“Pink Bullets” – Musical Analysis #1

There are some songs that you would listen to or skip based on the type of mood you are in; similar to a food that sounds good one day but doesn’t sound as appetizing the next. There are also songs that I like to call classics, where you can listen anytime, anywhere, and it never seems to get old. “Pink Bullets”, performed by The Shins and composed by the American lead singer, James Mercer, is what I consider a classic song.

This song was written in 2003 off of their album Chutes Too Narrow and has an amazing ability to take your mind to a place that is full of meaningful lyrics accompanied with a relaxing melody. If there was a day I wasn’t feeling particularly great or even a day I felt rather happy, I could still enjoy this song to no end because everything James Mercer says in this song resonates a deeper meaning about how life isn’t always easy.

Lyrics

I believe everyone can relate to this song in the way of the pain that comes with parting ways with a loved one, either a significant other or a dear friend. Most of the time when you have to part ways with someone you love, it’s because the relationship has turned toxic or their life isn’t heading in the same direction that yours is heading, so it’s best to part ways. The lyrics depict this painful breakup throughout the song. When they first met, “I was just bony hands as cold as a winter pole. You held a warm stone out new flowing blood to hold. Oh, what a contrast you were…”, he felt the rush of falling in love and the feeling of happiness. You can also tell he must have spent a considerable amount of time with this person by the lyrics, “The years seem short but the days were long” and “We fell in a field it seems now a thousand summers passed” showing that they gave a fair amount of their life together while in this relationship. As the song progresses, you can see there’s a change in the relationship when the lyrics say “When our kite lines first crossed, we tied them into knots. And to finally fly apart, we had to cut them off.”, using the kites as their lines of life, they intertwined at the beginning of their relationship, but when things went sour, it was decided that it was best to part ways and continue living life separately. In the end, he misses her immensely, though. “Since then it’s been a book you read in reverse. So you understand less as the pages turn…But your memory is here and I’d like it to stay. Warm light on a winter’s day…Two loose kites falling from the sky. Drawn to the ground and an end to flight.” These lyrics show that he’s loved, lost, and is reminiscing on his past romance.

Alison M. Rosen, from Nerve, was able to interview James Mercer and ask him some interesting questions. One of those questions was, “How dark are your lyrics?”, with Mercer replying, “They’re dark in a real way. Dark about things that are real and permanent and really suck and don’t change.” I agree, that he sings about life’s difficult obstacles. But I also believe that that’s what make his songs so great and relatable.

Melody and Range

The melody is very buoyant, free-slowing, and soothing with a beautiful harmony to go with it. I love the rhythm that stays in line with the beat, makes you want to sway along as you get lost in the music.

The range of the piece isn’t drastic, but there are points where he does sing low to emphasize the sad parts, and higher to emphasize the happy parts of the song. The Shins are great at showing emotion through their music. Heather Shares, from AllMusic, commented on the album saying the band “excel[s] at sounding happy, sad, frustrated, and vulnerable at the same time, and their best songs, whether they’re fast or slow, feel like they’re bursting with nervous energy.” I completely agree. The song is in C minor, and usually songs in minor sound a little more on the sad side. They did very well at depicting how the music should sound to convey the message that this is a song of reminiscing an old romance.

Dynamics

There are some parts of the song that are louder: the chorus. There are also parts of the song that are soft-spoken, as in the end of the piece. This gives dynamics to the piece instead of it being one setting the entire song. By the song going quieter at the end and being able to hear the lyrics more clearly, it makes the listener pay closer attention to what is being said. It’s smart to end the song with being soft-spoken, it really rounds off the song nicely and leaves the listener satisfied with what they heard.

Sources:

Rosen, Alison M. “Music Interview: The Shins.” Nerve. N.p., 11 Apr. 2010. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.

Phares, Heather. “Chutes Too Narrow – The Shins“. AllMusic. N.p., N.d., Web. 09 Feb. 2017.