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

The Shins The Shins are 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 c ...

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 wa ...

''. 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 M ...

and keyboardist

Martin Crandall The Shins are 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 c ...

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 electric guitar *

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 contributed to five songs that pe ...

– acoustic guitar, electric guitar, synthesizers,

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

, piano *Ron Lewis – bass guitar * James Mercer – vocals, electric guitar *

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

– 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, thoug ...

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. It was released on 18 December 2013 as DJ Snake's debut single. The song and its " viral" music video popularized the use of the titular phrase. ...

", and the films ''

Swiss Army Man ''Swiss Army Man'' is a 2016 American surrealist comedy-drama film written and directed by Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan in their feature directorial debuts. The film stars Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. ''Swiss ...

'' and ''

Everything Everywhere All at Once ''Everything Everywhere All at Once'' is a 2022 American Independent film, independent Absurdist fiction, absurdist comedy-drama film written and directed by Daniels (directors), Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who produced it with Russo brot ...

''. 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 Jessica Dobson (born 1984) is an American singer and multi-instrumentalist. She has performed with several musicians and bands, including Beck,

, 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'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

( Season 37, Episode 17)'' * In 2012, The Shins performed Simple Song on ''

Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...

'' * In 2013, Simple Song was featured in ''

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom created by Craig Thomas (screenwriter), Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, follows main char ...

'' (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