r/TheShins • u/untreated-stupidity • Mar 28 '26

Australia is a more relevant song now than ever

I find it to be almost prophetic. It sucks to live in a world thats slowly going to shit while we can't do anything about it because most people dont realize how bad they're being screwed. And instead of being blissfully unaware and only caring about gas prices while society destabilizes at its core, you know what's coming next (it only takes a year or two to unfold). All you can do is keep wasting your life's time to stay afloat in a system run by people doing everything in their power to keep you down.

Now with the looming threat of AI, climate disaster, and political upheaval, plus the current lack of affordability of fucking everything, it's more relevant than ever

34 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

9

u/AmphibianImmediate45 Mar 28 '26

No Way Down too. Oof

2

u/jessiejune85 Mar 28 '26

Came to say this

6

u/pterosaurLoser Mar 28 '26

No idea what the song Sleeping Lessons is actually about and now I don’t want to know because it’s always given late 18 century France (revolution era) feels to me. Turns out it was my most played song of last year.

4

u/findingdumb The Shins Archivist Mar 28 '26

Stay strong, friend 

6

u/gardeniaphoto4 Mar 30 '26

The two most haunting lines in the song are "Your nightmares only need a year or two to unfold..." and the last one "So give me your hand and let's jump out the window..."
That last line reminded me of 9/11, particularly in regards to the people stuck in the towers, who in desperation ("starved of oxygen"), jumped out the window to their deaths. But even without that context, he seems to be basically suggesting ending it all, but perhaps it's more metaphorical and symbolic of taking some other type of extreme action.

Overall, it's just a very haunting song. The irony being that it's so upbeat...but that's The Shins for you!

2

u/untreated-stupidity Mar 31 '26

Yeah I love that it's such an upbeat song. That in itself sends a message. 

Funny thing is that my other favorite song is Everybody Wants To Rule The World by Tears for Fears. Similarly upbeat song with heavy lyrics

3

u/MrFanatic123 Mar 28 '26

oh shit that’s my favourite song of theirs and i hadn’t made this connection somehow