Lost song of the day

- Modest Mouse -- "Missed the Boat" off We Were Dead Before the Boat Even Sank

Like most people, I first heard of Modest Mouse when "Float On" came out in 2004, which was the same year I found out I knew nothing about music.  I was proud of my music tastes, and still am, despite how much I love the song "I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack.

I liked "Float On" and listened the other albums that they had put out, none of which I liked.  I tried again a few years ago and could only find one track ("Bukowski") that I enjoyed.  The actual music was my problem; I enjoyed the lyrics and Isaac Brock's strange voice, particularly his energy, but as always is my problem with bands that I'm not in love with, I didn't have a whole lot of patience.

I heard "Missed the Boat" on a car radio last week, and the friends I was with didn't know it.  I wrote the lyric "We already missed the plane" on my hand and looked it up as soon as I got to a computer.  I downloaded it when I got home and we've been happily married ever since.

The lyrics are great, if not melancholy.  Brock's energy is also good, especially in the middle verse with a declaration of "Goddamn" that I enjoy every time I hear the song.  James Mercer from the Shins does backup vocals during the progressively changing chorus, and really makes the song.