"Caring Is Creepy" is the first song on The Shins' debut album, Oh, Inverted World released on June 19, 2001. It is notable because it is the very first song ever heard by them as a signed band on the label Sub-Pop, serving as a first impression to a broader audience of listeners. The song appeared in the 2004 film Garden State, and on the soundtrack to the film, impacting both the film and the band in a large way.

The track is 3:20 in length. It was written by frontman James Mercer. It is characterized by echo-heavy vocals and unclear cryptic lyrics^[1]. It uses several different instruments including electronic ones.

The track was never released as a single by the band so it’s official release date is June 19, 2001, the release of the album as a whole. It was given mixed reviews by music blogs such as Pitchfork^[2] and others of the like.

The track was included on the soundtrack for the 2004 film Garden State along with the another song by The Shins called New Slang. This changed the band because of the way the film intertwined them into the plot, to the point where they were essentially another character. The soundtrack went on to win a Grammy award and helped set a new standard for music scores in indie films^[3].

This song is also featured in the full length ballet "Oh, Inverted World", choreographed by Trey McIntyre and performed by the Smuin Ballet Company of San Francisco. The ballet is a collection of vignette style dances to eight songs from The Shins debut album of the same name. ^[4]

This song has been performed live a total of 15 times. The first live performance was on February 15, 2004 at the Irving Plaza in New York, New York. The most recent performance was on May 21, 2009 at Terminal 5, also in New York, New York.