Peter Hughes shakes up the formula and sings a verse to remember on “Shelved.”

Track: “Shelved”
Album: Goths (2017)

Peter Hughes wrote and sang the final verse on “Shelved.” It feels so very real, with a character wondering how they get from point A to point Z and making their peace with how they’ll do it. It’s one of the stories that might have been, we’re told, and it’s not necessarily a bad one.

I think “Shelved” is the best song on Goths. The switch in vocals from John Darnielle to Peter Hughes doesn’t necessarily mean the character shifts, but I choose to believe it does. The whole song is about what happens when you can’t hack it anymore, or at least what happens when people who make decisions think you can’t. Do you compromise your integrity to keep getting on stage or do you hang it up? It’s a decision characters make all through songs on Goths, but this is the clearest the choice gets.

Much earlier in his career, John Darnielle wrote a song called “Anti-Music Song” that repeatedly slams real musicians. He said later that it doesn’t represent his actual feelings and that makes it a tough song to defend. I don’t know if “Shelved” is a character talking about Nine Inch Nails or John Darnielle talking about them, but either way this character doesn’t see themselves as that kind of artist. Goths is powerful because it goes beyond the decision to sell out and into what that actually means, but I love “Shelved” for freezing on the point you have to decide if it’s worth it. It’s easy to say that it isn’t, but what would it look like if you actually did it?