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Buh-Bah, This Is the Sound of Sanity
A playlist to curb obsessive thoughts
I've got a hunger twisting my stomach into knots
That my tongue has tied off
My brain's repeating, “if you've got an impulse, let it out”
But they never make it past my mouth
— “The Sound of Settling,” Death Cab For Cutie
Death Cab For Cutie’s “The Sound of Settling” kicks off with a simple strumming guitar. It’s an alienating introduction that delivers the song’s first line before a driving drumline bowls in. As it sprawls out, “The Sound of Settling” polishes itself. Ever-developing production refines each layer of instrumentation before collapsing in on itself again, reverting back to exactly where it started. It's beautiful, intrinsic, complicated, and one of the first songs I ever found that could curb my obsessive thoughts.
It came to me from one of my sister’s Limewire downloads, buried deep in the MP3 player we shared. Back then, of course, we were living with a prehistoric interface that didn’t offer a way to choose your songs. I was around 11 or 12 years old and grappling with spells of bad…
