Music Review: Capital Cities "Safe and Sound"

Capital Cities

Safe and Sound

Album: In A Tidal Wave of Mystery
Year: 2011

        Ryan Merchant dreams of a future with his crush in the forward  “Safe and Sound.”

          Serene synths open the single, setting a content tone.  A picture of the Tower of London hangs on the wall of her family room. She almost had the chance to visit when she was in her 20s but couldn’t after her mom got sick. She believes she doesn’t have anything to say. The charcoal sits in her drawer, waiting to put on a blank canvas. She wishes she could be more than an adminstrative assistant, transferring phone calls all day long. A smile from her is all he would need to pull through a tough meeting. They’re together and everything is will be okay. Their intellectual discussions would be three-dimensional, searching for the source.. (“I could lift you up/I could show you what you wanna see/And take you where you wanna be/You could be my luck/Even if the sky is falling down/I know that we'll be safe and sound/We're safe and sound/I could fill your cup/You know my river won't evaporate/This world we still appreciate/You could be my luck/Even in a hurricane of frowns/I know that we'll be safe and sound.”)

             In the chorus, he reiterates that they will be okay. She has to believe it will be. (“Safe and sound/We're safe and sound/Safe and sound/We're safe and sound/Hold your ground/
We're safe and sound/Safe and sound.”)

           With him, she’ll have emotions she can’t articulate but can be expressed with the touch on the arm. She’ll stay with him until they no longer look like themselves. In death, he’ll be with her, following her steps and guiding her.  (“I could show you love/In a tidal wave of mystery/You'll still be standing next to me/You could be my luck/Even if we're six feet underground/I know that we'll be safe and sound/We're safe and sound.”)

                The chorus is sung again.

             Part of the first verse is sung twice. (“I could lift you up…I know that we'll be safe and sound.”)

           “We’re safe and sound” is repeated four times. 

           The chorus is sung again to close the single. 

            Capital Cities’ (Merchant and Sebu Simonian) jagged, paranoid vocals subtly imply total submission from her. There’s an underlying fear that she is the only one who can make him happy. Nothing and no one else can provide it.  

            The severe  “Safe and Sound” comes on too strong, forcing its point long after it's been made.