"Dashboard" is a song by American

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produ ...

band

Modest Mouse Modest Mouse is an American rock band formed in 1992 in Issaquah, Washington, and currently based in Portland, Oregon. The founding members are lead singer/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. Strongly influence ...

and is the second track on their 2007

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'' We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank''. The song was released as the first single from that album and peaked at number 5 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'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.No byline (December 11, 2007)
"The 100 Best Songs of 2007"
''Rolling Stone''. Retrieved 2007-12-21 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 ''

Planes, Trains and Automobiles ''Planes, Trains and Automobiles'' is a 1987 American comedy film written, produced and directed by John Hughes and starring Steve Martin and John Candy with supporting roles by Laila Robins and Michael McKean. It tells the story of a high-stru ...

'' when Del (

John Candy John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994) was a Canadian actor and comedian known mainly for his work in Hollywood films. Candy rose to fame in the 1970s as a member of the Toronto branch of the Second City and its '' SCTV'' seri ...

) 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 Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English 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 since performed with numerou ...

. The guitarist later recalled to ''

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'' 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. Brock was assigned to Lower Canada in 1802. Despite facing desertions and near-mutinies, he com ...

) 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 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 has no land boundaries. It is distinguished from other parts of the Atlantic Ocean by its charac ...

. 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 hand in the process. The tribal inhabitants capture Brock and tend to his wounds, replacing his 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 Charles Hoy Fort (August 6, 1874 – May 3, 1932) was an American writer and researcher who specialized in anomalous phenomena. The terms "Fortean" and "Forteana" are sometimes used to characterize various such phenomena. Fort's books sold ...

Charts

Release history

References

External links

*
Modest Mouse
at MySpace
Modest Mouse "Dashboard" video premiere
at

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Music: Video Premiere - Modest Mouse
at

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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