Death Cab began as a solo project of Ben Gibbard, now the band's vocalist and guitarist. Gibbard took the band name from the satirical song Death Cab for Cutie, performed by The Bonzo Dog Band in The Beatles' 1967 experimental film Magical Mystery Tour. As Death Cab for Cutie, Gibbard released a cassette titled You Can Play These Songs with Chords; the release was surprisingly successful, and Gibbard decided to expand the band into a complete project. He recruited Chris Walla (who had also worked on the cassette) as an electric guitarist, Nick Harmer as bass guitarist, and Nathan Good to play drums.
The four released the LP Something About Airplanes on August 18th 1998. The album was favorably reviewed in the independent music scene, and in 2000 the band released We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes. Nathan Good left the band at some point during this album's production. His playing on “The Employment Pages” and “Company Calls Epilogue” were kept, but Gibbard played drums on all other songs.
Michael Schorr would first appear on The Forbidden Love E.P., released on October 24, 2000. In 2001, another LP was released, entitled The Photo Album. Limited editions of this album contained three bonus tracks, which were later released separately as The Stability EP.
In 2003, there was another change of drummer, with Jason McGerr of Eureka Farm replacing Schorr. McGerr would play drums on the next release, Transatlanticism.
Transatlanticism was released in October of 2003. It received critical praise and also became the band's top-selling album, with 225,000 copies sold during its first year out.
In spring of 2004, the band recorded a live E.P. titled The John Byrd E.P., named for their sound engineer. The E.P. was released on Barsuk Records in March 2004.
In November of 2004, Death Cab for Cutie signed a “long-term worldwide deal” with Atlantic Records, leaving their long-time label Barsuk Records. Gibbard stated on the official website www.deathcabforcutie.com that nothing would change except that “Next to the picture of Barsuk holding a 7", there will be the letter "A" on both the spine and back of our upcoming albums.” This was a marked change from Gibbard's earlier views on major-label relations, which he said “are set up to fuck you and take all your money.”. After signing to Atlantic, the band was still nervous about corporate economics, and encouraged fans to download its songs from the Internet.
The first and second singles off the band's Atlantic Record release Plans were “Soul Meets Body” and “Crooked Teeth”, respectively. The full album was released in August of 2005. Plans was somewhat well-acclaimed by critics and fans, and received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album of 2005. It achieved Gold Status in 2006 after charting on Billboard for 47 consecutive weeks.
The band released a touring DVD titled Drive Well, Sleep Carefully in 2005. Known for their contributions to animal rights, the band is supporting the activist group PETA in giving away copies of the DVD to promote animal rights.
In early 2006, the band announced the upcoming release of Directions, eleven short films inspired by songs from the Plans album, each directed by a different person. The videos were posted one at a time at the band's website and the DVD went on sale April 11, 2006.
On May 12, 2008 their album, Narrow Stairs, was released and was well received by both critics and fans. It was their first album to reach #1 on the Billboard 200. The album contains the singles "I Will Possess Your Heart", "Cath..." and "Grapevine Fires".
The band's latest released The Open Door EP, which was released on March 31, 2009. Their main styles consist of slow progressive rock with dark lyrics.
The band's seventh album, Codes and Keys, was released on May 31, 2011. The album's first single was "You Are A Tourist".
On October 11, 2013, the band reportedly began working on their eighth studio album. This was then confirmed by the group's official Instagram profile in which an image was uploaded with the caption "DCFC LP8 begins". The new album will be produced by Rich Costey and is expected to be released in early 2015. In an interview with Stereogum, Gibbard said of the new album, "I do think from start to finish it's a much better record than Codes And Keys. If that record turned anybody off, I feel pretty strongly that this one could win them back. There are threads in this one that connect back to our earliest stuff that people love." On October 29, 2013, the band released a remastered tenth-anniversary version of their 2003 album Transatlanticism. The new album included a vinyl LP and MP3 download, with demos for all the songs from the album.
As part of the 2014 Record Store Day, the band released its first live album, a vinyl-only double LP recorded during various 2012 tour dates with Magik*Magik Orchestra. Included within the packaging was a code for a digital download of the recording.
On August 13, 2014, after 17 years as a member of Death Cab for Cutie, guitarist and songwriter Chris Walla decided to part ways with the band, with his last performance occurring on September 13, 2014 at the Rifflandia Music Festival in Victoria, British Columbia. Walla states that he plans to "...continue making music, producing records, and erring on the side of benevolence and beauty whenever possible." When asked in an interview about Walla's involvement in the eighth album, McGerr confirmed that Walla "played on everything and has been involved all the way through, even in the mixing. Even though he's played his last show with us, he's still been involved in everything involving this record."
Death Of An Interior Decorator
Death Cab for Cutie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Who stormed through your turnstile and climbed to the street
But after conception your body lay cold
And withered through autumn and you found yourself old
Can you tell me why have been so sad?
He took a lover on a far away beach
While you arranged flowers and chose color schemes
Can you tell me why you have been so sad?
Can you tell me why you have been so sad?
The girls were all there, they traded their vows
The youngest one glared with furrowed brows
They tenderly kissed then cut the cake
The bride then tripped and broke the vase
The one you thought would spend the years
So perfectly placed below the mirror
Arriving late, you clean the debris
And walked into the angry sea
It felt just like falling in love again
And it felt just like falling in love again
Can you tell me why you have been so sad?
Can you tell me why you have been so
sad?
The lyrics of Death of an Interior Decorator by Death Cab for Cutie are a deep exploration of life, death, and the emotions that come with them. The song starts by mentioning the mother of three girls, a woman who was once full of life but succumbed to a fate sealed when she became pregnant. Her body lay cold, and she withered in autumn, only to find herself old. The song asks the question, "Can you tell me why you have been so sad?" perhaps hinting at the fact that despite her fulfilling role as a mother, there was a deep sadness that consumed her.
The sadness could have arisen from the betrayal of a lover who took to another woman, leaving the singer to tend to mundane tasks like arranging flowers and choosing color schemes. As the scene switches to a wedding, the youngest daughter glares with a furrowed brow, and the bride trips and breaks a vase placed perfectly below a mirror - this particular vase is reminiscent of the singer's life, shattering and breaking after being perfect for several years. As the singer arrives late and cleans up the debris, she walks into the angry sea, something that feels like falling in love again.
The song's lyrics seem to unravel a woman's story of a life that was not quite as she wanted to live, leading to the sadness that consumed her. The singer may have lived a life in a role she did not want, leaving her unfulfilled and miserable.
Line by Line Meaning
You were the mother of three girls so sweet
You had the privilege of being the mother to three lovely girls
That storm through your turnstile, and climbed to the street
Your daughters grew up to be strong and independent, able to navigate the challenges of life with ease
But after conception, your body lay cold
However, after giving birth to your children, your body began to deteriorate and succumb to the natural process of aging
Withered through Autumn then you found yourself old
And as time passed, you grew old and frail like the changing of the seasons in Autumn
Can you tell me why have been so sad
The artist is asking for an explanation for the sadness and melancholy that seems to permeate the subject's life
He took a lover on a far away beach,
Your partner cheated on you with someone else, far away in another place
While you arranged flowers and chose color schemes
Meanwhile, you busied yourself with domestic chores like arranging flowers and choosing color schemes for the home
The girls were all there; they traded their vows.
Your daughters were present and got married to their partners
The youngest one glared with furrowed brow as
They tenderly kissed and cut the cake.
However, even amidst the joy and love of the wedding celebration, your youngest daughter seemed disapproving and unhappy
The bride then tripped and broke the vase,
The one you thought would span the years,
To make matters worse, the bride accidentally broke a vase which held sentimental value for you, one you thought would last a long time
So perfectly placed below the mirror
Arriving late, you clean the debris
The vase had been placed perfectly below a mirror, and you arrived late to the scene of the accident, needing to clean up the broken pieces
And walked into the angry sea;
It felt just like falling in love again.
And it felt just like falling in love again.
After the wedding, you took a walk into the sea in a moment of emotional turmoil and despair, and the experience felt like falling in love once again
Can you tell me why you have been so sad?
The singer reiterates their desire to understand the cause of the subject's sadness and pain
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Benjamin Gibbard
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
kosong
You were the mother of three girls so sweet
That stormed through your turnstile and climbed to the street
But after conception, your body lay cold
And withered through autumn and you found yourself old
Can you tell me why you have been so sad?
He took a lover on a faraway beach
While you arranged flowers and chose color schemes
Can you tell me why you have been so sad?
Can you tell me why you have been so sad?
The girls were all there; they traded their vows.
The youngest one glared with furrowed brow
As they tenderly kissed and cut the cake.
The bride then tripped and broke the vase
The one you thought would span the years
So perfectly placed below the mirror
Arriving late, you cleaned the debris
And walked into the angry sea;
It felt just like falling in love again.
And it felt just like falling in love again.
Can you tell me why you have been so sad?
Can you tell me why you have been so...
Guitarkid 1991
In my opinion Chris Walla is hands down the greatest producer around. The production on this album and every album for that matter is second to none. This song does it for me, specifically the bride. The way the layers on sound keep building and building all while adding tension and depth is unbelievable! As if that wasn't difficult enough it somehow never becomes overdone or too busy. Simply amazing!
evanpeartree
Anybody notice that weddings are a very common theme in Death Cab songs? But it always focuses them negatively, which is beautiful, because weddings always have this sort of false delusional perfectness in our minds when we think of them. Death Cab's lyrics are so realistic and true.
Mori Ro
Your opinion...one might disagree...
Mori Ro
In case of weddings I might agree: pumped up events, mostly every time. But a marriage is another thing.
Sturm
Death cab is the only band that reached into the abyss of my anxiety and stress, grabed my hand and pulled me out. since then I 've been looking up and not down. this was the band that gripped my heart and did not let it break when the worse came knocking.
Koryn Galen
The song deserves way more credit then it gets
Origami and Cats
I wonder what Woody Allen thinks of this homage?
kosong
You were the mother of three girls so sweet
That stormed through your turnstile and climbed to the street
But after conception, your body lay cold
And withered through autumn and you found yourself old
Can you tell me why you have been so sad?
He took a lover on a faraway beach
While you arranged flowers and chose color schemes
Can you tell me why you have been so sad?
Can you tell me why you have been so sad?
The girls were all there; they traded their vows.
The youngest one glared with furrowed brow
As they tenderly kissed and cut the cake.
The bride then tripped and broke the vase
The one you thought would span the years
So perfectly placed below the mirror
Arriving late, you cleaned the debris
And walked into the angry sea;
It felt just like falling in love again.
And it felt just like falling in love again.
Can you tell me why you have been so sad?
Can you tell me why you have been so...
QueenOfAmber
I love how they have stories in every one of their songs. It's like you can actually see the events happening... That's something only truly awesome bands can do. Love Death Cab For Cutie! Im/
Betty Jojoe Harper: Re- Imagination
I've been fans of these guys since I was like six. I didn't fully understand this song until I was around eleven or twelve. But, this song is so good and yet depressing. I can't help but feel a strange mixture of happiness and sadness when I listen to this song. Thank you Ben Gibbard for my childhood soundtrack.