Death Cab for Cutie

It was a concert defined by the encore. Had the set ended with the jaunty The Sound of Settling, I would have been satisfied, but not ecstatic. It would have been a good concert, but not a great one. There were all the gems from their earlier album, but also some of the duds from the new one. But the encore made all the difference.

Ben Gibbard came back on his own for a gorgeous acoustic rendition of my favorite track from Plans, I Will Follow You Into the Dark, which got everyone either dead silent in a trance, or singing almost religiously along. But the piece that sealed it for the band was Transatlanticism. No question. During the opening chords, the theatre first burst out into rousing cheer, and then in moments, everyone was kinda stunned into an almost reverent silence. One of the best-written songs in years, and undoubtedly Death Cab's defining track, I smiled to myself when the girl behind me gushed to the opening strains of the song, "Oh my god- 7 minutes of pure bliss..." The sound clip does no justice whatsoever to the almost epic anthem. It harks back to a time before Death Cab was co-opted by the O.C. and before it converted an entire generation of Juicy and Abercrombie&Fitch-wearing teenagers to geek chic music. Transatlanticism- the best of Death Cab for Cutie.

Transatlanticism
The Atlantic was born today and i'll tell you how...
The clouds above opened up and let it out.

I was standing on the surface of a perforated sphere
When the water filled every hole.
And thousands upon thousands made an ocean,
Making islands where no island should go.
Oh no.

Those people were overjoyed; they took to their boats.
I thought it less like a lake and more like a moat.
The rhythm of my footsteps crossing flood lands to your door have been silenced forever more.
The distance is quite simply much too far for me to row
It seems farther than ever before
Oh no.

I need you so much closer [x8]

[instrumental break]

I need you so much closer [x4]
So come on, come on [x4]