"Know Your Onion!" by The Shins

by Emalie Whan

Americans coined the term “know your onions” in Harper’s Bazaar in 1922. To put it simply, it means you know your shit. The Shins’ 2001 single "Know Your Onion!" is an interesting tale of a person peeling their layers away and coming to a conclusion about theirself.

This song is an ode to everyone who’s not quite sure where they are and where they want to be. I’m not going to sit here and analyze every word in this song, but I want to focus on one part I love:

The trick is just making yourself
But when they’re parking their cars on your chest
You’ve still got a view of the summer sky
To make it hurt twice when your restless body
Caves to its whims
And suddenly struggles to take flight

Even though this is my favorite verse in this song, I get such a feeling of anxiety and sadness whenever I hear it. That feeling where your heart jumps into your throat and you realize that you’re alone in this world and you need to depend on yourself before others.

Mercer’s imagery of the weight we put on ourselves is so subtle yet means everything. Who hasn’t had a moment like this in their life? I know I struggle with it every day. It seems that we get kicked when we’re already down, but that’s when you have to cave in and pick yourself back up.

I can go on forever about the lyrics of this song and on this album, as well as (gulp!) feelings; instead I’ll leave you with the official video for "Know Your Onion!" and this link to SongMeanings for a great explanation of the lyrics.

In the official video, Mercer is playing God (er—a higher being) in these scenarios and helping the humans (dregs) get through the stressful parts of their day. Watching Mercer dispatch a Dog (aka The Voice of God) to help the humans out in their everyday struggles and helping them succeed is pretty hilarious! As we know, God (er—a higher being) would be too great to meet in the flesh, and we would explode, so he hires a cute dog. Amazing!

"Snow Brigade" by Mew

I first poured out my heart in this post about Mew at Star Maker Machine. It is copied verbatim here, but you should head over there anyway to have a look around, because it looks very nice, and they've really done a great job with the place.

Mew singer Jonas Bjerre. Photo Credit Bill Ebbesen 

"Snow Brigade" fan music video.

This song is always the first that comes to mind when I think of snow songs. I have to admit, that's not very often, nor had I ever even considered the existence of a genre such as "winter pop" until I scoured the internet comments and forums for discussion of this song.

The ever-enlightened, scholarly groupmind of SongMeanings repeatedly amuses a connection to cocaine, but I can't find anything in the lyrics that clearly prompts such an interpretation on a basic level. With hints of depression, failed communications, a frustrating relationship, and the importance of the season's change, this song is an unreceived broadcast to a partner with Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Mew's homeland of Denmark has a relatively cool climate with heavy, wet winters, during which the daylight time dwindles to just about seven hours—not nearly long enough to even get to enjoy a single, cold moment of sunshine for those of us running on U.S. cubicle work hours. Seasonal Affective Disorder can carry a person's mood quickly into a new personality, a slow shift that grinds the gears of a relationship's communications.

"In winter you're an affliction," the singer of this song tells their partner. There's an argument brewing. Jealous accusations of new interests and demands for evidence. "Enable [me] to bring out the something you want to know beneath the snow," the singer tells the accuser. "Bring out the someone you want to see for jealousy."

Things end on a sour note. The singer's "arms retreat," as the option of immediate reconciliation fades, and the only option is to try again on another day: "I'll find you somewhere / show you how much I care / know that there is no / escape from my snow brigade."

This was the first Mew song I ever heard, and it turned me instantly into a fan. Although the album I've most fallen in love with (2009's No More Stories Are Told Today I'm Sorry They Washed Away No More Stories The World Is Grey I'm Tired Let's Wash Away) sounds very little like other entries to their catalogue—including this song—both styles fit with their own moods, allowing me to enjoy Mew on even more occasions.

Singer Jonas Bjerre's voice carries the same shrill, tenuous beauty of a tightly-tuned violin string, simultaneously raising the listener's hackles and petting them on the head. This is undoubtedly the first thing that catches the newcomer's ears, but underlying musical experimentations that combine, at times, elements of progressive metal, ambient, noise, and indie pop should not go unappreciated.

Capable of producing albums of catchy singles, like 2003's Frengers, Mew also demonstrates clear understanding of the capability of the album itself as a limit, as No More Stories... and their 2005 album And the Glass Handed Kites both construct single-song façades through the use of song transitions and titular divisions.

Taking theme to the screen as well, Mew enlisted the aid of director Martin de Thurah to deliver a trio of music videos for singles on their release of No More Stories...: "Introducing Palace Players," "Repeaterbeater," and "Beach."

Don't forget to check out more song features at Star Maker Machine.