"Crack the Shutters" is a song from alternative rock band Snow Patrol's fifth album A Hundred Million Suns. It was released as the follow-up single to "Take Back the City" on different dates in December 2008 depending on the region, and was the second single taken from the album. The lyrics were written by Gary Lightbody and the music was composed by Snow Patrol. The song was described by lyricist Lightbody as the purest love song he'd ever written. The single was received generally positively by music critics, the lyrics and vocals being praised in particular.

The single was quite successful in the charts, charting in the Top 20 in the Netherlands. Though it also entered the Top 30 in Sweden and Germany, it topped the Billboard Triple A chart. "Crack the Shutters" is also the name of a photography exhibition held by Bradley Quinn which primarily featured his photos taken at Snow Patrol concerts.

"This is the purest love song I've ever written. Even more so than "Chasing Cars". It's luxuriating in the beauty and wonder of someone you love with all your heart."

The song came into being when Gary Lightbody was "tinkering" with the piano with some ideas the band had, and played the first bars of the song. The band laid the song in the studio the same day, which came out quite "fully formed". The initial version of the song has the same structure as the version that appears on the album. The lyric 'crack the shutters open wide' was the first that came to Lightbody, who further commented that it's "the most natural song on the album, it's about the most natural thing in the world".

At the time of the release of the album, SP.com posted a section featuring lead singer and lyricist Gary Lightbody discussing the new songs, which was initially a Lightbody interview to RTÉ. About "Crack the Shutters", he said it was the purest love song he'd ever written. The album A Hundred Million Suns is noted for its positive lyrics, as Lightbody was best known before for break-up songs. The song is the one of many positive songs that Lightbody wrote for the album. In an interview with The Sunday Times, he said, "The problem I've always had with writing about love is that you don't really stop and think about it when it's occurring. This time, I made myself think about it — how to fit it into words. The new lyrics took a lot longer than usual, but I'm proud of them." Lightbody credited producer Jacknife Lee with helping him with lyric writing. He praised him further, adding that it was Lee who taught him the importance of the lyrics sounding as good as they're well written.

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