Pete Yorn has been releasing a series of one-take, one-mic, acoustic videos of songs from his new album, ArrangingTime. All of the videos have been recorded at Capital Studios, and are breathtakingly beautiful.

The newest one is to “Shopping Mall”, a melancholic melody from ArrangingTime that sings of love lost, restless hearts, wayward wishing, with a bit of hope weaved within. This is one of two songs on the album that make me cry.

Shopping Mall (live at Capital Studios) :: Pete Yorn

“I can’t tell you anything,
you believe in something else.
I can’t give you anything you don’t already have,
I can’t tell you anything you didn’t already know.”

There is a loneliness in this song, and when I think on it, there is a loneliness in a shopping mall. I think of the older ones, the ones that are starting to fall into disrepair, with some empty shops, and other strange ones coming in that celebrate cat tee shirts, or calendars.

I think of early mornings, or just before closing, when everything feels deserted. That sense of being alone, of being left behind, or being lost, permeates the images of the mall at those times, and flows throughout the verses of this song. I am reminded of my early twenties, working at stores in a suburban mall, being there after hours, how bleak and haunting it could feel at times, and how chaotic at others.

Something about this song, too, connects with “Lost Weekend” to me. The “straight outta suburbia” lyric, and the notion of desiring something else. To me, this song has so much going on in it, complexities of emotions, layers of sound and feeling – and this version, it is just so beautiful.