"Simple Song" is a song by American indie rock band

The Shins The Shins is an American indie rock band formed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1996. The band is the project of singer-songwriter James Mercer, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The band's cu ...

from their fourth studio album ''

Port of Morrow The Port of Morrow is the port authority in Boardman, a city in Morrow County, Oregon, United States, on the Columbia River. History In 1958, Morrow County residents approved the creation of a port district by general election. A $500 loan ...

''. Written by the group's frontman James Mercer, the song was released as the first single from the album.

Background

In an interview with '' Q'', the band's frontman, James Mercer, has stated that the song was "about my wife, our relationship and this whole new life we adahead of us." Additionally, Mercer stated that the song was also, in part, about the departures of drummer

Jesse Sandoval Jesse Sandoval (born November 15, 1974) is the former drummer of American indie rock group The Shins. Sandoval initially formed Flake with singer-songwriter James Mercer, guitarist Neal Langford and bassist Marty Crandall in Albuquerque, New ...

and keyboardist

Martin Crandall The Shins is an American indie rock band formed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1996. The band is the project of singer-songwriter James Mercer, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The band's cu ...

from The Shins. Explaining the origins of the song, Mercer revealed that he wrote the song in the living room of his apartment, shortly following his marriage and in the period leading to the birth of his first daughter.

Musicians

Dave Hernandez Dave Hernandez (born September 20, 1970, Guadalajara, Mexico) is a Mexican guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is best known as a former member of the American indie rock band The Shins, with whom he recorded four studio albums. Hernandez is ...

–

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

Greg Kurstin Gregory Allen Kurstin (born May 14, 1969) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and written and produced four songs ...

– acoustic guitar, electric guitar, synthesizers, Mellotron,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

*Ron Lewis –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* James Mercer –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, electric guitar *

Janet Weiss Janet Lee Weiss (born September 24, 1965) is an American rock drummer, best known as a former member of Sleater-Kinney and a current member of Quasi. She was the drummer for Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, leaving after the album '' Mirror Traffic ...

– drums,

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

Music video

The surrealist music video, staged as Mercer's funeral, was directed by DANIELS, a directing duo best known as the team behind the video for the song "

Turn Down for What "Turn Down for What" is a song by French DJ and record producer DJ Snake and American rapper Lil Jon released on December 18, 2013. The song and its viral music video popularized the use of the phrase. The song was particularly successful in Nort ...

", and the film '' Swiss Army Man''. His backing band at the time, Richard Swift,

Joe Plummer Joseph E. Plummer is an American drummer from Portland, Oregon. From 2004 to 2012 Plummer was a percussionist and drummer for the indie rock band Modest Mouse and performed on their album, ''We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank''. Before joi ...

, Yuuki Matthews and Jessica Dobson, appeared in double roles as Mercer's children and as the performers of the song, although none of them were featured on the actual recording.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

In popular culture

* In 2012, the song was used in an episode of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

( Season 37, Episode 17)'' * In 2012, The Shins performed Simple Song on '' Late Show with David Letterman'' * In 2013, Simple Song was featured in '' How I Met Your Mother'' (Season 8, Episode 24 "Something New")

References

{{Authority control 2012 singles The Shins songs 2012 songs Columbia Records singles Songs written by James Mercer (musician) Song recordings produced by Greg Kurstin Rock ballads