Discovering the band Modest Mouse was one of the strangest and most life-altering little experiences I have ever had. I never knew that turning on my Pandora radio one morning in tenth grade would ultimately end up affecting my life as much as it has. Modest Mouse is a band that I believe is immensely underappreciated because even though their music doesn't sound conventionally "good," it is composed in such a unique, stylized way that Isaac Brock's strange, at times, screechy voice only adds to the band's lyrical masterpieces that anyone can tell a lot of meticulous work went into, both musically and lyrically. Every one of their song's lyrics are incredibly deep, and much of the time, fit to give anyone an existential crisis. They've been a band almost 24 years, with over 150 songs and 11 albums and EPs. It's easy to be overwhelmed by their huge discography, so here are 11 Modest Mouse songs whose lyrics are guaranteed to make anyone want to hear more.

1. "Ocean Breathes Salty"

I had to put this one first, considering it was the first Modest Mouse song I've ever heard. It was the song that made me think "Wow, I need to listen to this band more!" The song is about mixed feelings that accompany the death of a loved one, and how much a death can affect a person. The lyrics that really stand out in this one are part of the chorus:

"You missed when time and life shook hands and said goodbye,

when the earth folded in on itself,

and said 'good luck, I hope for your sake, heaven and hell

are really there, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

You wasted life, why wouldn't you waste death?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPhnOKmhbBw

2. "Bukowski"

This song changed my life. The title, "Bukowski," refers to a famous poet, Charles Bukowski, who is known to have been a real jerk during his life, who challenged religious beliefs and didn't treat other people, especially women, right, but he wrote some amazing poetry during his time on earth. This song prompted me to look up his poetry and I fell in love with it. It inspired me to start writing and reading more poetry, and here I am, four years later, a creative writing major with a love of writing and reading poetry. The lyrics that stick out are:

"If God controls the land and disease

and keeps a watchful eye on me,

if he's really so damn mighty,

well, my problem is I can't see.

Well, who would wanna be?

Who would wanna be such a control freak?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr_B2IOUYSw

3. "3rd Planet"

"3rd Planet" is another one of my favorites. Isaac Brock writes a huge number of Modest Mouse's songs about what he thinks of the universe and questioning God and religion. "3rd Planet" is no different. Notable lyrics include:

"The third planet is sure that they're being watched

by an eye in the sky that can't be stopped

and when they get to the promise land,

they're gonna shake the eye's hand."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQpc1uDaI3M

4. "World at Large"

This song is known as "the drifter song." It's a song that makes anyone who listens to it feel a little less alone in the world. This song deals with not being where you want to be in life and how you just keep moving and going from one place to another anyway. Notable lyrics from this song include:

"I know that starting over's not what life's about

but my thoughts were so loud, I couldn't hear my mouth."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppzTFgwZxhc

5. "Perpetual Motion Machine"

This is a Modest Mouse song that doesn't have many lyrics, but a clear message that everyone can relate to. The gist of the song is that everyone wants to have more time in their life and we try harder to get more time as it runs out, which is explained through the simple chorus:

"Everyone wants to be a perpetual motion machine.

We all try harder as the days run out."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctOBuaDnqJI

6. "Night on the Sun"

This song is over nine minutes long, but is one of their best songs, in my opinion. It is a haunting song, dealing with what can be inferred to be drug abuse and dealing with the idea that no one actually matters in the world. A notable lyric from this song is:

"Well, there's one thing to know about this globe,

it's bound and it's willing to explode, and that's alright.

Well, there's one thing to know about this town,

not a person doesn't want me underground, and that's alright.

There's one thing to know about this town,

it's 500 miles underground and that's okay.

There's one thing to know about this earth,

we're put here just to make more dirt, and that's okay."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmzBcu8TWgc

7. "Never-ending Math Equation"

"Never-ending Math Equation" is another one of Modest Mouse's songs that wonders about human existence and how the universe works. The chorus really makes the listener wonder what, if anything, really separates humans from plants, animals, machines, and everything else in the universe. The chorus explains this, saying:

"The universe works on a math equation

that never even ever ends in the end.

Infinity spirals out creation, we're on the tip of its tongue, and it is saying 'well,

we ain't sure where you stand. You ain't machines and you ain't land,

and the plants and the animals, they are land

and the plants and the animals eat each other."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R38Pe-8l9M

8. "Float On"

This is the song that rocketed Modest Mouse to mainstream radio success with its upbeat, catchy tune, telling the world that there is good in every situation and that through everything, good and bad, we just need to float on anyway.

"I backed my car into a cop car the other day.

Well, he just drove off. Sometimes life's okay.

I ran my mouth off a bit too much. Oh, what did I say?

Well, you just laughed it off. It was all okay.

And we'll all float on okay"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTAud5O7Qqk

9. "Lives"

"Lives" is a song that calls people out on never being satisfied with their own lives. It does it in a more concise, blunt way, than many of their other songs, illustrating it in the first verse right away:

"Everyone is afraid of their own lives.

If you could be anything you want, I bet you'd be disappointed; am I right?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tQQ477yPyA

10. "Bankrupt on Selling"

This song is compelling in that it calls people out on being greedy. It goes as far to say that even the angels and Apostles were greedy enough to sell out anyone, even their savior, for materialistic objects.

"All the Apostles--they were sitting in swings

saying "I'd sell off my savior for a set of new rings

and some sandals with the style of straps that cling best to the era."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMKn6XIvM2M

11. Baby Blue Sedan

This is a song that makes any lonely person feel less alone. In it, Isaac Brock talks about how hard it is to just live and be a human being, but that it's just as hard to do that as it is to do anything else. It is more mellow than many other Modest Mouse songs, and states clearly how anyone can be lonely, even when they're around other people.

"It's hard to be a human being

and it's harder as anything else

and I'm lonesome when you're around

and I'm never lonesome when I'm by myself."