I was knocking on your ears' door but you were always out
Looking towards the future, we were begging for the past
Well, we know we had the good things, but those never seemed to last
Oh please, just last
Everyone's unhappy, everyone's ashamed
Well, we all just got caught looking at somebody else's page
Well, nothing ever went quite exactly as we planned
Our ideas held no water, but we used them like a dam
Oh, and we carried it all so well
As if we got a new position
Oh, and I laugh all the way to hell
Saying, "Yes, this is a fine promotion"
Oh, and I laugh all the way to hell
Of course, everyone goes crazy over such and such and such
We made ourselves a pillar, but we just used it as a crutch
We were certainly uncertain at least, I'm pretty sure I am
Well, we didn't need the water, but we just built that good, goddamn
Oh, and I know this of myself
I assume as much for other people
Oh, and I know this of myself
We've listened more to life's end gong
Than the sound of life's sweet bells
Was it ever worth it, was there all that much to gain?
Well, we knew we missed the boat and we'd already missed the plane
And we didn't read the invite, we just danced at our own wake
All our favorites were playing so we could shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
Tiny curtains open and we heard the tiny clap of little hands
A tiny man would tell a little joke and get a tiny laugh from all the folks
Sitting drifting around in bubbles and thinking it was us that carried them
When we finally got it figured out that we had truly missed the boat
Oh, and we carried it all so well
As if we got a new position
Oh, and we owned all the tools ourselves
Without the skills to make a shelf with
Oh, what useless tools ourselves
Modest Mouse is an American rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, and currently based in Portland, Oregon. The founding members were lead singer/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green and bassist Eric Judy. They achieved critical acclaim for their albums The Lonesome Crowded West (1997) and The Moon & Antarctica (2000) and found mainstream success with the release of Good News for People Who Love Bad News (2004) and its singles "Float On" and "Ocean Breathes Salty".
From their 1996 debut album This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About onwards, the band's lineup mostly centered on Brock and Green, undergoing multiple changes. As of 2023, Brock is the only original member of the band, Green having died in December 2022. Judy performed on every Modest Mouse album until his departure in 2012. Guitarist Johnny Marr (formerly of the Smiths) joined the band in 2006, shortly following percussionist Joe Plummer (formerly of the Black Heart Procession) and multi-instrumentalist Tom Peloso, to work on the album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (2007). Guitarist Jim Fairchild joined the band in 2009. The band's sixth album, Strangers to Ourselves, was released in 2015 and their seventh, The Golden Casket, in 2021.
