Synopsis

In a stylized penguin society, a prehistoric penguin extracts a tooth from a walrus, setting off a story about power, property, and social order. The colony splits into opposing factions: red revolutionaries prepare for conflict while suited penguins pursue comfortable capitalist lives. A homeless penguin begs for help until another offers the valuable walrus tooth. The closing protests reveal the irony beneath both systems: despite their opposing identities, the penguins are demanding essentially the same freedom.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video uses the walrus tooth as a visual symbol of material wealth and the way possessions shape social status.

• Its opposing penguin factions reflect the song's interest in the contrasting assumptions behind communist and capitalist systems. James Mercer later described the song as an attempt to understand why people on opposite sides of that debate believe what they do.

• The playful animated concept was part of a particularly inventive period in The Shins' video history, which also included the origami imagery of "Pink Bullets" and the theatrical historical scenes of "Phantom Limb."

• "So Says I" appears as the third track on the 2003 album "Chutes Too Narrow." The song was also included as a video extra with the 2004 "Fighting in a Sack" single.

• The song later appeared in a live performance by The Shins on the television series "Gilmore Girls," helping extend its profile beyond the band's indie-rock audience.