We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

"... We were lucky."

We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank is a Concept Album from the American indie rock band Modest Mouse. The album was released in 2007 after a 3-year hiatus after their previous album, Good News For People Who Love Bad News, was released in 2004.

The album contains an over-arching nautical theme. Most notable in the songs "March into the Sea," "Missed the Boat," and "Little Motel."

The album is also notable as the first album where guitarist Johnny Marr (of The Smiths) joined as a member of the band. The band also teamed up with James Mercer of The Shins, who provided backup vocals for several songs, most notable "Missed the Boat."

The tracklist for the album is as follows:

"1. March into the Sea 2. Dashboard 3. Fire It Up 4. Florida 5. Parting of the Sensory 6. Missed the Boat 7. We've Got Everything 8. Fly Trapped in a Jar 9. Education 10. Little Motel 11. Steam Engenius 12. Spitting Venom 13. People as Places as People 14. Invisible"

This Concept Album provides examples of the following:
"We didn't need the water But we still built that good Goddamn!"
 * And I Must Scream: "Steam Engenius"
 * Concept Album.
 * Drone of Dread
 * Epic Rocking: "Spitting Venom" and "Missed the Boat"
 * Four More Measures: "Missed the Boat"
 * Indecipherable Lyrics: A little bit
 * Last-Second Word Swap: Inverted? It's played with a little here by taking an innocent line, and adding to it to make it double as a curse.

"All this dog and pony Still monkeys the whole time! We could not help from flinging shit In our modern suit-and-ties!"
 * Looped Lyrics: "Dashboard"
 * Lyrical Shoehorn
 * Mohs Scale of Rock and Metal Hardness: About a 4 or 5
 * Mondegreen
 * Motor Mouth: Some parts of the album, but most notably in "Steam Engenius"
 * Neoclassical Punk Zydeco Rockabilly
 * Precision F-Strike: From "Education"


 * School Is for Losers: "Education"
 * Subdued Section: "Little Motel" and parts of "Missed the Boat"
 * "March into the Sea" features some very soft-spoken lyrics and quiet instrumentals inbetween the incredibly violent, and loud, sections.
 * Surprisingly Gentle Song: "Little Motel"
 * Word Salad Lyrics