Garden State, New Slang By The Shins: Song Analysis

Written for the 2004 indie film Garden State, New Slang by The Shins is a piece that can be related to by the masses. It’s not a coincidence that New Slang is the most popular Shins song as it gives a somber effect that could make anyone feel there’s a world out there for them that they’ve never seen. The Shins, despite having a soothing effect on listeners, often strike a chord in an existential sense. Their music often creates a stream of consciousness that not only brings you to question the world, but to also question yourself. In a busy world, it’s so easy to be caught acting to please others instead of living as your best self. There’s a sense of angst as well as confusion in this song that forces you to confront what you’re doing with
When the world is scary, it’s easy to isolate yourself from change. Fear of the outside world and being an outsider is a common theme in Elliott Smiths discography as he struggled with depression up until his suicide on October 21st 2003. The song Memory Lane was written by Smith while he was in a psychiatric institution which is what the song is about on the surface. Smith often talked in interviews about how his drug and alcohol dependence drove his work. The lyric, “Isolation pulled you past a tunnel to a bright world where you can make a place to stay.” speaks greatly to that. Despite, the opportunities the world might hold for an individual, it’s so simple to get caught up in yourself and fear what could be. Your own mind can hold you back from finding happiness in the world. The world today is so violent and scary, we can all find solitude of our memories. When things get bad in the world, a quick escape is to look to the past where you remember everything being okay. It’s significant to note that the album title is “From A Basement on a Hill” because it symbolizes the climb to happiness to the peak of discovery, but also being stuck in the basement, unable to reach your potential. This song relates to the world making people feel inferior and that fear forcing you to retract your motivations and inspirations through fear of being judged. This is definitely a very pessimistic song, but I think it’s relevant to today’s society because everyone feels like an outsider at one point in their lives. Unfortunately, a negative outlook on life is a common issue with a large portion of the population. The struggle of settling into a life that is unsatisfactory to you is too well known to society and Memory Lane by Elliott Smith captures that sense of discontent of