"We Will Become Silhouettes" is a single by American indie band the Postal Service, released February 8, 2005, under the

Sub Pop Records Sub is a common abbreviation of words beginning with the prefix "sub-". Sub or SUB may also refer to Places * Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia, IATA code SUB Computing and technology * , an HTML tag for subscript * SUB designate ...

label. The single included a new track "Be Still My Heart" and two remixed tracks by

Matthew Dear Matthew Dear (born April 4, 1979) is an American electronic music producer and DJ. History Texas-born Dear moved to Michigan as a teenager, where he was inspired by the sound of Detroit Techno. Dear met Sam Valenti IV at a party while attendin ...

("We Will Become Silhouettes") and

Styrofoam Styrofoam is a trademarked brand of closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam (XPS), commonly called "Blue Board", manufactured as foam continuous building insulation board used in walls, roofs, and foundations as thermal insulation and water barrie ...

("Nothing Better"). The title track has been used in a Honda Civic commercial. Indie band

The Shins The Shins is an American indie rock band formed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1996. The band is the project of singer-songwriter James Mercer, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The band's cu ...

recorded an acoustic cover of the title track, which was included as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

on The Postal Service's "

Such Great Heights "Such Great Heights" is a song by American indie pop band The Postal Service. It was released as the lead single from their debut studio album, '' Give Up'', on January 21, 2003 through Sub Pop Records. The single includes a previously unreleas ...

". "We Will Become Silhouettes" was the fourth single released by The Postal Service and is the band's most successful, reaching number three on the

Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart was a chart compiled by the American-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan, which began publication in November 1996. It was published every Wednesday and also published on Thursday by ''Jam!''/Canoe. It ...

, number 82 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 92 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The cover artwork was designed by

Kozyndan Kozyndan is the joint pseudonym of Los Angeles-based husband-and-wife illustrator team Kozue and Dan Kitchens, known in particular for their whimsical and occasionally absurd illustrations of modern cityscapes. Education and background The pair me ...

, who have illustrated the previous singles as well.

Music video

The video for this song, directed by

Jared Hess Jared Lawrence Hess (born July 18, 1979) and Jerusha Elizabeth Hess ( Demke; born May 12, 1980) are husband-and-wife American filmmakers best known for their work on '' Napoleon Dynamite'' (2004), '' Nacho Libre'' (2006) and '' Gentlemen Bronc ...

, consists of incongruously lighthearted footage of a family (consisting of band members

Ben Gibbard Benjamin Gibbard (born August 11, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, with whom he has recorded ten studio albums, and as a membe ...

Jimmy Tamborello James Scott "Jimmy" Tamborello, also known by his stage name Dntel , is an American electronic music artist and DJ. Aside from his main solo project, Tamborello is also known as a member of the groups The Postal Service, Headset, and Figurin ...

, frequent collaborator

Jenny Lewis Jennifer Diane Lewis (born January 8, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She was the lead singer, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist for the indie rock band Rilo Kiley. Lewis gained prominence in the 1980s as a child a ...

, and two young children) playing and singing the song, then riding bicycles into the desert and, at the very end, watching the sun set in the distance. Their odd clothing, the worn down houses they pass by, abandoned streets, and the lyrics may suggest the video takes place far in the future, post-nuclear attack.

Track listing

Charts

Covers

The song was covered by Jenny and Tyler in 2013 as a part of their ''For Freedom'' EP.

In popular culture

The song was used in the trailer for the 2009 film ''

Funny People ''Funny People'' is a 2009 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Judd Apatow, co-produced by Apatow Productions and Madison 23 Productions, and starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Leslie Mann with Eric Bana, Jonah Hill and Jas ...

'', and also appeared in the movie '' Love Happens'' the same year. The Shins' cover of the song was featured in the 2011 film ''

The Art of Getting By ''The Art of Getting By'' is a 2011 American romantic comedy-drama film starring Freddie Highmore, Emma Roberts, Michael Angarano, Elizabeth Reaser, Sam Robards, Rita Wilson and Blair Underwood. It is the first feature by writer-director Gavin ...

''.

References

External links

AbsolutePunk ''AbsolutePunk'' was a website, online community, and alternative music news source founded by Jason Tate (the most recent CEO). The website mainly focused on artists who are relatively unknown to mainstream audiences, but it was known to fea ...

(75%
link
*

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

(4.3/10)
link
{{Authority control 2003 songs 2005 singles The Postal Service songs Songs about nuclear war and weapons Sub Pop singles Songs written by Ben Gibbard Songs written by Dntel