SONGS YOU MUST HEAR BEFORE YOU DIE, Nº 5

ELBOW - SNOOKS

Writer: Guy Garvey

Album: Cast of Thousands (2003)

“Mostly I write about life and love and death and friendship and desire and frustration.” —Guy Garvey, 2008

Elbow’s music is often beautifully understated and intimate. As the singer had anticipated, “Snooks” became a festival favorite, with Garvey repeatedly looking out at fields of people singing the song “with a big grin on their faces.” After years of being underappreciated, Elbow began to collect awards with gratifying regularity. 

With wonderful warmth that characterizes everything he does, Garvey told radio station Xfm: “This song is about love in a very simple way—but, ultimately, it’s about the fact that the five of us are old friends who really enjoy doing what we’re doing.”