes is short but anything but sweet and is a brutal song. The final line says it all: There’s times I think of leaving, but it’s something I’ll never do/ Cause you can do better than me, but I can’t do better than you†Ouch.Grapevine Fires is perhaps the best song on the CD, although not my personal fave. It is also the only song with hope for the future, with a positive thread woven through the dark beauty of fire, graves and prayers. Lovely visual lyrics that show Ben Gibbard at his best, IMO.Twin Sized Bed is sad sad sad. “You look so defeated lying there in your new twin sized bed, your single pillow underneath your single head.†The melody here is a standout, with haunting guitar hooks that my 8 year old daughter really digs; she wants to bring this song to her guitar lessons as one of the next songs to learn. I’m not quite sure what her teacher will think of the lyrics, but, oh well. Long Division is rapidly becoming one of my favorites on this album, although it did take several listenings for it to do so. About a relationship that just isn’t working, that keeps having to carry the remainder in a long division equation that never comes out with an even solution. ??This?? is the good use of analogy. I mean, long division is ??hard?? and we all had to work hard at it. Love the song as much as I hated math in school.Pity and Fear…seems to be the same fellow from Tiny Vessels; feeling bad for not feeling worse when he uses a lover but doesn’t love them, an emotional void where affection and regret should be. And the last song: The Ice is Getting Thinner. Maybe because it’s so slow tempo’d, maybe because it hasn’t gotten the playtime the rest of the album has because of it’s bringing up the rear, but although the words are melancholy magic, the song leaves me tired…so I start all over with Bixby. Heh.So, there’s the album recap, from my ears to your eyes, for what it’s worth. You listen and you may get a whole different take. You should try it. Bet you’ll like it. The critics kept saying that this is a make or break album; that fans of 2005’s Plans might not like Narrow Stairs. And they might not. I don’t know if the younger fans will really get the uncertainty the songs display. These songs aren’t about college parties, or being afraid of making your move on the girl of your dreams, or making drunken phone calls trying to win back your lost love. These songs are about whether you’re making a mistake not taking the road ??most?? traveled, about settling for a relationship that isn’t mind blowing, but is merely comfortable, about being a loser in the game of love. I’m not sure ??I’m?? ready to face these things and I’m probably twice the age of the average Death Cab fan. However, another MOGGER told me he thinks this is the album Death Cab was meant to write and record, the album hinted at with Tiny Vessels and We Looked Like Giants and I think that is perfectly put. I don’t think they have reached their ultimate potential, but have climbed another rung on the ladder toward it.The only thing about this album that bothers me is probably the greatest compliment I can give it; the music is powerful enough to taint your emotions with a generalized sense of discontent and disillusionment. It’s made me look at my life and wonder ??is this all there is?? ? which is CRAZY because I have a FABULOUS life, with a great husband, kids, job, friends…but then I KNOW my husband can do better than me, but I can’t do better than him…??would?? I leave if I had better prospects? Probably not but…Damn you, Ben Gibbard.
Locating MOG account...
Comments (24)
I just came here to re-read...you are my channel, my conduit to Mr. Gibbard. And so spot on about this album...