"New Slang"
By The Shins

While this song appears to be a cheerful jam composed of meaningless phrases I believe that it has a greater meaning. In my opinion this song is about a man who is tired of being alone. Throughout the song this man questions whether he is to blame for his being single or if there is another reason for it. "Am I too dumb to reply" I feel that in the context of this sentence this line expresses self doubt and low self esteem. The song starts off "Gold teeth and a curse for this town, they were all in my mouth." This is another example of his low self esteem because he is stating in the first line that he has bad teeth and does not like where he lives. the songwriter is also bitter towards others who have love when he mentions the bakers cutting their thumbs and bleeding into their buns. The main resolution to this song is the chorus where it says that if this girl liked him then he would" dance like the king of the eyesores" meaning he would feel superior and happy. while it is a strange simile the literal meaning i believe is the queen of all unfortunate people. which would be a good feeling due to the fact that a king is well off and "eyesores" are not so there is a stark difference.