Chapter 3 | "Phantom Limb" by The Shins

In my early 20s, I had begun to travel throughout the northeast (and beyond) to see shows. The exhilaration of adventure quickly took hold and I began to understand the concept of wanderlust. The more time I spent on the road, the more I hated being home. What once had been comforting in its familiarity had become grating on my nerves for the same reason.

That's the sentiment behind my having chosen this song for chapter 3, for how I interpret it, anyway. Everyone has different ebbs and flows to the paths their lives take, but for me, the first few years out of high school had a similar feeling of frustration. I felt stuck; tethered to the frustration of the familiar with no real option to be anywhere else, even though there was a longing for something -- anything -- new or even just different.

While I said I would refrain from interpreting lyrics in these posts, I don't have a problem with including information from the song's writers on what inspired them. According to Wikipedia, The Shins' songwriter and lead singer James Mercer described this song as "a hypothetical, fictional account of a young, lesbian couple in high school dealing with the shitty small town they live in."

Though there's nothing LGBTQ+ about this scene in the book, feeling that cloying pull of that new, different thing beckoning in the distance, yet being unable to take a step toward it -- while surrounded by small-minded people you feel no kinship with -- is the overall vibe of the New Year's Eve party. That being the case, I think the song's lyrics lend themselves just as well here as to the original inspiration.