Lyrics Missed the Boat - Modest Mouse

Missed the Boat

While we’re on the subject
Could we change the subject now?
I was knocking on your ear’s door
But you were always out
Looking towards the future
We were begging for the past
Well, we knew we had the good things
But those never seemed to last
Oh, please just last
Everyone’s unhappy
Everyone’s ashamed
Well, we all just got caught looking
At somebody else’s page
Well, nothing ever went
Quite exactly as we planned
Our ideas held no water
But we used them like a dam
Oh, and we carried it all so well
As if we got a new position
Oh, and I laugh all the way to Hell
Saying, «Yes, this is a fine promotion»
Oh, and I laugh all the way to Hell
Of course everyone goes crazy
Over such and such and such
We made ourselves a pillar
We just used it as a crutch
We were certainly uncertain
At least, I’m pretty sure I am
Well, we didn’t need the water
But we just built that good-God-dam
Oh, and I know this of myself
I assume as much for other people
Oh, and I know this of myself
We’ve listened more to life’s end-gong than
The sound of life’s sweet bells
Was it ever worth it?
Was there all that much to gain?
Well, we knew we’d missed the boat
And we’d already missed the plane
We didn’t read the invite
We just dance at our own wake
All our favorites were a-playing
So we could shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
Tiny curtain’s open
And we heard the tiny clap of little hands
A tiny man would tell a little joke
And get a tiny laugh from all the folks
Sittin', driftin' around on bubbles, and
Thinkin' it was us that carried them
When we finally got it figured out
That we had truly missed the boat
Oh, and we carried it all so well
As if we got a new position
Oh, and we owned all the tools ourselves
But not the skills to make a shelf with
Oh, what useless tools ourselves