Song of the Day 12/3: Ratboys, “The Window”

El Som included a tune from Chicago band Ratboys in his monthly favorite new tunes post back when their fifth studio LP, “The Window,” came out in August. The album, produced by former Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Chris Walla, got good reviews from the music press, and almost all of them cite the soaring but devastating title track.

Singer Julia Steiner, who founded the band with Notre Dame classmate Dave Sagan in 2010, told Stereogum about the song’s origin.

I wrote this song a few days after the death of my grandma in June 2020. She didn’t have COVID, but because of the pandemic my grandpa wasn’t able to visit her in person at the nursing home to say goodbye. He ended up standing outside her room and saying goodbye through an open window. A lot of the lyrics are direct quotes of things he said to her in those final moments.