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The Shins — Bait And Switch
Album: Port Of Morrow
Avg rating:
7.1

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1631









Released: 2012
Length: 3:16
Plays (last 30 days): 2
I finally had all my ducks in a row,
peace and quiet, the means of subtraction.
How she got in, I'm not sure that I know.
But two weeks on and my spine was in traction, my eyes in a basket.

My gut and my heart are so out of phase,
and that kind of girl, she ain't nobody's daughter.
I'm just not used to these powerful waves.
She's shining the brass and I'm taking on water.
What am I to do now?

I call on a beautiful witch with a moral compass.
Bait and switch.

Hide from my psychic derailleur,
drive this car to the sea,
spend the night as high as I can in a towering hemlock.

But it's no use. I can always be found.
A creature of habit has no real protection.
I tell her I'll leave if she don't settle down.
She sees it's a lie on closer inspection
Like everyone else does.

Been rubbing a terrible charm,
Holding smoke in my arms.
I'm just a simple man, cursed with an honest heart.
Watch her go and tear it all apart.

Been rubbing a terrible charm,
Holding smoke in my arms.
I'm just a simple man, cursed with an honest heart.
Watch her go and tear it all apart.
Comments (122)add comment
Almost has a '60's surf music vibe going on with that guitar line, dunnit?
My kids always shout out the line 'my eyes in a basket'
"...watch her go and tear it all apart." Rhythm right out of "Tommy."
 unclehud wrote:


"She's shining the brass and I'm taking on water."  Well, that's a well-turned phrase.


it really is!
A USA XTC. And I love XTC.


"She's shining the brass and I'm taking on water."  Well, that's a well-turned phrase.
Saw these guys several years ago and they were fantastic. So sad about the loss of Swift. His blips, bloops, and characteristic backing vocals contributed a huge amount to the band's uniqueness.
Cool video of them performing this song in a home studio in the woods in Portland Oregon in 2012 - The Shins - Bait And Switch (In the Portland Oregon Studio) 2012
This song I hadn't heard.  It's satisfying, from rich vocals to big time tempo, to guitar solo, to intriguing lyrics.  Wish these guys had stayed together.  They were so good.
 jsmyth wrote:
Uh, Scarlet Begonias, anyone?
 

Yes, Cap'n Obvious. Now run away. Not ruining this one for me.

 
Uh, Scarlet Begonias, anyone?
Is there any other word for this than “groovy”?
This band amazes me.  The vocal beauty, the round, fat, satisfying guitar, the rocksolid rhythm, the deep lyrics, and the consistency.  They hit it again and again.
It's a Shindig!    
A solid 9 for a snappy tune.  Thanks RP
Have  always enjoyed The Shins. Great song writing and love the pop!
Not ready to rate, but a beautiful piece of music.
My favorite (or one of them) Shins songs. Just saw them a month or two ago and they put on a great show here in Phoenix!
 NoEnzLefttoSplit wrote:
love the lyrics to this. 

 
Totally agree.  "That kind of girl, she ain't nobody's daughter" ...just brilliant.
love the lyrics to this. 
 h8rhater wrote:

Hipsters.

 
I have only recently heard the term Hipsters (at least in the current context and not the 1960's version) and make a connection with young men, usually with beards, short back and sides haircut with lots on top, tattoos, piercings etc. who go to barber shops to 'hang out'.

You probably had them in America a few years before it spread to the Emerald Isle so I think I understand what you are referring to now.

Nevertheless I think James Mercer is a true singer/songwriting talent and if the Shins are 'hipsters' then as my parents would have said "they will grow out of it".

It seems they have self-destructed as far as a regular band goes but they appeared at an outdoor festival in Ireland in 2016 so there is still a chance for fans to see them live.

 
 rconolly wrote:
Does no one think of XTC listening to this?

 
Yes. not sure why. intelligent lyrics catchy tunes. XTC and the Shins are a couple of my all time favorites.
 
Love this band.
Everytime I hear this song I look at my shin {#Undecided}
Nice tune!
Does no one think of XTC listening to this?
 adpucci wrote:
Every time I hear The Shins (and I like them a lot) I can't help sighing and thinking of what Guillemots could have been...
 
Brilliant point.  Knowing nothing about the internal politics of the Guillemots, and based entirely on my own speculation, my assumption was always that Fyfe was too much of a mad scientist and needed someone to reign him in to write more focused songs (like Bait and Switch).  He certainly has the talent and creativity, just not the same craftsmanship of Mercer .
{#Bananajam}{#Daisy}{#Dancingbanana_2}
 h8rhater wrote:

Hipsters.

 

 

Oh no you di'int!


Luv the Shins! 
Okay, seriously now this sounds like echo and the Bunnymen
 stunix wrote:

Are you saying that PF have no songs with syncopated rhythms?   I'd look again if I were you.   Pompeii will help you out. 

 
No, no, I wasn't saying that; I know Floyd has plenty of tunes with (often complicated) syncopated rhythms - we wouldn't have to look past "Money" to know that.  I was saying that neither of those artists have songs with "this sort of syncopated rhythm" (re-read my post if necessary), or this sort of tempo.  This song has a stylized "Bossa Nova" rhythm with a 3/2 clave beat, not a rhythm or tempo I've heard from Petty or Floyd.
 Proclivities wrote:

I don't hear that at all.  For one thing, neither of those artists have any songs with this sort of syncopated rhythm or tempo.

 
Are you saying that PF have no songs with syncopated rhythms?   I'd look again if I were you.   Pompeii will help you out. 
 Piranga wrote:
PT is amazing, and missed by most.

Carl wrote:
I'm amazed at how good this band is and yet how few seem to know of them. Maybe I run with the wrong crowd! (I have the same problem with Porcupine Tree, BTW.)

 

Porcupine Tree was an amazing band; I saw them in San Francisco once. Steven Wilson's latest album, "Hand.Cannot.Erase." is his best work to date.

 

 jukes1 wrote:
Tom Petty + Pink Floyd isn't really working for me.

 
I don't hear that at all.  For one thing, neither of those artists have any songs with this sort of syncopated rhythm or tempo.  Then again, everything sounds like a rip-off of Pink Floyd to some people here.
 jukes1 wrote:
Tom Petty + Pink Floyd isn't really working for me.

 
Doesn't work for me either.  Fortunately The Shins have zero relevance for that equation.
PT is amazing, and missed by most.

Carl wrote:
I'm amazed at how good this band is and yet how few seem to know of them. Maybe I run with the wrong crowd! (I have the same problem with Porcupine Tree, BTW.)

 


WonderLizard wrote:

The Shins will change your life.

 

Every time I hear The Shins (and I like them a lot) I can't help sighing and thinking of what Guillemots could have been...
Tom Petty + Pink Floyd isn't really working for me.
 
Posted: Aug 14, 2013 - 09:02
 < Reply >

 justin4kick wrote:
I am a Shins-fan of the first hour but I just don´t get this album.

  Hannio wrote:


I loved the first two or three albums, now it sounds like they are trying too hard to top themselves.

 
Hipsters.
 Carl wrote:
I'm amazed at how good this band is and yet how few seem to know of them. Maybe I run with the wrong crowd! (I have the same problem with Porcupine Tree, BTW.)

 
The Shins will change your life.
 Carl wrote:
I'm amazed at how good this band is and yet how few seem to know of them. Maybe I run with the wrong crowd! (I have the same problem with Porcupine Tree, BTW.)

 
Agree completely. I had been hearing of them for some time, but never actually heard them play. Last week I was watching a re-run of Gilmore Girls and they appeared in a club scene. Very good. Will be watching out for them now.
I'm amazed at how good this band is and yet how few seem to know of them. Maybe I run with the wrong crowd! (I have the same problem with Porcupine Tree, BTW.)
Whoah, these lyrics are hitting really really hard lately...Killer Pop sensibilities, radical rock abilities make The Shins a tasty indulgence!
Cool beans man
The Shins always make me smile..  {#Good-vibes}
 Krispian wrote:
I feel my hipness quotient increase with every listen.

 
{#Lol}  Just avoid the lumberjack beard, rolled-up skinny jeans, Doc Martens, Buffalo plaids, and the Castro cap, and you'll be okay.
I have rated about 12 songs by the Shins a 10 ----- way more than I have David Bowie and Squeel Young combined (that sum total being zero).  I dont think there is any Jazz song I have rated 10.  I find Squeel and Bowie and Jazz MINDNUMBINGLY simple boring and sugary sweet ------ BUBBLEGUM SHLOCK
reminds me of Guillemots - and i mean it in a good way
Actually, this catchy little ditty still astounds me with JAMMIN' nuances not heard on earlier listens; typically Mercer and suitably obscure!
The words "Classic" and "Timeless" are grossly overused when describing music but in the case of this track become totally appropriate!
the lawyers in my neighborhood fly shins bumper stickers.......
I feel my hipness quotient increase with every listen.
 justin4kick wrote:
I am a Shins-fan of the first hour but I just don´t get this album.

 

I loved the first two or three albums, now it sounds like they are trying too hard to top themselves.

Everybody in my mushrooming multitude of churches be shagging...  love this song...
 
Thanks a lot for broadcasting! Hey people, give your best to let us listen to this wonderful music!!!
 haretic wrote:
:+:_DL wrote:
I've never really liked this band, but now I'm beginning to wonder why they're even relevant in modern music. 
 
adroc wrote:

This causes me to begin to wonder what's wrong with you.

 
I figured it out, adroc.
It took me a while to find the screen name in the dictionary, but when I found it, there was a synonym suggested: "self-important twit."
The only quality that keeps this band from being one of my two or three favorites is the lead singer's voice. I guess if I can get past it for Smashing Pumpkins, I can get past it for The Shins.  {#Cheers}

 
I really like this guys voice -one of the things that attracts me to the band.
As for the original comment...."...wonder why they're even relevant in modern music."... Why not? Compared to what? 
:+:_DL wrote:
I've never really liked this band, but now I'm beginning to wonder why they're even relevant in modern music. 
 
adroc wrote:

This causes me to begin to wonder what's wrong with you.

 
I figured it out, adroc.
It took me a while to find the screen name in the dictionary, but when I found it, there was a synonym suggested: "self-important twit."
The only quality that keeps this band from being one of my two or three favorites is the lead singer's voice. I guess if I can get past it for Smashing Pumpkins, I can get past it for The Shins.  {#Cheers}
Kinda cool - I hear a little of that song "Diving Bell" by Soft Hearted Scientists but this is much more upbeat.
 :+:_DL wrote:
I've never really liked this band, but now I'm beginning to wonder why they're even relevant in modern music. 
 

 
This causes me to begin to wonder what's wrong with you.
 TerryS wrote:

Lazarus Taxon indeed.
 

I am not a fossil!  I am the holy ghost of big stud Romeo Tuma!  I hope you are having a marvelous time right this minute in evolutionary history...

love this marvelous song...
 


Their new favorite song 
She shat in the bath?
Love Love Love the Shins!{#Dancingbanana_2}
Riffing off of Jack White.
I really liked the guitar part.  Like em.  Have some of their stuff.
Haven't listened to it all and haven't heard this whole album, yet, just the stuff you play on here.
Hey, it's that song that . . . I don't . . . like. Shit.
Man...didn't hear the Shins at first. But I did hear some Jefferson Airplane guitar licks.
 {#Yes}you said it ! socalhol wrote:
This is decent enough, but so far I'm not loving it as much as older Shins & Broken Bells..... 

 


 
Lazarus wrote:

marvelous...  love it...
 

 
Lazarus Taxon indeed.
I've never really liked this band, but now I'm beginning to wonder why they're even relevant in modern music. 
 

marvelous...  love it...
 
Same old.
"Shins" are, like, an automatic 7 or plus. (Hope I got that use of "like" right.)  Anyway, they do little wrong, IM(H)O.
 oldsaxon wrote:

Truth be told: Yes I am, thanks and welcome back.
 

Thank you!  We be dancing...  love this song...
 
RP: All Shins, All the TIme.
I don't seriously mean for anyone to ban any word anytime, anyplace, or anywhere.  Here is a display of what people mean when they use the term "accessible" in relation to art...
   
This music is really great and only someone with refined tastes can appreciate it.  It is complex and experimental, it is 100s of years ahead of its time.  Only true artist/aficionados like me can appreciate it.  You have to be one of the select, the initiated.  If you do not like it, you have a lack of sophistication and education, culture even, that prevents you from grasping it.  It is not possibly that my tastes are defective, for my tastes are superior to yours and they are unassailable.  The reason you do not see the brilliance in this work of art is caused by a defect in your inferior intellect, and perhaps your only hope is to go to an institution of higher learning and shell out all kinds of cash, and slog through all kinds of tomes, and kiss all kinds of old-farts asses and you might someday have a clue and appreciate this great piece of music.    
 Lazarus wrote:


This song is awesome... everybody in my church is dancing right now...  hope you are having a marvelous day right this minute...

 
 
Truth be told: Yes I am, thanks and welcome back.
 oldsaxon wrote:
I'm wondering...is there a hotel manager banging on a door, somewhere in Vegas, because Romeotuma is dancing to this, music up just that bit too loud?
 

This song is awesome... everybody in my church is dancing right now...  hope you are having a marvelous day right this minute...

 
 drewd wrote:

Yay ! We can ban words now .. How cool is that ? Overplayed, hasn't aged well, mute, sucko barfo, derivative,insipid, PSD (not a word but people seem to use that one a lot),over produced,underrated, about,above,across,after, against,along. Ban them all. Did I miss any?
 
Yeah!  Why don't we all just shut the #@$* up!
 rdo wrote:

Could we possibly ban the word accessible from the RP comment board?  My all-time pet peeve. 
 
We would love to appropriately ban accessible, but unfortunately, the accessibility of accessible, is not easily accessible, and not easily amendable. Is that acceptable? I wish I could be more amenable.
 rdo wrote:

Could we possibly ban the word accessible from the RP comment board?  My all-time pet peeve. 
 
Yay ! We can ban words now .. How cool is that ? Overplayed, hasn't aged well, mute, sucko barfo, derivative,insipid, PSD (not a word but people seem to use that one a lot),over produced,underrated, about,above,across,after, against,along. Ban them all. Did I miss any?

 Sasha2001 wrote:
You probably like them because James Mercer's influences are, I think, first and foremost of the Beach Boys and Beatles variety. But I also hear a little Zombies and Turtles in there. The latest album (Port of Morrow) feels like the most accessible of the four complete LP's to date. But Their last album, Wincing the Night Away, made a lot of "Album of the Year" lists in 2008 so you really can't go wrong.
 
Could we possibly ban the word accessible from the RP comment board?  My all-time pet peeve. 
I am a Shins-fan of the first hour but I just don´t get this album.
There are those who wonder if Romeotuma is the Manager of that motel.
I'm wondering...is there a hotel manager banging on a door, somewhere in Vegas, because Romeotuma is dancing to this, music up just that bit too loud?
 joelbb wrote:
I'm a 60s kind of guy, too old to be in The Shins demo, but I really like everything by them that gets played here.  One of you 20-somethings please tell me, what's the best Shins album to start with?
 
I'd suggest Oh, Inverted World and Chutes Too Narrow—two of their first three. Wincing the Night Away is more stylistically akin to Port of Morrow (you can hear Mercer asserting his own voice over that of a band) yet no less distinct. 
 Sasha2001 wrote:
You probably like them because James Mercer's influences are, I think, first and foremost of the Beach Boys and Beatles variety. But I also hear a little Zombies and Turtles in there. The latest album (Port of Morrow) feels like the most accessible of the four complete LP's to date. But Their last album, Wincing the Night Away, made a lot of "Album of the Year" lists in 2008 so you really can't go wrong.
 
Thanks, Sasha.  I also hear a little Garcia guitar and multiple late 60s/early 70s country rock influences.  Hope you can find a private restroom somewhere.
ahhh, the old bait and switch.
You probably like them because James Mercer's influences are, I think, first and foremost of the Beach Boys and Beatles variety. But I also hear a little Zombies and Turtles in there. The latest album (Port of Morrow) feels like the most accessible of the four complete LP's to date. But Their last album, Wincing the Night Away, made a lot of "Album of the Year" lists in 2008 so you really can't go wrong.
I'm a 60s kind of guy, too old to be in The Shins demo, but I really like everything by them that gets played here.  One of you 20-somethings please tell me, what's the best Shins album to start with?
Wonderful, soaring chorus.
Perfect pop- music! Makes me want to dance.
 Proclivities wrote:

Were you expecting a phone call from him to be asked to play the flugel horn parts?  Anyhow, there are quite a few other musicians playing on this album.
 
The sad but true fact is that solo artists just have not been as good as bands have been in Rock music.  This CD is a let down for me. 
 FogAudio wrote:
First time I've heard this song but I know I am going to dig it more and more on subsequent listens!
 
Ditto
This album is enjoyable so far. I've only heard the tracks that have been played here on RP.
 Troutnskibum wrote:
Love this album, but why does it bother me that he is such a control freak he had to play every instrument?
 
Were you expecting a phone call from him to be asked to play the flugel horn parts?  Anyhow, there are quite a few other musicians playing on this album.
its Dickey Betts - I can't hear anything now apart from the Allmans, its getting bad
Yes..  I can see (hear) why it was free too..... 

JsDad wrote:
This song is on Amazon's list of the 50 Best Songs so far this year, and... it's free!  (or at least it was earlier in the week).  Guess if you use the link from RP they won't get much of a commission.
 


This song is on Amazon's list of the 50 Best Songs so far this year, and... it's free!  (or at least it was earlier in the week).  Guess if you use the link from RP they won't get much of a commission.
I agree that their earlier stuff had more real and true new rare polished gems in it, but this does have its charms, and I do love some of the lines in this one! I must say, I also really like the way he goes off on guitar rips here, kind of like how he did on Chutes Too Narrow.
Interesting the Echo song followed by The Shins: if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, somewhere Echo & the Bunnymen are smiling.
Beautiful song !
I have no objection to the fact that this song is played every 18 hours on RP.  Still fresh after 45 listens here and on my iPod.
This is decent enough, but so far I'm not loving it as much as older Shins & Broken Bells..... 
First time I've heard this song but I know I am going to dig it more and more on subsequent listens!
Hey, I really like that little tear on guitar near the end...some new personnel, but typically shining through with Shin-ness and then some; dig it!
got my tix for Terminal 5!
April 29 2012

looking forward to some goodness   
This is the 3rd shins song today. 
Yay, new Shins!!!
 Troutnskibum wrote:
Love this album, but why does it bother me that he is such a control freak he had to play every instrument?
 
I bothers you because it isn't true.  He didn't play every instrument, in fact he collaborated quite a bit, with nearly everyone he's previously worked with.  Read Pitchfork's review for more info. 
these guys are growing on me.  cool, kinda funky, great lead singer voice.  like and like again!
Love this album, but why does it bother me that he is such a control freak he had to play every instrument?
They're back!

More genius!

Glorious melody, the lost art in today's times.
nice little groove for a sunny sunday morning
I've had this song burned into my brain for a week and was going to upload the second I got the album Tuesday.  Awesome song.
nice - great band (well great leader)
Wow, I'm really digging this!