Tag: Cage the Elephant

For My Sunday Song #362, we are covering the 2nd song in the Morgan’s Choice 10 song set. This time around we are talking about the song “Cigarette Daydreams” by Cage the Elephant. The song is off their 2013 album ‘Melophobia’ and was the 2nd song off that album to go #1. Released on as a single on August 26, 2014, it has sold over 3,000,000 copies of the single and has over 42 million views on Youtube. Pretty dang impressive. It was credited to the whole band, but it was mostly the singer Matt Schultz who wrote it. Matt thought about giving it to someone else to play because he didn’t think it was a Cage song, but his brother Brad said that why can’t they write any song and play it. It doesn’t have to be a so called “Cage the Elephant” song, they should just write and play what they want.

Matt was sitting around strumming his guitar when the melody came to him and then the words flowed. It was inspired by a personal experience he had and that experience helped write the song and it all came quick and easy. The experience is about isolating yourself from everyone. Even from those that could help you. They feel lost in life and that loneliness grows the more they isolate themselves from the world. It is a conversation on depression and we should be talking about it more. The thought is it is about his relationship with his first wife. Whoever it is about, it is a sad, melancholy tune that is so simple and so beautiful.

What I love about this song is the acoustic styling of the song reminds of my favorite Guster song “Do You Love Me”. It has that same rawness to it and quirkiness that speaks to me for some reason. The music is as sad as the lyrics, but it has such a pretty melody and a chorus that is a little upbeat and happier. Matt’s vocals are smooth, with a little whine to it that fits perfectly with the song and its lyrics. The keyboards add a nice flair to it and the rhythm section keeps the song moving and on point. A sweet, yet sad track that is nothing short of perfection.