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The Shins — A Comet Appears
Album: Wincing The Night Away
Avg rating:
7.2

Your rating:
Total ratings: 3165









Released: 2007
Length: 3:39
Plays (last 30 days): 4
One hand on this wily comet
Take a drink just to give me some weight
Some Uber-Man I'd make
I'm barely a vapor

They shone a chlorine light on a host individual sins
Let's carve my aging face off
Fetch us a knife, start with my eyes
Down so the lines form a grimacing smile

Close your eyes to corral a virtue
Is this fooling anyone else?
Never worked so long and hard
To cement a failure

We can blow on our thumbs and posture
But the lonely are such delicate things
The wind from a wasp could blow them into the sea with stones on their feet
Lost to the light and the loving we need

Still to come
The worst part and you know it
There is a numbness
In your heart and it's growing

With burnt sage and a forest of bygones
I click my heels, get the devils in line
A list of things I could lay the blame on
Might give me a way out

But with each turn it's this front and center
Like a dart stuck square in your eye
Every post you can hitch your faith on is a pie in the sky, chock full of lies
A tool we devise to make sinking stones fly

And still to come
The worst part and you know it
There is a numbness
In your heart and it's growing
Comments (233)add comment
 david927 wrote:

I try not to listen to the lyrics of this song and then it sounds like when we were kids and we would lay on our backs on the swings of the swing set and spend a minute or two rocking back and forth upside-down, with everything that made sense hanging like stalactites and the sky as the floor.



That is very groovy and very sweet! Thank you.
I try not to listen to the lyrics of this song and then it sounds like when we were kids and we would lay on our backs on the swings of the swing set and spend a minute or two rocking back and forth upside-down, with everything that made sense hanging like stalactites and the sky is the floor.
Ok - can we agree the Wiki band photo is a bit ridiculous for a band this respectable?
Enigmatic band! So intriguing, this... Chirping birds, bright, shimmering keys, bouncy Beach Boys sounds contrasted with mind- and heart-rending lyrics... Forever glad I saw them at Club Quattro that tour!


And still to come
The worst part and you know it
There is a numbness
In your heart and it's growing

7 to 8  

Chlorine light sounds like a cross between U.V light and injecting bleach. Who knew the Shins were so prescient? 
The lyrics (though not the melody) could have come from Joni Mitchell. Similar themes & imagery.  Beautiful. 
A comet preferable to an asteroid...

Shins are top notch
 sfoster66 wrote:

Anyways, enjoy if you are so inclined...I'll be in the kitchen getting some raisin bread toast.  Come get me when it's over...


Gee thanks.  Maybe just stay in the kitchen.
akways love this song💖🥰
 kbs wrote:
This is channeling someone....something....... Chris de Burgh a la Spanish Train album?Anyone else get this?

Rolling Stones - Salt of the Earth?


Reminds me of "A Spaceman came travelling"
 FlatCat wrote:

I don't mind incomprehensible. But these lyrics sound to me so self-absorbed and willfully precious that I can barely listen. New Slang is a great song, though. 


Perhaps it was my experiences in church as a child that permit me to see clearly what James Mercer is painting with his lyrics  of a 'chlorine light on individual sins ' here.

So many people love this album, but personally it just doesn't resonate with me.  Everytime I look at the lyrics, it just makes me think of the crappy poetry that we had to write for english composition classes in high school all full of overwrought imagery and flowery emotions.  I mean, it's not terrible...but just seems forced to me somehow...

Anyways, enjoy if you are so inclined...I'll be in the kitchen getting some raisin bread toast.  Come get me when it's over...
 danthebeachman wrote:

In my opinion....the best song ever from The Shins!!…..I never tire of this classic!!….Fabulous lyrics!!


Those To Come and Australia are competition for that distinction, but apart from that I wholeheartedly agree!
 tm wrote:

A masterful album… love every track on it.



Yep.. one of the few albums you say that about. 
A masterful album… love every track on it.
What R.E.M. can still aspire to.

Brilliant, delicate, devastating.

Love the space between the words and the movements.

Really first-rate, and probably not by accident. A 9 for me.
The Shins really do need a trophy (big honkin' one) for Most Gloriously Precious. "The wind from a wasp could blow them into the sea... "? No one else could pull stuff like that off, and you know it. 
This lyric always get me.

Every post you can hitch your faith on is a pie
in the sky, chock full of lies
A tool we devise to make sinking stones fly
 fredriley wrote:

A "chorine light"? As ever, The Shins win the Most Gnomic Lyrics in Pop award hands down - completely incomprehensible, yet such nice music that you can't help but be captivated. 8 from the befuddled Nottingham jury.


I don't mind incomprehensible. But these lyrics sound to me so self-absorbed and willfully precious that I can barely listen. New Slang is a great song, though. 
 ExploitingChaos wrote:

If you like The Shins, you should try the band Why?

WHY? - Sanddollars



Why?
>Yes, Why?
No, why?
>Yes! Why?
No! Why?
>Yes. Why?
Sigh.
I would give my left arm to be able to write just one of Mercers beautiful songs.  The imagery he weaves into his songs is pure mastery of words.  
If you like The Shins, you should try the band Why?

WHY? - Sanddollars
In my opinion, the best song ever to come out of this great band!!
Sort of a drawling, meander down a poorly lit streets near a better quality jazz joint, just a few minutes walk from here ...
This is channeling someone....something....... Chris de Burgh a la Spanish Train album?Anyone else get this?

Rolling Stones - Salt of the Earth?
 
This is channeling someone....something....... Chris de Burgh a la Spanish Train album?
Anyone else get this?


Proclivities wrote:


I didn't think anyone else bought that album.
 
LOL. Thanks for that.  Comments that are  funny and  not mean are top notch.
You are my new RP hero. Don't blow this.
There are a few Shins songs I like, but not this one.  I like the vocals, but they are better suited to just a little more beat in my opinion.
 rtb wrote:
This is channeling someone....something....... Chris de Burgh a la Spanish Train album?
Anyone else get this?
 
I didn't think anyone else bought that album.
Every track on this album is excellent.
Still one of the most beautifully sad songs I've ever heard.
In my opinion....the best song ever from The Shins!!…..I never tire of this classic!!….Fabulous lyrics!!
RIP Richard Swift.
Hope you're well LizK  you are excellent imo!!!
 LizK wrote:
The cover has spiculated cells, a term with which  I have recently become acquainted..  But I have today received the best bad news ever, plus the unlooked for community of 6 geriatric cheerleaders.  I  think that everything will be ok.
 
Been a year.  Hope you're doing OK or better.
 LizK wrote:
The cover has spiculated cells, a term with which  I have recently become acquainted..  But I have today received the best bad news ever, plus the unlooked for community of 6 geriatric cheerleaders.  I  think that everything will be ok.

 
Really hope things work out OK, LizK...
The cover has spiculated cells, a term with which  I have recently become acquainted..  But I have today received the best bad news ever, plus the unlooked for community of 6 geriatric cheerleaders.  I  think that everything will be ok.
Thank you skyguy!  (will pass along to my son's science class  : )
 fredriley wrote:
A "chorine light"? As ever, The Shins win the Most Gnomic Lyrics in Pop award hands down - completely incomprehensible, yet such nice music that you can't help but be captivated. 8 from the befuddled Nottingham jury.

 
https://www.waterandhealth.org/innovative-solar-bottle-bulb-lighting-darkness-bleach-disinfectant/

 fredriley wrote:
A "chorine light"? As ever, The Shins win the Most Gnomic Lyrics in Pop award hands down - completely incomprehensible, yet such nice music that you can't help but be captivated. 8 from the befuddled Nottingham jury.

 
Well, the lyric is actually "chlorine light" implying a stark white light being shown on the host of individual sins.  Seems pretty comprehensible to me.
 calypsus_1 wrote:
ИзПбражеМОе 
 
Awesome. Thanks.
 fredriley wrote:
A "chorine light"? As ever, The Shins win the Most Gnomic Lyrics in Pop award hands down - completely incomprehensible, yet such nice music that you can't help but be captivated. 8 from the befuddled Nottingham jury.

 
Agreed. I'm glad someone else thinks that they can become rather tedious at times due to the lyrics but I rarely have the same issue with the music itself.
 calypsus_1 wrote:
ИзПбражеМОе 

 
How did you do that?
A "chorine light"? As ever, The Shins win the Most Gnomic Lyrics in Pop award hands down - completely incomprehensible, yet such nice music that you can't help but be captivated. 8 from the befuddled Nottingham jury.
 calypsus_1 wrote:
ИзПбражеМОе 




 
              ↑
That's just cool!
Very so-so.
ИзПбражеМОе 



Goosebumps, every time i hear this! But therefore i always hope not to hear it here on RP (at work), so i can listen to it on appropriate occasions...

A big fat 10 nonetheless... 
Part of the melody is uncomfortably close to a Billy Joel song, maybe "She's Always a Woman." Still, it's not as wince-worthy as most of the Shins tunes I've heard. It has earned a 6.
First Shins song I ever heard and it was here on RP. I've been hooked ever since. Would jump on a plane today to anywhere to catch them live!{#Sunny}
Love it. This particular song reminds me a lot of early Manic Street Preachers. 
So damn thoughtful, lyrical and quite beautiful. 
A cow on whizz:
Whizz

 
Stingray wrote:

If this set will be followed by Cowded House, I agree Bill is a wizzard!

 

This song is another CLEAR 10!

Nearly unbelievably good!

 


overplayed; barfo-sucko
{#Frustrated} 
 On_The_Beach wrote:
Saw them on SNL last night.
Hate to say it, but I thought they were pretty bad, especially the second song.  : (
 
With only one band member remaining from the pre-2011 line up - it's pretty much a new group.

James Mercer has nearly gone solo.
 Sasha2001 wrote:
This song has some of the most beautiful lyrics ever written about trying to make a failing relationship work. At least that's what I think the lyrics are about.
 
Agreed. I have the same interpretation. Amazing Song.
Sounds like a new Jackson Brown song I've never heard.
 On_The_Beach wrote:

Hate to say it, but I thought they were pretty bad, especially the second song.  : (
 

The dumbest comment in years!

"Especially the second song...."  tzzzzzz...

Some people are just out of their minds!


If this set will be followed by Cowded House, I agree Bill is a wizzard!

 

This song is another CLEAR 10!

Nearly unbelievably good!




"It is rare that I listen to one song by any band these days in anxious anticipation of the next song after because the first is just too good, yet not close to over. Yes kids, I have 50 years of music in my ears, my heart and my soul — not to mention garbage cans full of the worst and I can honestly say to you that this band is melodically, lyrically, and very genuinely, the best to consistently improve and put out exceptional contemporary music. Long live Shins."      xtranaut


  
Saw them on SNL last night.
Hate to say it, but I thought they were pretty bad, especially the second song.  : (
Great tune and even better band!
 unclehud wrote:

Aren't they cute little turtles with palms trees on their backs?  Am I missing something?!?!
 

My plans for this weekend include listening to this album...supposed to be rainy here...perfect match.
This song has some of the most beautiful lyrics ever written about trying to make a failing relationship work. At least that's what I think the lyrics are about.

Overplayed
Up another point because in the 6 years that I've been hearing it, it hasn't lost a bit of its sparkle.
Aaahhhhh... I know this song for a while now but somehow today this gives me goosebumps like never before. And sadly enough music doesn't do that often for me anymore (no idea why)...

9 —> 1.000.000


 kulbreez wrote:
I don't know why, but the album art freaks me out. Sort of a gross-out reaction, like seeing icky larvae... Enough even to put me off the song (for no good reason).
 
Aren't they cute little turtles with palms trees on their backs?  Am I missing something?!?!

 jktravl wrote:


Sad part is I can relate to these lyrics as I age on, the numbness gets stronger. Reminds me of so many lost loves.
 
Numbness is often preferable to pain. They are very good lyrics.
{#Daisy}  With burnt sage and a forest of bygones...wow

this is also cool {#Bounce}
 ick wrote:
This song contains some of the saddest lyrical content I've ever heard... "Never worked so long and hard to cement a failure"... "And still to come the worst part and you know it, there is a numbness in you heart and its growing".  Taken in the context of relationships, those are some sad, sad lines.
 

Sad part is I can relate to these lyrics as I age on, the numbness gets stronger. Reminds me of so many lost loves.

According to an interview published on
Pitchfork Media on May 6, 2009, "keyboardist Marty Crandall and drummer Jesse Sandoval had been replaced by Ron Lewis from Grand Archives and Eric D. Johnson of on bass and Joe Plummer of Modest Mouse on drums". In the same interview, Mercer said the next record "is still in its very early stages" and that he's "aiming for a release early next year". Regarding the lineup change, he commented that "I started to have production ideas that basically required some other people", but that he "wouldn't say I'd never work with them again."

On August 10, 2009, in a lengthy interview published in The Portland Mercury, former drummer Jesse Sandoval claimed that his departure from the band was not due to "aesthetic differences", but rather that he was fired, saying, "I understand he's probably doing it out of respect for me reading interviews, it might be hard for him to say it, but... I got fired. There's no other way of looking at it.

On January 18, 2010,
The Quietus revealed that Mercer is taking a break from The Shins until at least 2011.

It was announced on July 5th, 2011 that The Shins would perform at the DeLuna Festival in Pensacola,Florida during the weekend of October 13th-16th.    wikipedia




I don't know why, but the album art freaks me out. Sort of a gross-out reaction, like seeing icky larvae... Enough even to put me off the song (for no good reason).
 Sjaaks wrote:
My thanks goes out to Huey {#Clap}  , who really was so kind as to send me this album, free of charge! I really love this album, especially this track, amazing! 

Hats off to Huey! {#Cool}
 Huey wrote:
I bought this CD. Hate it. Who wants it? PM me. the best reason gets it. I pay mailing.
 

My thanks goes out to Huey {#Clap}  , who really was so kind as to send me this album, free of charge! I really love this album, especially this track, amazing!
This song stunned me the first time I heard it, years ago.  It made me cry, sitting at my desk at work.  Life got better, and the relationship I was in and am still in is a million times improved, but at the time, it was like they pulled this out of my head and wrote my thoughts, though much more eloquently than I could have ever done.  Great song.

Nothing like something to calm me down a bit after a stressful day.
 Huey wrote:
I bought this CD. Hate it. Who wants it? PM me. the best reason gets it. I pay mailing.
 
Considering your location, it would be wise to mail it to me... ;-)

 Huey wrote:
I bought this CD. Hate it. Who wants it? PM me. the best reason gets it. I pay mailing.
 

Haha, that's awesome.
I bought this CD. Hate it. Who wants it? PM me. the best reason gets it. I pay mailing.
 Stingray wrote:
ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!

VERY-VERY-VERY-VERY GOOD!

PS
16 freaks voted "1".
Though they are possible less crazy
than the 74 who voted 3's, 4's and 5's!


 
I agree with you on this song, but one might say you are a freak (based on what you might have rate "1"), so what does that mean for the 16?


ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!

VERY-VERY-VERY-VERY GOOD!

PS
16 freaks voted "1".
Though they are possible less crazy
than the 74 who voted 3's, 4's and 5's!


8 to 9.  This song is so sad.
 zair99 wrote:
I don't know when or how I rated this a 6 before, but now it's a very solid 9.  The Shins are sporadically brilliant.
 
"Sporadically brilliant" - exactly!
 
 zair99 wrote:
I don't know when or how I rated this a 6 before, but now it's a very solid 9.  The Shins are sporadically brilliant.
 

VERY WELL SAID!

Just that it's more than a "9".


NO KIDDING!

"11"


I don't know when or how I rated this a 6 before, but now it's a very solid 9.  The Shins are sporadically brilliant.
 ick wrote:
This song contains some of the saddest lyrical content I've ever heard... "Never worked so long and hard to cement a failure"... "And still to come the worst part and you know it, there is a numbness in you heart and its growing".  Taken in the context of relationships, those are some sad, sad lines.
 
Here here.
Been there, done that.  I'm fortunate enough to have moved on, but I see it in my friends and I feel the scars in my new (15 year) relationship.

They do a nice job. 
This song contains some of the saddest lyrical content I've ever heard... "Never worked so long and hard to cement a failure"... "And still to come the worst part and you know it, there is a numbness in you heart and its growing".  Taken in the context of relationships, those are some sad, sad lines.
Nice. Unfortunatelly, a friend of mine just recorded an acoustic version of this song, which sounds much better and ruined the original for me..{#Whistle}

More shins please
 Det wrote:
just seen a shotting star - not a comet - what does it matter? it 's unique so , just like this song...{#Good-vibes}
 
you can see a comet soon - around October 20, Comet Hartley 2 is going to be close, and then the next couple of days the Orionids Meteor Shower (AKA shooting stars) should be occurring.  :)

just seen a shotting star - not a comet - what does it matter? it 's unique so , just like this song...{#Good-vibes}
Such moving lyrics.
This is some lovely s**t.  No, really.  I'm not usually big on the mellow melodic stuff, but these guys really work me.

The Portland scene is pretty darned outstanding. 
 Bat wrote:
I like every Shins song I hear on RP and keep meaning to buy their CDs.  To my ear the Broken Bells sounds like a new Shins album

Can someone who in more familiar tell me what this guy Danger Mouse brings to the mix that make it different from the Shins?
 

I don't know about that since I've never heard of The Shins until I started listening to RP a few months ago, but I just bought this CD and the Broken Bells CD and they are quite different but equally great!
I like every Shins song I hear on RP and keep meaning to buy their CDs.  To my ear the Broken Bells sounds like a new Shins album

Can someone who in more familiar tell me what this guy Danger Mouse brings to the mix that make it different from the Shins?
7 => 8

The Shins-March 7th-sight four by ~tinysherpa
©2007-2010 ~tinysherpa

The Shins, March 3rd, The Backyard, Great Show.


 randerse10 wrote:
This is some excellent wordsmithing . . . 
 
absolutely, it is.

Just like Simon and Garfunkel's "Bookends" this is beautiful and way too short.


Ooo, that reminds me...note to self, schedule blepharoplasty.
 jagdriver wrote:
meh
 
Meh. And wimpy.
hurrah
This is some excellent wordsmithing . . . 
What a superb piece of music -  I love this 
rtb wrote:


This is channeling someone....something....... Chris de Burgh a la Spanish Train album?
Anyone else get this?

 rtb wrote:


Anyone?
 
Maybe a bit of On Every Street by Dire Straits?

meh
 jleigh wrote:
This song rips my heart out of my chest and brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it.  Loneliness and failure and depression distilled into a few dozen words and a simple tune, and yet somehow it gives me hope that this is temporary, and will pass.
 
Like you, it does this for me. It makes me stop in my tracks and just listen, and I know... I know a perfect song when I hear it. Rare, and true.

8+

Not sure there's anything by The Shins that I don't love.
OUT.............................................standing!!
 rtb wrote:
This is channeling someone....something....... Chris de Burgh a la Spanish Train album?
Anyone else get this?
 

Anyone?
MOST WONDERFUL!
ppffffffff....!

This song rips my heart out of my chest and brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it.  Loneliness and failure and depression distilled into a few dozen words and a simple tune, and yet somehow it gives me hope that this is temporary, and will pass.
B U T Full!

I've seen the Shins live at Lowlands 2007 and was so happy to have been introduced to them by Radio Paradise. Sang all the songs, moved all the moves, jumped all the jumps! In dutch I would say Happy de Peppy!

Then there's also this more moving song on the album. The singer is a word artist, it's not easy to comprehend at first but through melody you catch on quickly. And difficult the melody is too! Super impressed by the creativity on this album!

Peace peeps

 faneuil wrote:
sorry about the multiple posts — computer at work fouled up..
really frustrating when you pour heart out, but then look like a twit!

cheers all.

 
faneuil wrote:

After my dad's sudden death, the Shins were the first group to catch my ear when I started 'to really listen' to music again.

Ths song still has the ability to bring me to a full stop.
My eyes want to well up and I get a lump in my throat.
Music that can tap into your emotions that deeply is doing something right.


 

If you use Firefox with the NoScript extension, try disabling that. I had a similar problem a while back with multiple copies of comments being posted (or empty posts before and after the one I submitted). I also was unable to rate songs. Disabling NoScript when I post on RP stopped it from happening.

Sorry about your Dad, btw.


Tis a thing of beauty.