In early 2003, Costa's homemade demo reached No Doubt guitarist Tom Dumont, who offered to record more demos for Costa in his home studio. Those first recordings led to two EPs that Costa and Dumont distributed themselves. These were later combined and mixed by Phil Ek in order to form Costa's first full-length CD entitled Songs We Sing.
Costa spent the summer of 2005 opening on Jack Johnson's summer tour. He has since toured with Modest Mouse, Oasis, Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, G. Love & Special Sauce, and Death Cab for Cutie. Costa joined Jack Johnson for his 2006 European tour. He has also contributed to the Jack Johnson and Friends Curious George soundtrack; his track is entitled "Lullaby". This song was taken from his The Elasmosaurus EP. Costa has also toured extensively in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and South America.
The video for Costa's first single "Cold December" was released February 2, 2006. On July 31, 2007, he released a song titled "If You Took To Me" as part of the environmentally minded polar bear documentary Arctic Tale and its soundtrack.
On October 7, 2007, Costa released the first single, "Mr. Pitiful," from his record Unfamiliar Faces. The song "Mr. Pitiful" was used during a scene with Paul Rudd in the movie I Love You, Man, the redband trailer for the film Youth in Revolt starring Michael Cera, and the movie Marmaduke. The song is featured during the opening credits of The Answer Man (film). Apple also used an instrumental cut of this song for the worldwide iPhone 3GS ads.
Mobile Chateau, Costa's next album, was released on September 21, 2010, via Brushfire Records. His 2013 self-titled album was recorded at Pheasant Studios in Santa Ana, CA, as Costa's first solo production.
Mobile Chateau
Matt Costa Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Shining down in her room
Found you tripping on the stars
Making mobiles out of parts
That you found lying on the ground, hark the birds are singing
We've been lost and found
Far away is the sun
With your lily white hands
Making crafts out of plants
Found you weeping in the snow, hark the bells are ringing
I won't let you go
And with the trees we will sway
The sky and geese
We ought to stay this way
Found you weeping in the snow, hark the bells are ringing
I won't let you go
The lyrics of Matt Costa's song "Mobile Chateau" are both whimsical and dreamlike, evoking a sense of otherworldliness that transports the listener to a different place and time. The song tells a story of two people who find each other in the midst of a magical world, far from the mundane reality of everyday life. The first verse talks about the moon, which is far away but still shining down, and the singer finding their companion "tripping on the stars, making mobiles out of parts". The imagery is fantastical, almost childlike, and conjures up a feeling of wonder and enchantment. The second verse talks about the sun and winter, and how the singer finds their companion "making crafts out of plants, weeping in the snow". Despite the sadness, there's a sense of warmth and protection, signified by the line "I won't let you go", which suggests a strong emotional connection between the two characters.
Line by Line Meaning
Far away is the moon
The moon feels distant and far from the singer's current reality.
Shining down in her room
Despite the moon's distance, it still has an influence in the singer's life and illuminates one of the characters in the song.
Found you tripping on the stars
One of the characters in the song is perhaps experiencing a surreal, dreamlike state where they feel like they are tripping on stars.
Making mobiles out of parts / That you found lying on the ground, hark the birds are singing / We've been lost and found
One of the characters in the song is resourceful and creative, able to create something beautiful out of seemingly random and discarded objects. The lyrics also suggest a sense of being found and refound, perhaps implying a cyclical nature to their experiences.
Far away is the sun
Like the moon, the sun also feels distant and disconnected from the singer's current reality.
Winter you will come / With your lily white hands / Making crafts out of plants
The coming winter is personified as having 'lily white hands,' a possible reference to the cold and snow. Despite the harshness of winter, the singer sees the potential for creation and beauty.
Found you weeping in the snow, hark the bells are ringing / I won't let you go
One of the characters in the song is experiencing sorrow and sadness, possibly due to the harshness of winter. The singer expresses a desire to comfort and support this character and not let them go through their struggles alone.
And with the trees we will sway / The sky and geese / We ought to stay this way
The final lines of the song suggest a connection to nature and a desire to stay in this moment of beauty and peace. The imagery of trees, sky, and geese hint at a pastoral scene, with the characters swaying in harmony with the natural world around them.
Contributed by Nora F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@videowarriorguy
Not very often that you see a performer actually play and sing the song in their video, really cool
@NicolasCurcio5295
Man I love these "take away show" style videos! So glad that they're in style right now.
@fringer166
So good the guitar sounds awesome too
@suzannepalmieri489
the photography is awesome too
@GreatEarthExpeditions
So funny. I'm watching this video and said out loud, wow is Matt Costa in Newfoundland here. Sure enough I scroll down and I was right in the money. Amazing artist in an amazing place, superb video.
@scrappinrabbit
Been to Petty Harbour - Tops as far as scenic and the folks go!
@KrisoloVSme
what a wonderful atmosphere!
@retrogradepink
gorgeous!!!
@mrlalex88
Perfect !!!!!
@jodymoon
brilliant!