Time again for the song of the week from my iPod. I’m a day late but life has been very hectic.

SublimeModest Mouse is an American indie rock band from Seattle, Washington. The group was formed in 1993 and released their first album in 1996. The original members of the band were Isaac Brock (voals, guitar), Jeremiah Green (drums), and Eric Judy (bass). Since then the group has added Johnny Marr (guitar, formerly of The Smiths) in May 2006, Joe Plummer (drums, formerly of the Black Heart Procession), Tom Peloso (multi-instrumentalist) and most recently, Jim Fairchild (guitars). That’s right, there are now seven members of the group!

The group had achieved alternative music success during the 90′s with their album, The Lonesome Crowded West, considered one of the defining albums of mid-90′s alternative music. But it wasn’t until the release of their double platinum album Good News for People Who Love Bad News in 2004 that the group achieved true commercial success. Their most recent album, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, reached number one on the Billboard charts.

“Dashboard” is the first single from their most recent album and also supplies the catchphrase for my blog. The titles and lyrics from the groups albums and songs are often cleverly ironic and reflect turning bad into not so bad. Mikey’s favorite song, Float On, features the lyric “I backed my car into a cop car the other day. Well he just drove off, sometimes life’s OK.” Dashboard features the same kind of lyrics, “Well, it would’ve been, could’ve been worse than you would ever know”, and “The dashboard melted but we still have the radio.”

Dashboard
Well, it would’ve been, could’ve been worse than you would ever know.
Oh, the dashboard melted, but we still have the radio.

Oh, it should’ve been, could’ve been worse than you would ever know.
Well, you told me about nowhere well it sounds like someplace I’d like to go.

Oh, it could’ve been, should’ve been worse than you would ever know.
Well, the windshield was broken but I love the fresh air you know.
(The dashboard melted but we still have the radio)

Oh, it would’ve been, could’ve been worse than you would ever know, oh!
(The dashboard melted but we still have the radio)
Oh, we talked about nothing which was more than I wanted you to know-oh-oh-oh-oh.
Now here we go!

Oh! It would’ve been, could’ve been worse than it had even gone
Well, the car was on blocks, but I was already where I want.
(It was impossible, we ran it good, we ran it good)

Why should we ever even ever really even get to know?
(It was impossible, we ran it good, we ran it good)
Oh if the world don’t like us it’ll shake us just like we were a co-oh-oh-oh-old.
Now here we go!

Well we scheme and we scheme but we always blow it
We’ve yet to crash, but we still might as well tow it
Standing at a light switch to each east and west horizon,
Every dawn you’re surprising,
and in the evening one’s consoling
Saying “See it wasn’t quite as bad as”
Well, it would’ve been, could’ve been worse than you would ever know.

I was patiently erasing and recording the wrong episodes
After you had proved my point wrong,
It wasn’t like I’d let it go, oh-oh-oh. Oh-oh-oh.
I just wanted to catch the last laugh of this show.

Yeah, it would’ve been, could’ve been worse than you would ever know.
Oh, the dashboard melted, but we still have the radio.
(The dashboard melted, but we ran it good, we ran it good)

Hard-wired to conceive, so much we’d have to stow it
Even needs have needs, tiny giants made of tinier giants.
Don’t wear eyelids so I don’t miss the last laugh of this show.
(The dashboard melted but we still have the radio)

Oh, we could’ve been, should’ve been worse than you would ever know.
(The dashboard melted but we still have the radio)
Well, you told me about nowhere well it sounds like someplace I’d like to go-oh-oh-oh-oh.
Now here we go!

Well we scheme and we scheme but we always blow it
We’ve yet to crash, but we still might as well tow it
Standing at a light switch to each east and west horizon,
Every dawn you’re surprising,
and in the evening one’s consoling
Saying “See it wasn’t quite as bad as”

Oh it would’ve been, could’ve been worse than you would ever know.

Embedding has been disabled so hit this link to see it.

And click here for a video of Isaac Brock interviewing himself in 2004.