Sylvia (An Introduction) is the second song on the New York Hospitals E.P. by Brooklyn band The Antlers in 2008.

This is the first song in which listeners are introduced to the story of Sylvia, which is further developed in Hospice, a concept album released by the band the following year.

This song establishes some of the plotlines of the story. We are told that Sylvia was often ill and hospitalized in her childhood. This is referred to again in songs like “Two”, but we’re given more information, such as the fact that a boy dies and haunts Sylvia in her sleep.

The song is important, however, for two other reasons. The first being the establishment of the relationship between the narrator and Sylvia. The other being the leitmotifs set by the melody, which recur in important songs on Hospice such as “Bear” and “Epilogue”.