"Dashboard" is a song by American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

Modest Mouse Modest Mouse is an American rock music, rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, and currently based in Portland, Oregon. The founding members were lead singer/guitarist Isaac Brock (musician), Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green and ba ...

and is the second track on their 2007

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We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank ''We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank'' is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock band Modest Mouse, released in 2007. It followed their previous studio album, 2004's ''Good News for People Who Love Bad News''. It is the band's on ...

''. The song was released as the first

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from that album and peaked at number 5 on ''

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's''

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chart. It debuted and peaked at #61 in the ''Billboard''

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in early February 2007. In late May 2007, the song was released as a single in the

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with " King Rat" as the

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. This single coincided with the band's UK tour. This song was #87 on ''

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''s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. Members of Modest Mouse's e-mail list were sent a link of the finished track on January 3, 2007 and the song was released to American radio stations on January 16. The lyric, "The dashboard melted but we still have the radio" references ''

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'' when Del (

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) is telling the police officer about the car after it is burned.

Composition

This song was written the first day Modest Mouse began collaborating with

Johnny Marr John Martin Marr (Birth name#Maiden and married names, né Maher; born 31 October 1963) is a musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has sinc ...

. The guitarist later recalled to '' Uncut'' magazine: "On the first night we (Marr and

Isaac Brock Major-General Sir Isaac Brock KB (6 October 1769 – 13 October 1812) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Guernsey. He is best remembered for his victory at the Siege of Detroit and his death at the Battle of Quee ...

) just set up two amps opposite each other and just got louder and louder and improvised. I just started playing 'Dashboard,' which I'd been playing a few weeks before and forgotten about. And he instantly started improvising the lyrics, which knocked me out. To see someone produce those lyrics just off the top of his head is amazing: I've never seen it done in such a way."

Music video

The music video to the song starts with several old sea captains having drinks in a pub, and one of the sea captains telling the others a story about a giant fish. Overhearing the conversation, another captain (played by Brock) sits at the table and begins to tell the story of how he lost his right hand to a giant fish while sailing in the

Sargasso Sea The Sargasso Sea () is a region of the Atlantic Ocean bounded by four currents forming an ocean gyre. Unlike all other regions called seas, it is the only one without land boundaries. It is distinguished from other parts of the Atlantic Oc ...

. The video flashes back to Brock as a young captain, who hooks an enormous fish in the middle of a storm. The fish tugs Brock to a surreal island made of musical and electronic equipment, biting off his right hand in the process. The tribal inhabitants capture Brock and tend to his wounds, replacing his right hand with a microphone. The video then returns to the pub, where Brock finishes his story among jests and jokes of disbelief from his audience. The pub's bartender (

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Wold) angrily approaches the table, verifying Brock's story by pulling up his own pant leg to reveal a guitar's neck. The island and its natives pay homage to and take numerous stylistic cues from similar lost-at-sea stories by science fiction/fantasy author H.P. Lovecraft. The bizarre and cluttered appearance of the island may have been inspired by the science-fiction motif of the Super-Sargasso Sea. The video was directed by Mathew Cullen and Grady Hall of Motion Theory.

Charts

Release history

References

External links

*
Modest Mouse
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Modest Mouse "Dashboard" video premiere
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Music: Video Premiere - Modest Mouse
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dashboard (Song) Modest Mouse songs 2007 singles 2007 songs Epic Records singles Songs written by Johnny Marr Songs written by Isaac Brock (musician) Songs written by Jeremiah Green Songs written by Eric Judy Songs written by Joe Plummer Songs written by Tom Peloso Music videos directed by Mathew Cullen