“Ocean Breathes Salty” By Modest Mouse Offers Comfort in the Face of Death, Even If Only for Skeptics

Modest Mouse, an indie rock band that hails from the Northeast, built their 30-year career on a unique sound combining philosophical, often melancholy, lyricism with bendy guitar riffs, amazing bass lines, and the sometimes rasping, sometimes yelling, always compelling voice of frontman, Isaac Brock. 

In 2004, the band released “Good News For People Who Love Bad News” (their second one with the major label, Epic Records). This album skyrocketed them to new levels of fame, garnering a wider eye, much critical acclaim, and a Grammy Award. Many of the album’s themes deal chiefly with life, death, and the afterlife. One of the albums three singles, “Ocean Breathes Salty,” provides a fairly energetic dip into those themes, backed by twangy guitar, soaring synth lines, and a good dose of existential skepticism.  

“Your body may be gone I’m gonna carry you in

 In my head, in my heart, in my soul.

And maybe we’ll get lucky and we’ll both live again.

Well, I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. Don’t think so.”

Credit: YouTube.com

Many who have experienced the death of someone they love can relate to that first line expressing the vow to carry them with you. Others still, can relate more to wondering what comes “after,” doubting an afterlife. To many of us, the best answer we have is “I don’t know.” 

“Well that is that and this is this.

Will you tell me what you saw and I’ll tell you what you missed

when the ocean met the sky. 

You missed when time and life shook hands and said goodbye.

When the earth folded in on itself.”

This song, depending on how one interprets its message, can feel both melancholy and yearning while also biting and slightly angry. I like that about this song. It feels authentic to what grief can feel like: sometimes angry, sometimes biting.

Image of Issac Brock, frontman of the band, Modest Mouse
Credit: irishtimes.com

Yet it doesn’t fall into complete despair. We’re urged to forget focusing on the afterlife, for all that we will miss in life. Instead, the message is to live in the present and take the world as it is. In this way, the song laments what has been missed, but offers hope for those left behind.

“The ocean breathes salty, won’t you carry it in?

In your head, in your mouth, in your soul.

And maybe we’ll get lucky and we’ll both grow old.

Well I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. I hope so.”

While this song may not be appropriate to play at just anyone’s memorial (the bitter warning, “You wasted this life, why wouldn’t you waste the afterlife?” may not resonate with some), it is a song that countless people have found solace in, and you may too. Regardless of how you interpret its message, the gorgeous, melancholy sound with twisted pop melodies will pull you into the song completely. 

The video, too, is worth a watch: