I used to have an older brother.He was real sick a lot and I was never old enough to actually remember him,but my dad sometimes mentions him.Sometimes I think about what my life could have been like,what his life could have been like but I’ll never know the answer.This song just reminds me of him,and what could have been.I was cheated out of a brother,my parents were cheated out of their first son.And Ryan was cheated out of everything. Love You Bro
I'm sorry. I have a similar story, except she was my half-sister from my mom's first marriage and she died long before I was born. It's nice to think maybe Ryan and Lisa are hanging out together somewhere nice.
Pyramid please don’t take this the wrong way as you and your parents weren’t cheated out of losing your brother and their son. You r path makes you who you are and we either embrace it or flee from it. Look it this way, what if wherever we go when we leave here is utopia? We are taught death is this end all and place blame on a creator for taking our loved ones from us when in reality we know nothing of our destiny. I know there is something greater then this planet and believe my soul will never die. Close your eyes and scream as loud as you can in your thoughts. The fact you can hear your voice without speaking speaks volumes. It allows us to comprehend our mind and soul are separate from our bodies, which can never be extinguished. It’s hard to explain what I mean, however, I’m sorry for your loss. I hope you find comfort knowing your brother no longer is sick and feeling pain ....
I too used to have an older brother - misunderstood illness (manic depression) and denial with his suicide. I was 10, he was 21 - we were soulmates, so i thought. I love him
We lost a treasure on the 31st of December, and I played this song with my nephew on the 1st of January and cried like a baby. So surreal that Jeremiah is gone. A giant who kept the rhythm to my life the last twenty years. Rest peacefully Jer. You will live forever through your music.
That's actually my son's birthday so maybe just maybe that can give some sort of condolence I'm sorry my friend..not that there is any sort of correlation but love you person it will all be ok I swear live for that love breathe it and exhale it let it flow through your veins and never give up.
I used to sing this song to my son when he was very ill in the NICU as a baby because it was one I knew all the words to and he seemed to like it. Now I hear it and ugly cry remembering how scary and lonely, but also beautiful that time was. Thank god our story ended better than the one in the video.
I did something very similar. My son was in the NICU for over a year and this song just helped. Though I just saw the music video today so it's really weird that I found comfort in such a dark song
Each time I watch I'm like "ok, i'm getting through it with dry eyes"...then that damn smiley faced pancake shows up!!! Edit: I made this comment 7 years ago when I had a 2 year old boy…he is now 9 and his sister is 6. Crazy how time flies yet the video STILL kills me after all these years.
There's songs that make you happy,songs that make you relaxed,songs that are just to get turnt,chill and have fun. Then there's beautiful songs like this that disarm you and break you. (Both with the lyrics and the music video). I'll forever treasure this song because of that.
well said. lots of their songs hold a painful but important part of me i sometimes need to come back to, so that i can remember all i been thru, and not forget to not go back to....
Chris Buckley I feel you dude. Whenever I start feeling nostalgic for my old life, I throw on some Mouse. Its just the right level of meloncholy, where I can remember the good times I loved and the bad times I left behind.
My little brother committed suicide a few years ago and I find myself coming back to this song and video often (thanks for a better version in 2022). When it happened and I read his note, moments he mentioned washed over me as stuff I barely recalled. it was the line "we treat mishaps like sinking ships" that spoke to me back then. Since that time I realise it was the video that was really speaking to me. It's my brain playing his life over and over again backwards in reverse, trying to discover the moment where I could have had some magical intervention that stopped its tragic conclusion. It never comes and I realise now it never could have, it was beyond my control. Love to anyone else going through the same. You helped them win that battle every single day of their life but one. Well done you.
Thank you. You put into words how I felt/feel about the loss I’ve experienced in life. Keep being kind to yourself and others. You’re doing a great job so far.
12 years of repeated viewings this still kicks me in the chest. I hope it it always does that because I don't want to know what it's like to be dead inside.
i have a 6 y/o son... i can't watch this video without tearing up... and i'm a 33 y/o man. when you have a kid this video is almost unwatchable. love the song though.
Ive always scoffed at these sorts of comments but i feel i need to share. I was listening to this song tonight and my wife and i recently mis carried our first child. Its quite a heavy song already and when i heard this song my mind immediately went to the video. Its a tough thing to lose your child. This song certainly dredges up all those feel-like-shit emotions for sure.
Fieroman121 I watch this video every time Im sad and I think about my son cause he passed away 5 months afterwards. I absolutely love modest mouse and all of their music. This video is heart wrenching but it gives you a huge perception on life and what's worth meaning to you.
I noticed a lot of you thought she ripped out the heart monitor while the boy was still alive, and that she had brought him to the motel to die; as it turns out, if you look at the heart monitor going by in reverse, he has already died. She took him on a seemingly pointless odyssey to "detach" herself from what has happened, thinking if she normalized the situation by getting gas, stopping for pancakes, tucking him into bed...that maybe this NEW reality would cancel out the former one (the one where he is DEAD). This was a very sad, and desperate response to her denial and grief; she is trying to trick herself into believing everything is back to normal. Why didn't she just take her son back home? We don't know the back story, this is where creative license comes in. Maybe he had an ongoing sickness, and the house was full of reminders of his sick days? Maybe she knew the medical staff would see the body having been stolen, and have the police dispatched to her residence; and she knew this was a place she could get away, and be with him "undisturbed" one final time. Once they take his body away, she could not hold him and climb into bed with her baby again. So, there are a LOT of themes and reasons to consider. This might be the saddest (if not, one of) videos I have ever seen. The scene director had quite a vision!
I’m crying my eyes out, I don’t normally cry at videos (like try not to cry videos or just anything in that matter) but this really hit me hard knowing that he was so young and his mother just wanted to spend more time with him while it was his last.
Maybe he was already brain dead & the plan was to take him off life support & she wanted to do it herself & not have the medical staff do it or didn't want him to be on life support brain dead forever but rather end his suffering on her terms, just them alone.
This song reminds of the only "summer love," I've ever had. A British guy,working on a visa at a local hotel. We were instant friends. Hanging out every chance we had before he went back to England. The words "I love you" were tossed around by him and I kind of belived it. One night, we went night hiking and stargazing. We saw the same falling star, which happend to be the first one, I had ever seen. A few nights later, we were listening to this album and this song came up. He sat there quietly, I could tell he was listening to the lyrics. When song ended and he looks at me and said "This song is about us." In a way, it was. In the end, whatever we had fell apart and this song is the only reminder I have of him.
The same couple notes that had been played throughout the song. It amazed me how simple it was. Repetition surely can evoke deep emotion and this song perfectly pull that off.
I got a tattoo of the lyric "Before then we had made a wish, that we would be missed" this is my favorite MM song, its just so emotional and masterfully produced. The baseline is also under appreciated
this song has emotionally impacted me for years. its one of my favorites ever since i was a kid and its the only song that without fail can make me cry. i just started listening to their music again recently when the news of jeremiah's cancer dropped and now he's already gone. RIP jeremiah, i hope you like it your little motel.
So often when people write about sick kids, it’s manipulation. This isn’t that. This is a love story to every parent who has experienced the worst pain imaginable: losing a child. Thank you Modest Mouse, there is no other song like this, no other video. It is perfect. This pain is incomprehensible, and you didn’t shy away from it - you showed the most beautiful part of life, being a parent, and the unimaginable suffering of losing that light. Having a reason to live, understanding love for the first time - and then losing it all too quickly to ever comprehend. Nothing can prepare you for it. This is the best art that there is, art that has genuine empathy and directness to pointless tragedy. I will always be grateful that you made this. Greatest music video, short film, and song. Thank you for reminding me what an honor it is to love, and to have any time with the ones you love - no matter how fleeting. My cousin would be a young woman today. In her seven years, she lived through more than most people ever do, and loved more beautifully than anyone I’ve ever known. Thank you for honouring her, and every other little soldier who could never imagine how many lives they saved and hearts they made in their short time here. This is a masterpiece.
if this was meant as a dig on "recent" modest mouse which by the wording seems true. I would like to inform you this is one of their newest just behind no ones first and you're next. if you were just saying they should make more music than I apologise a fully agree.
I don't think Isaac went about that last album in a very sane way. He chewed his way through producers and was a little too critical because of the amount of time he had to be critical. It is what it is.
For that we would need real heroin to mainstream itself again and be gone with fetonyl....modest mouse were who they were because of their ongoing battle of heroin addiction. To get the pure magic of Modest Mouse one must be broken down, heart, soul, but intellectual. Because that's what they were, and where they came from. ..they managed to perfect such pains from heartfelt experience like no one ever has or will. They can't be recreated, ever. And that realness that they had.....sure as shit can't be faked . .will always be my number 1 band of all time tho...but I admit....that I dream of a comeback album later in life ..but it has to be at the right time.... because every other album has for me ....no other band was ever there for me the way this band was.....to myself I imagined that it would come out for my 40s....and would just be a greatest hits type of jam only songs would be changed and mixed together and changed like they to were looking back at their lives from a midlife chaos type viewpoint.....
Well, I just wanted to watch the music video to this song for the first time, since it just wouldn't leave my head. As a result, the dam burst and I'm in tears for the first time in over a year. Wasn't really expecting that...
I’m balling my eyes out because I had a brother at the age of 5 who died of stage 3 brain cancer and I miss him to this day! I love you Ethan! I hope it’s ok there in heaven 😭
+deathislife Good taste but it's so hard for me to make a top ten for this band. Something new comes on I haven't heard in a while and I freak out like "OOOOHH YEAH THAT ONE WAS THE SHIT"
Universe, bring someone into my life that appreciates this music as much as I do. I would love to connect with others who get it. It gets lonely down here sometimes.
These guys are tapped into something pretty incredible. Looking through the comments on their other videos it is like a big family. Everyone telling their stories of how these songs remind them of powerful life experiences. Music is a very unique and far more powerful form of communication than spoken word alone,
This song really hits home for me , lost my father 01/2021 , just want to say one thing please cherish the time with your love ones , we really never truly get to say what we want until it’s to late .
God. I remember Playing world of warcraft to this song. I'd join these groups of players to fight the enemy side of players, even though we were together we weren't really 'together', and it killed me. My ex got me into the game and we split for reasons I won't tell. I still played the game. I still played it and listened to all the modest mouse songs that were released. It was a sort of therapy. There was this snowy battlefield arena where you had to defend bunkers and I would huddle up in one of the bunkers, play this song, and pretend I was defending the one that got away. ya know? Just to feel like I mattered, I wanted to pretend like I had something to care for and I did. I would train and equip my character to be the best for his level, and he could take on 3 enemies at once. I only did it because one day I'd imagine that she'd log on again and we'd talk things out. God that sounds dumb as fuck, but that's love. right?
This music video is the saddest thing I’ve ever watched. If you’ve ever dealt with having someone close to you dying [also figuratively, i.e. a dying relationship that has no hope of recovery] then this song and music video hits home. Thanks for creating life changing music Isaac.
For all the whooping and hollering and chaos that is this band Modest Mouse, this song is the cement that caused me to love this band. This song is in my top 5 ever. I'm breaking up as I'm posting.
Lol i can just imagine you watching this video on your phone while typing that comment as you slightly tilt your head to her, eyes still focused on your screen "naw, we done, bitch" [types "as im posting"]
The lyrics in this song are beyond incredible. He puts so much meaning in a single line that it is hard to even grasp. He is telling two stories at once, the story of a broken, tragic relationship, and the story of every relationship he sees coming in the future. It is as if the loss of someone he loved opened his eyes to what will happen everytime... Love is, by it’s nature, a tragedy. Because love is never permanent. And yet, despite the fact that we know this, deep down.... It’s what we’re waiting for, aren’t we?
i was about to comment why this song is special to me, but I see so many people already sharing their personal stories and there is honestly nothing that makes mine more valid than anyone else's. it's just crazy the amount of emotions that one band's music can bring out in people. take care remember i love you even if i dont know you i love you truly and wish you the best
This song hits hard. I had a mom with a severe mental illness and seeing the love and care, beyond the limit of our lives makes me feel better in an odd way
Man, this song really helps me cope with losing my brother and dad in the same year 3 months apart. I do still miss them each day but this song really helps with coping. I know how it feels to lose everything n that moments, feeling nothing but loneliness, and emptiness. But I know it gets better each and every day you are alive. I still have the memories of my brother gone too soon and a dad on his last breath.
Ah, Modest Mouse: no matter how, they will always find a way to destroy you. This and the "King Rat" video from the same album. How would you like your destruction today: familial destruction and "senseless denial" (Little Motel) or industrial human slaughter (King Rat)?
The real true gift is to be able to put songs out so beautifully that that have different meaning to each individual and that's their true gift to the world. Thanks Modest Mouse. Beautiful and chilling at the same time.
this song hurts in a way i can't even put in words. 10 years has passed since i first discovered this song and it still makes me wanna cry every single time.
This video gets me every time. Its hard to put into words what it means to love someone so much that when they are gone, your mind won't let your heart accept the fact, because it would be utterly destroyed.
I used to sing this to my daughter, it hit home way too hard. She was disabled, and epileptic, suffering anywhere from 100-500 seizures a day. We knew the grim future fate had wrote for us, but never in a million years, with all the info given, all the preparations would I have been strong enough to give my daughter CPR unsuccessfully. I live with that on my chest every day, along with flashbacks that punch me right in the gut and tear me apart instantly. She passed in 2018, at 6 years old, our world was forever changed. I randomly had this song pop in my head this morning, before work and mistakenly played it. Cherish every moment, every little thing. It will be gone one day, no matter what it is, because really, thats what we're waiting for. =(
I couldn't even begin to pretend to be able to relate to this story, it's incredibly sad, I think a lot of us fans gravitate towards this song when we're having emotional difficulties, so you're not alone in that regard. I know all too well that time does not in fact heal all wounds, sometimes it doesn't even feel like a day has passed, but I hope you're doing alright in life right now. This song will always be here for you to come back to.
Has this piece of cinema won an Oscar yet? Phenomenal film clip that elicits more emotion than I really want to tackle to be honest, but am so glad Modest Mouse let me do so.
My husband watched our son battle a fatal disease for over 2 months and each day we were told would be his last… During this time we so wished for the days when he played, and laughed and cuddled, and to see a shell of his former self was quite disturbing to say the least. I totally get this Mother, taking him to his favorite restaurant, and tucking him into bed… just SOME normalcy in a life that is off its axis because of grief. Loved the song and cry EVERY time I see/hear it!
When my mom passed away in 2008 I first heard this song. Every year on her birthday I come back to revisit some of the music that takes me back to those moments and this one is first on the list. It hurts so much but it's also so soothing to remember and understand and accept what has happened and music like this has existed as a catalyst to remember. From one stranger to another I hope you're okay and I hope you've made peace in whatever ways you can. Be well.
Here's a song to say goodbye, and put your shit together after this one.Though this is more for a lost dead friend. In my case its for a friend who passed away in 2016 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lLLCVb-7oZU.html
As a 35 year old guy that suppresses his emotions and has trouble opening up, I come to this song occasionally and the tears just flow. Thank you Modest Mouse
This song is about how we all desire love, even though we know how much pain is associated with it. The song describes a brutally painful relationship, as it comes to an end. But between all the pain, he says "that's what I'm waiting for." Implying that he just wants that kind of love even though he foresees the pain associated with it. In the last chorus he says it is what we are all waiting for... Which is so true. I don't think I relate to song anymore than this one. And of course, the beautiful symbolism and metaphors make this song just vague enough that it can mean what you want in a way. Anyone in any painful relationship can relate. This song could be about lovers, or about a mother and her son (like the video). Amazing song, heart-crushing song, and always one of my top 10 songs of all time. Hell, I'm gonna hit replay now.
Lyrics I hope that you like it in your little motel And I hope that the suite sleeps and suits you well Well, I can see it as time and a sight through smell, and That's why it's nice to be by yourself 'Cause that's what I'm waiting for That's what I'm waiting for That's what I'm waiting for, aren't I? That's what I'm waiting for That's what I'm waiting for That's what I'm waiting for, darlin' We treat mishaps like sinking ships, and I know that I don't want to be out to drift Well, I can see it in your eyes, like I taste your lips, and They both tell me that we're better than this 'Cause that's what I'm waiting for That's what I'm waiting for That's what I'm waiting for, aren't I? That's what I'm waiting for That's what I'm waiting for That's what I'm waiting for, darlin' We trade tit for tat, like that for this And I don't think that there was an insult that was missed I can see it in your eyes, like I taste your lips, and I'm very sorry 'Cause that's what I'm waiting for That's what I'm waiting for That's what I'm waiting for, aren't I? That's what I'm waiting for That's what I'm waiting for That's what I'm waiting for, darlin' Remainders of a shooting star Landed directly on our broke-down little car Before that we had made a wish That we would be missed If one or the other just did not exist 'Cause that's what we're waiting for That's what we're waiting for That's what we're waiting for, aren't we? That's what we're waiting for That's what we're waiting for That's what we're waiting for, aren't we? That's what we're waiting for That's what we're waiting for That's what we're waiting for, darlin'? That's what we're waiting for That's what we're waiting for That's what we're waiting for, aren't we?"
I've loved this song for years but ngl, after I had my son back in 2020, this video makes me cry every time I see it. Him being in the NICU after he was born was so hard....getting released after my C-section and not being able to being him home with me was nothing short of devastating. It was the middle of COVID, july 2020, and Ronald McDonald house was closed to most people because of it byt luckily, they had a little room they'd let people stay in right by the NICU that opened up 4 days after I was released so I was able to stay there with him but it was still so hard since I was all alone. No one else was allowed in due to covid restrictions. We made it through it together though, him and I. The day I got to bring him home finally was one of the best of my life.
Who made this video?? As a father of a 7 yo this is the most heart wrenching thing I've ever seen. My throat is still hurting from crying. I've heard this song many times but I never listened to it as a final lullaby. Thank you for this piece of horrible and beautiful art.
since i'm still a teenager, i never thought i'd ever "relate" to this song, but one of my family's cats, her name was Tequila, was diagnosed with diabetes recently. she was in a horrible state, drinking probably too much water and was just very low energy in general. my parents decided to put her down yesterday. i know she could've gotten better, since we got the supplies for it from the vet and everything, but it's too late now. and the vets apparently said they didn't know if she'd make it. rest in piece Tequila. you were a great cat.
my friend, someone I once loved as a kid recently died of cancer. We weren't close these past few years as I moved away and we both started our own adult lives but I was certain she was well and one day we'd run into each other again. I became a Modest Mouse fan and discovered she was also a fan and this song came to mind immediately, it is so lovely but shatters my heart and I'm not even listening to it right now. Your wish is coming true, you are so terribly missed.
Genuinely don’t know how people can say We Were Dead was when they stopped trying when songs like this exist. Might be their most emotional song ever and that’s saying something after some songs on M&A and Good News.
Ive listened to so much music over the years, and I have to say this is hands down the saddest song Ive ever heard. The song along with the video just tears my heart in two everytime I hear it but its one of my absolute favorite songs.
I used to giggle at these types of comment but I thought I’d share because why not. I first listened to this song when I was thirteen in middle school, I don’t know how I found it because nobody in middle school or even know really talks about modest mouse. But I remember crying the first time I heard it, I never listened to it since but I remembered the title and band since my memory of listening to the song was so vivid. Now, four years later, I just listened to it for the first time since then and it still makes me bawl (“: This song just brings back all the same emotions from four years ago. One of the most moving songs I ever heard.
i was homeless for i dont care to remember how long (few months at least) and it's been a while since i was in that pit. i wish i had known about this song then because this song brings back the exact sugar coated hopelessness feeling i had back then.
Mother was diagnosed with end stage liver disease. Sadly, things aren't looking up. She's in the depth of the end. This song continues to make me think about her. Though she is here, she is not.. reality is sad. This makes me think of her with every listen. Every lyric becomes more relevant. Her time ending is what I'm waiting for.. that's what we're waiting for aren't we..
all of their songs always ignite something inside me, like an unspoken loneliness and it kind of hurts but they’re one of the few artists that gives out warm hugs with each song. idk ive been a big fan for the past two years and somehow i missed this song and it just feels like this is the right time to have heard it as cheesy as it sounds.
one of my dearest friends, a part of my found family, passed away a week ago unexpectedly. i got the call from his family. nothing feels the same anymore. maybe we'll get lucky and we'll both live again.
Wow 16 years ago. I remember stealing my brothers modest mouse cds and listening to them walking through the woods with a portable cd player w headphones. Time flies
Everytime I watch this video I always seem to cry, just seems soreal because I actually live in Reno Nevada where this video was shot, its truly insane seeing building I've been seeing since I was a child
The moment BoJack said "Sarah Lynn?" and the screen cut to black, this song popped into my mind and I had to come back here. Seeing him meet with her the next episode made me cry.
This album came out when my son was a year and a half. That was 16 years ago. I was a young mom and this song always brings me back to those days growing up together.
