There was a lot that he was trying to convey in those words – and I don’t mean to take away from the image of being someone’s guide “for all time”– but the song is best, I think, when it’s just descriptive. Whether the narrator said any of this out loud or just put the words together in his head, he was probably disappointed with their result. He hardly seems to say anything to his companion, except for a brief attempt at expressing himself at the end: “When you feel embarrassed, then I’ll be your pride / When you need directions, then I’ll be the guide / For all time.” It’s a little awkward: the only metaphor he can come up with is the situation in front of him, hardly a metaphor at all. Maybe it comes, somehow, from the way the passenger of any car places implicit trust in the person driving.īen Gibbard takes what is probably the most advisable route and doesn’t try to fully dissect the moment. If it is a long ride, you might suggest that it has to do with being in such close proximity to one person for an extended time. It’s hard to say why this happens or where it comes from. When two people are driving somewhere, there is some sort of connection between them that transcends a precise explanation. It is about an inexplicable yet very real experience that is best described as sparsely as possible. Ultimately, this simplicity of narration works well for the song. “Passenger Seat” gives us nothing more than the narrator’s thoughts as he is driven home. We don’t even know the person in the driver’s seat. Nothing particularly interesting happens, and we don’t know where the narrator is coming from or where he is headed. The entire song depicts a brief scene in which someone is driving the narrator home.
Considering the song’s lyrics, this makes perfect sense. It is not a song that captivates the listener by any means, and can be overlooked as a follow up to the eight-minute title track. This is unsurprising, in reality, given that it’s comprised simply of piano, Ben Gibbard’s voice and the quiet drone of strings in the background. It was not until recently, however, that I really reflected on the song “Passenger Seat.” On first hearing it, I thought that it had a nice sound, learned the piano part and then let it be.
One, "Your Heart Is An Empty Room," is from Plans, while a beautiful love song from Transatlanticism, "Passenger Seat," moistened more than a few eyes in the crowd.Death Cab for Cutie’s album Transatlanticism came out just over 10 years ago, and has been in my life for about six years now. Chris Walla, a founding member of the band, has left, after contributing music to Kintsugi, but that's his farewell offering.ĭeath Cab For Cutie is still strongly defined by Gibbard's words, and that couldn't be more evident in this beautifully stark performance, which also includes "No Room In Frame" from Kintsugi, as well as two stripped-down favorites from the past. Death Cab For Cutie, a groundbreaking band formed in 1997, has gone through its own rebuilding of sorts. The album title refers to the Japanese art of reassembling broken pottery and making the breakage part of the newly formed pot. This intimate set included two new songs - including "Black Sun," the first single from their new album Kintsugi. Death Cab For Cutie came as a trio: Ben Gibbard sang, Nick Harmer played bass, and we wheeled in our piano for Zac Rae.
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