So Says I is a song by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

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 ...

, the third track of their second album ''

Chutes Too Narrow ''Chutes Too Narrow'' is the second studio album by American rock band The Shins. Produced by Phil Ek and the band themselves, the album was released on October 21, 2003, through Sub Pop. The album title comes from a lyric in the song "Young Pilgr ...

''. It was released as a single on 21 September 2003 on

Sub Pop Records Sub is a common abbreviation of words beginning with the prefix "sub-". Sub or SUB may also refer to Places * Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia, IATA code SUB Computing and technology * , an HTML tag for subscript * SUB designate ...

. The song was later included in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 as sample music. The song was written by the band's lead singer, James Mercer. His lyrics reference and compare life under communist and

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

economic systems. This song is performed by

live in the

Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American Comedy drama, comedy-drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) and Alexis Bledel (Rory Gilmore). The show debuted on October 5, 2000, on The WB and beca ...

season four episode, "Girls in Bikinis, Boys Doin' The Twist." It remains a fan favorite and is often performed as a set closer at their live shows. The song was released for the Rock Band video game series as downloadable content through the Rock Band Network in March 2010.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

was

directed Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

by Plates Animation Inc. It starts with a 'prehistoric' penguin extracting a tooth from a walrus (the tooth is symbolic throughout the video, as a metaphor to materialism). The penguins are divided into Communist and

roles as the video progresses. The 'Red' penguins are in upheaval (similar to actual historic events). Ominously, the 'Red' penguin leaders are moving strategic assets in a war room, focusing their attention to the

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

. The 'Capitalist' penguins (with ties) are oblivious to the world outside their lives. A derelict penguin (sans tie) is begging for spare fish. One penguin finally shows pity and gives a walrus tooth to the homeless penguin. The video closes out with a protest (which mirrors an earlier protest by Red Penguins). Both sets of protesters ironically want the same thing, as many of the signs for both have the same message ("Let us Fly" and "Free the Penguin").

Single track listing

# "So Says I" - (2:47) # "Mild Child" - (4:28) # "Gone for Good (alternate version)" - (3:07)

References

External links

The Shins official websiteSub Pop Records"So Says I"
(music video, QuickTime format) The Shins songs 2003 singles Songs written by James Mercer (musician) 2003 songs {{2000s-single-stub