Shake Me Down " is the first single and fourth track on Cage the Elephant 's second album '' Thank You , Happy Birthday '' . A music video for the single was released on January 11 , 2011 . Both the song and the video gained much critical acclaim , and earned a nomination for Best Rock Video at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards The song features Cage the Elephant percussionist Jared Champion playing on a set of toy drums . The guitar riff was borrowed from a song that bassist Daniel Tichenor 's father had written and the bass line was inspired by The Shins . The song is Matthew Shultz singing about life 's many depressing aspects in the verses , while the chorus is a short burst of optimism . The song features quiet verses broken by loud drum interludes
2011 MTV Video Music Awards
2011 MTV Video Music Awards
Shake Me Down