40 Mark Strasse

"40 Mark Strasse" is the nickname for the street where American servicemen at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany can pick up prostitutes. I think that this song tells the story of a local guy who's in love with a girl who feels that all she can do is go to 40 Mark Strasse. Her Mom isn't there for her and her dad's a drunk, and she sees no future in her life. He loves her, and despite everyone telling him to give up on her, he feels the need (for whatever reason) to reach out to her and steer her back in the right direction. He says that she doesn't know what she's getting into, and that she should listen to him so that the American boys don't end up being just another group of people in her life that doesn't appreciate her.

If you want to take it to a deeper level, this song could be talking about American foreign policy and military involvement, and how, in the opinion of the songwriter, it's destroying the lives of people around the world who initially thought that they would be benefiting from it.

“When I was a kid and we were living in Germany, I used to go with my dad when he sang in nightclubs. We couldn’t afford a babysitter every night, so I would go with my parents to the nightclub and stay until two in the morning and fall asleep in a booth. We would drive back to Rammstein Air Force Base, and along that route is this stretch called 40 Mark Strasse, named so by the G.I.s on the base. Because it’s where you can go get a hooker for 40 marks. Which was $20 at the time, in the ‘80s. I mean I had sexual feelings toward girls, but when you’re nine and stuff you don’t. I just knew it was like adult shit that was sketchy. But the girls seemed very young; they looked like high-school-age girls, shivering in bus shelters in short shorts in the cold. The theme in this song is that there’s this young German kid who lives in the apartment building where one of these girls lives and he’s infatuated with her. So off she goes at night, and he doesn’t know what the fuck she’s doing.”

http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2012/03/26/magnet-web-exclusive-the-shins-james-mercer-on-the-new-port-of-morrow/

I just read this interview with James Mercer, he said when he was young he used to cross that street sometimes. He said he was too young to understand what was going on but thought it was interesting to figure out what was behind those artificial faces. This is the interview, it's in Dutch though: http://www.nu.nl/muziek/2771432/the-shins-grijpt-terug-jeugdjaren.html

When you read the history of the street 40 Mark Strasse, the song's meaning becomes obvious. I agree with aerogingh's interpretation explaining how the songwriter feels the need to save the girl in the song. He's ignoring what everyone says about her being trash, and trying to prove to her that someone still cares for her. He's trying to convince her she doesn't have to trow her life away. The song is written about a very sad subject, and although you get the feeling he might be failing to change the girl's mind about her future, it still manages to be very romantic.

I went to see The Shins play live at Terminal 5 in NYC. Before they played "40 mark Strasse", James Mercer explained what the song was about. He said that there was an overpass nicknamed "40 Mark Strasse" between the house he lived in in New Jersey for a while, and the bar/club where his father played music sometimes. He had seen women under the overpass and thought that one of them was beautiful. His mother had explained to him that prostitues hung out around 40 mark strasse, and he imagined a story in which a kid fell in love with one of the prostitutes, and this song is that story.

For some reason, this song reminds me of The Virgin Suicides. I see a boy watching a mysterious girl from afar, but still knowing a lot about her life, knowing her troubles.

She doesn't have a great life, her dad lives at the bar, and she seems to be spiraling downwards ["my mother says your dirty, they're gonna find you dead," "you blow just like a broken kite, you're giving up the fight"]. But he wants her, and he wants her to overcome everything she is facing.

I saw The Shins in concert and James Mercer explained the meaning behind the song. It's about a prostitute during WWII (I think in Poland), and the boy in the song is younger than her and is in love with her. They live in the same town and he watches her. She sleeps with American soldiers, hence, "Are you gonna let these Americans / Put another dent in your life?"

i think it's definitely about prostitutes. "you BLOW like a broken kite", "my mother says you're dirty, they're gonna find you dead", "you play in the streets at night", "i wanted something from you", "your father's second home" (as in sleeping with older men at motels). also 40 marks i believe is german currency? so kinda like $40 street. it's gotta be about hookers.