Album: Kill The Moonlight
Year: 2002
. . .
Despite — or maybe because of — the self-conscious keyboard-driven minimalism the dominated Kill The Moonlight, there were quite a few songs that were incredibly atmospheric, like the buzzing opener “Small Stakes” and the swirling closer, “Vittorio E.” Smack dab in the middle was “Don’t Let It Get You Down,” a fantastic example of what Britt Daniel calls his mathematical mind.
Actually, I also just realized that for each of Spoon’s early 2000s albums, I’m writing about a propulsive song and and arty song. So far, “Take The Fifth” and “The Way We Get By” are the propulsive songs, and “The Fitted Shirt” and today’s “Don’t Let It Get You Down” are the arty ones. And — SPOILER ALERT! — this will carry over to the two Gimme Fiction songs I’m writing about in the next couple of days, though it totally breaks down when I get to my favorite Spoon album, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.
“Don’t Let it Get You Down” starts with Daniel’s lighter-than-air acoustic guitar, a quick 12-hit and some establishing from Eggo Johanson, over which Britt Daniel sings “ooooh-ooooooh-oooooooooh-ooooh,” for a bit before going into the opening verse.
Kay made it where the most never been
Fixed up outside and broke within
She always said goodnight
Knowing the wrong from right
But on the way, the top
They showed her things she never thought
And left her down in the dumps
All day and all of the night
Oh look, it’s a Kinks reference! As the song progresses, drummer Jim Eno kicks in, and Johanson starts doing commentary with the piano, until they go to the chorus, which like “The Way We Get By,” is simplicity itself.
Don’t let it get you down
Don’t let it get you down
Don’t let it get you down
Don’t let it get you down
One of the cool things about this chorus is that Daniel sings the line differently each time around. And of course, after each line is some piano decoration from Johanson, entering and leaving at the exact right time. Every single note is right in place: there is literally zero fat on this song, and nobody is playing for the sake of playing.
The result is both ever-changing and easily graspable, as you come to recognize each and every piano hook, guitar hook and vocal hook long before the song ends. Talk about everything its right place.
“Don’t Let it Get You Down” wasn’t a single or anything, but it was one of the reasons Kill The Moonlight was the first Spoon album to make a Billboard chart, peaking at #23 on the Independent album charts, and equally as important, #14 on the 2002 Pazz & Jop crtics poll.. Since then, it’s made a bunch of lists as one of the best albums of the 2000’s, and probably kickstarted the career Spoon has had in the two decades since.
“Don’t Let It Get You Down”
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