Song · The Shins
“It's Only Life” by The Shins
From the album Port of Morrow (2012)
“It's Only Life” by The Shins appears on 10 radio countdowns from 6 stations between 2012 and 2026. It was first released in 2012 on the album Port of Morrow. Its best result is #6 on the WXPN Year in Review: Top 200 Songs of 2012. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #151 alternative song of 2012 and #6,480 alternative song of all time.
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Video from YouTube (Pitchfork). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"It's Only Life" was the second single from Port of Morrow, the Shins' 2012 album, and James Mercer wrote it and co-produced it with Greg Kurstin, who also recorded it and played keyboards. It's warm, glockenspiel-flecked indie pop, with Mercer singing and playing guitar and glockenspiel, Dave Hernandez on guitar, Eric Johnson on piano and backing vocals, Ron Lewis on bass and Joe Plummer on drums. Rich Costey mixed it.
Critics split on it. Some praised Mercer's craft, while Michael Roffman of Consequence of Sound dismissed it as sappy and plastic. Hiro Murai directed the video, and the band took it to the Late Show with David Letterman and Saturday Night Live.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 27 | CD101 Columbus, OH | CD101 Top 102.5 Songs of 2012 | 103 |
| 2012 | 61 | Lightning 100 Nashville, TN | Lightning 100 Top 100.1 Songs of 2012 | 101 |
| 2012 | 86 | 99 Rock Lebanon-Hanover-White River Junction, NH-VT | 99Rock WFRD Top 99 of 2012 | 99 |
| 2012 | 60 | 107.1 The Peak Westchester County, NY | WXPK Top 107 Songs of 2012 | 107 |
| 2012 | 6 | WXPN Philadelphia, PA | WXPN Year in Review: Top 200 Songs of 2012 | 200 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 1828 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) | 2012 |
| 2013 | 455 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013) | 885 |
| 2014 | 1783 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) | 2013 |
| 2022 | 681 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time | 1055 |
| 2026 | 827 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs You Discovered on The Colorado Sound | 1055 |
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