Fantasy Island
The Shins * Track #4 On Heartworms
Download "Fantasy Island"
Fantasy Island by The Shins
Release Date
Performed by
The ShinsProduced by
James MercerWrited by
James MercerAbout
“Fantasy Island” uses flying to an imaginary island as a metaphor for running from your problems. Mercer sings of lost youth, and of a reluctance to burden his loved ones with his problems in case he bores them to death.
Musically, this is a synth-driven, layered track with a slight psychedelic tin...
Fantasy Island Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Long in tooth, olives and vermouth
I dine like an aging pilot
And where are they now, the money and the crowd?
Must I really come back down?
[Pre-Chorus]
It's like I never was a kid
The big math just wasted youth on me
Making impressions like I did
Your friends never thought that much of me
[Chorus]
But now I want to fall into something else
An origami plane to a distant island
And I don't want to show you my feelings
I don't want to force you to deal
I just want to crash through the ceiling
Before it gets too real
[Verse 2]
All my life, compromise on wings of resignation
Big grey eyes staring from the sky
Am I humble enough now?
I've always had something to hide
My skinny arms, my evil intentions
And back at school, hitting the fire alarms
Desperately wanting attention
[Chorus]
Well, I was just a boy, out there on my own
Wishing I could fly, fantasy Island
And I don't want to show you my feelings
I don't want to bore you to death
I just want to crash through the ceiling
Get it off my chest
[Pre-Chorus]
It's like I never was a kid
The big math, it wasted youth on me
Making impressions like I did
Your friends never thought that much of me
[Chorus]
Well I was just a boy, out there on my own
Wishing I could fly, fantasy Island
And I don't want to show you my feelings
I don't want to force you to deal
I just want to crash through the ceiling
Before it gets too real (oh)
Before it gets too real (oh)
Before it gets too real (oh)
Real (oh)
Real
[Outro]
As we all sail along
Soaking our feet
Paddle on, force you to feel
Fantasy Island Q&A
Who wrote Fantasy Island's ?
Fantasy Island was written by James Mercer.
Who produced Fantasy Island's ?
Fantasy Island was produced by James Mercer.
When did The Shins release Fantasy Island?
The Shins released Fantasy Island on Fri Mar 10 2017.
What did The Shins say about "Fantasy Island"?
At a live show, James Mercer suggested that “Fantasy Island” was a grower:
Sometimes it takes time to dig a new song, like when I heard “Sweet Child O' Mine” for the first time. Maybe this will be like “Sweet Child O' Mine”. This one’s called “Fantasy Island”.
Speaking to Drowned In Sound, Mercer...
What was the critical reception to the song like?
musicOHM described the “stand-out” track as “synth-led” and “forward-looking”, whilst remaining “identifiably Mercer’s”.
Elsewhere, Rolling Stone said that the lightly-psychedelic song “finds Mercer with tortures of his own, nose-deep in vermouth and self-pity”.
What is the song about?
The song uses the story of an imaginary pilot to explore the anxiety a young James Mercer felt when his family moved to New Mexico:
I had terrible anxiety. It seemed to be the stress of dealing with this new world. The change was so dramatic; I was a kid in a kid’s world in Germany, and then I went...