The Shins - Phantom Limb (Last.fm Sessions)

James Mercer solo/acoustic rendition
www.last.fm/mus...

[@alexandermuller8941]

One of the more underrated song writers and voices of the last 15 years

[@kiddboifr3sh219]

Agreed.

[@goodsolonius7305]

This guy's got such a great voice

[@SticksAandstonesBozo]

Even that statement doesn’t do it justice. This song changed my whole life.

[@kylemac521]

How do all of these last.fm vids of James Mercer only have so few views? He is an incredible talent

[@SAMTELLIS4]

kylemac521 exactly what I was wondering, it blows my mind

[@pleasure.93]

cos people are shits, shame

[@ourrandomworld3386]

Probably my most favourite song ever. The Shins know how to write a song.

[@Andynauga]

Our Random World yes very true!

[@ah6559]

I remember 2001; great summer with friends, driving 200 miles to see the shins play in a smaller venue with about 80 or so other listeners. They were great back than and still are! The way Jame’s voice and lyrics dance over the guitar and rhythm is consistently pleasant.

[@AM-tb3le]

Oh boy I really miss this music....

[@cal3blipa]

This song would come a lot at the mall when i worked 2012. A soothe but hypnotic jangle

[@Paw_532]

James Mercer is soooo under rated. I LOVE THE SHINS

[@azhomeboy2000]

Amazing! Mercer has a voice for the ages!

[@KennethWilliamElkington]

A rare, sensitive and nuanced talent... genius.

[@nevertime1246]

His voice is amazing! This is is my favorite The Shins' song...it's heavenly

[@carbonlord.]

2019 and I still come back to listen to this one.

[@nananarcisse70]

carbon LORD same!!!!

[@inkspooky7244]

carbon LORD me 2022

[@CMackthe3rd]

Greetings from 2024

[@andrewbarrett1537]

Still a banger in 2024, and I daresay in 2124.

[@mitsukosuki]

the shins is my new discovery, and probably my the best discovery of this year, although this year has just begun :)))

[@Ieatbabyseals]

+blablabla Great chord progressions and very well written melodies. You have made a wonderful discovery

[@williamcrabb2381]

2023 and still love this song, doesn't get any better than this folks!

[@shadowknight9807]

How does a guy come up with this beautiful vocal from such simple guitar lines???

[@andrewbarrett1537]

More like how does he consistently write such excellent melodies? I am amazed and want to quit at the same time. Same reaction when I listen to Raymond Hubbell's melodies.

[@richdhaliwal1494]

Do you artists know how much you effect our Hearts?

[@punstress]

Wow, nice performance, and it cleared up some confusion I had with lyrics.

[@jrjr6166]

now it's clear how this became a hit. Other than the fact that it's a great melody that would be unconceivable for most melody makers to write.

[@Whitemoon379]

My fav shins song

[@Adeus1]

Love this song still in 2020. Even more so.

[@annastamper1829]

This is my favorite Kevin Spacey song.

[@Toxeensynth]

+Anna Stamper Oh, you!...

[@tttstrebbb3593]

this makes me laugh every time.

[@danwally4754]

HahahahahHa

[@pleasure.93]

kiss my ass

[@thescaleofnature5775]

I’ve always thought James Mercer looks like Spacey’s little brother.

[@wildlifecameron]

These are fantastic recordings.

[@joebeermaster5495]

Their best song

[@agentapathy]

This is perhaps the most soothing song about lesbians yet.

[@ashleybeetnik1984]

Incredible. Absolutely flawless. But how! Insane talent.

[@denizb.6882]

There used to be an acoustic version, I believe it was with another guitarist alongside Mercer, both on Acoustics (and even an acoustic bass? dunno), but anyways it was named "The Shins Phantom Limb Acoustic Radio 101.7" (not sure about the Radio Number, mit as well be 101, 107, or 107,1, something along these lines) Anyone remember it? Can't find it for the life of me.. it was superb to all the versions!

[@misssandycandy]

Love love love

[@bryaneberly3588]

OMG, has he always been so good looking? This is my first time seeing him. Wow.

[@imgebelizsahranc8112]

This last.fm performances of him are all sooooo beautiful.

[@elvisioso]

Hermosa interpretación , vocal , letra , ritmo y para todos los sentidos

[@mimijanice1449]

beautiful

[@jerrysmith3017]

What wonder words, Last.fm, my god i'm sorry how have you not gotten 5 million subs. I don't get this youtube bs.

[@mar_ischa]

I'm in love ❤️ such clever eyes

[@marsbeads]

love, love this song!

[@stefanielynn84]

That voice!

[@2BelleStar]

Beautiful!

[@AstroGremlinAmerican]

Did not know Shins. New fan.

[@gallgu624]

As far as I’m concerned, this is the best song ever created p

[@nivmizzetjt2858]

Really in my opinion this sounds better then the studio album song

[@Ieatbabyseals]

+Green Giraffe I like the more raw sounds. Does it feel like when you get too much going on it distracts from how well the song was written?

[@Stevetheperformer]

+Green Giraffe Totally disagree- the rest of the band, the accoustics, falsetto is what makes it.

[@pleasure.93]

nah, they both are sounds good as its different feels

[@andrewbarrett1537]

I think this and most of his other songs are so musically strong and have such structural integrity, that they can endure being arranged for / transformed by / covered by a wide variety of different type musical ensembles. In this regard, I think he comes closest to all of a vintage pop songwriter or at least a musical sensibility and quality level of an earlier day, even while not sounding dated. That is a rare feat indeed.

[@FionaFrawley]

Love you James! :D

[@zanderzamora3378]

This dudes awesome cool voice

[@CrustyWhiteBread]

YES!

[@Whitemoon379]

Done perfectly

[@OsvaldoPaese1]

he makes it look so easy. This song is pretty tough to play and sing well.

[@19TheJohn93]

why so?

[@19TheJohn93]

Shnooter Yes both.Of course playing a song is difficult if you have no expertise in doing so, lol

[@19TheJohn93]

Shnooter I'm aware of that. But I can tell you that if you come to the point where you can sing and play simultaniously this shouldn't be a difficult song to play.

[@jaerivus]

@@19TheJohn93 Having learned this song and New Slang for guitar and uke, I feel qualified to weigh in... The chords that comprise both songs are very easy, but it's the unique way they're cobbled together that sometimes seems disorienting/counterintuitive. In New Slang, the last chords of each verse (F, Am, G) are alternatingly given different treatments: the first time through, F is sustained/plays longer. You can verify by the pause in the vocals ("only I don't know how[F]..... they got out[Am], dear[G]"). The next time through, before the chorus, F rushes to the Am ("I was happier then[F] with no mind[Am]set[G]"), at which point we linger on the G unlike the previous cycle. Couple this structural oddity with the very unique approach they seem to have towards melody, and the act of playing this song while simultaneously singing it has an obviously steeper leaning curve than, say, Dylan. As for Phantom Limb, again, the chords employed are dead-simple: (offhand) A, D, E, G, F#m, and F#. For this song what throws me off-balance is harder for me to nail down, but I think, as with New Slang, the trajectory of the melody seems very elusive. Not being able to instinctively guess my next vocal note based upon the chord I'm currently playing essentially requires that I learn two songs (the guitar chords and the melody) and then learn how to stack those layers together before I can produce the desired output. I like to think I'm an intermediate/moderately advanced "performer" despite that I've only played at home for twenty years, but my approach to learning a song is likely vastly different from yours or even the next person who comes along and reads this. Not everybody's minds grasp things at the same speed or even in the same way. Even when two people both "get" something, they likely have very different understandings of it. Also, everyone who plays an instrument is always at a different level of progress from your own, be it more advanced or less so. That's particularly why I feel it's unfair of you to read about one persons struggles with performance (however slight) and come in with what amounts to braggadocio and nothing constructive to add. It's like: why did you type a reply in the first place?

[@trecooltabbilos2279]

Its his song right?

[@marcusavelarrr]

Terrific

[@carolinAndrew]

me gustó muchooo!

[@jamesmarthaler5745]

epic

[@jimwillcox7601]

Good job.

[@hpygolkyone]

For those that give this a thumbs down, advance and show yourselves.

[@sergiom5907]

Wow, Wheezy Waiter finally has a hit song

[@Fischerthe11th]

2024 anyone? ❤❤

[@jbru9576]

James Mercer looks exactly like my teacher

[@andrewbautista7790]

👍🏻

[@jessicanicacio8482]

😜❤

[@Monx10]

He looks so much like Wheezy Waiter!

[@bigslow1986]

Quarantine 2020

[@lockyp204]

Probably sacrilege to some, but it just occurred to me how similar Mercer's voice is to Rivers Cuomo of Weezer..I like both anyway..

[@MrStrykerk45]

luap ekcol Haha, nope!

[@Toxeensynth]

james please marry me I love you

[@joshuapowers5590]

Chords?

[@johnrutledge3892]

Emily Clark Paintings ,

[@alanrink4268]

Hats off, fanstastic.. sadly Now I need all the do is throw my guitar in the garbage can and stop writing music.

[@andrewbarrett1537]

Don't give up- learn more, practice more and try harder. And do what you love. If I had given up, I never would have written my compositions. Playing the best of them, I'm happy I didn't give up 20 years ago. Sometimes you are just a year or two from a major breakthrough. I also have major quality control. In writing one of my rags, I had two themes I thought were pretty good. I ended up throwing out them BOTH and wrote three new ones which are better! The only thing that survived was the title and dedication. You need to be really self critical amd be able to spot everything that bothers you about your own music, so you can fix it. One of my other rags waited 15 years to be finished, since it took me that long to find/figure out ONE CHORD that I needed for part of it!!! It would be like two hours of banging out every chord I could think of to fill the gap, and modifying them, but it never being quite right, until finally eventually it fell into place.

[@SGspecial84]

What the hell is this song about? Its so scatterbrain

[@ShadowDemon2228]

SGspecial84 it’s whatever you want it to be about brother

[@levibailey6363]

perfect answer friendo

[@andrewbarrett1537]

If you look up the song on the sites "SongMeanings" and "Genius", there are many interpretations of the lyrics.

[@andrewbarrett1537]

Also I think Mr Mercer has stated in interviews that he usually composes the music first, and then comes up with lyrics second. It is to his credit that the lyrics are so thought-provoking. At first they seem random and nonsensical, but then once they are carefully analyzed, various layers of meaning start to be revealed. Finally, in interviews, once 'what the song is [originally] about' is revealed, then other things can fall into place, but it is also good that the lyrics are vague enough that people can create their own meanings.

[@danwally4754]

This is my least favorite kevin spacey song

[@Stevetheperformer]

Love this song, but nice to know what the fuck they are talking about

[@GhostfaceTeacher]

+Stevetheperformer genius.com/The-shins-phantom-limb-lyrics

[@kingsecho3351]

It's about young lesbian couple going through trials and tribulations of living in a shitty town