Music Monday: “Summer Skin” by Death Cab For Cutie

Music Monday is a meme, created by Drew at The Tattooed Book Geek, where I focus on a song I absolutely love and feel needs to be shared.

Song: “Summer Skin”
Artist: Death Cab For Cutie
Album: Plans (2005)

Lyrics taken from genius.com

Squeaky swings and tall grass
The longest shadows ever cast
The water’s warm and children swim
We frolicked about in our summer skin

I don’t recall a single care
Just greenery and humid air
Then Labor Day came and went
And we shed what was left of our summer skin

On the night you left I came over
And we peeled the freckles from our shoulders
Our brand new coats so flushed and pink
And I knew your heart I couldn’t win
‘Cause the season’s change was a conduit
And we’d left our love in our summer skin

In yet another song of reflection, Death Cab For Cutie takes the aspects of summer’s end and creates a lament (I feel like I use that word a lot with them) for summer romance. A moving bass line and subdued percussion create a welcoming foundation for the piano and guitar while an ethereal tone floats in the background. As is a common theme not only on this album, but all of their records, Gibbard sings about change through the lens of transitioning seasons; he gives visceral connections to the events of the summer described and its ending that add to the listener’s connection to the song.