NFL
By Keith Richards
Back in December 2001, an idea was born. Two men, Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie) and Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel) began a musical collaboration. Over the next year, the two sent demos burned to CD-R’s back and forth between Washington and Los Angeles. From that idea, The Postal Service was born. On February 19, 2003, Give Up was released.
Give Up became one of the greatest Indie albums, went platinum, and remains to have one of the largest cult followings in Indie music history. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, The Postal Service will be touring with Death Cab for Cutie. The Postal Service will be performing Give Up in its entirety and Death Cab will be performing Transatlanticism in full, which is also celebrating the 20th anniversary of its release.
So, as the Postal Service celebrates twenty years of Give Up, I look back at the five best songs off the LP. These songs continue to stand the test of time and remain five of my favorite songs ever. Let’s dig in!
5. Recycled Air
I watch the patchwork farms’ slow fade into the ocean’s arms
Calm down, release your cares
The stale taste of recycled air
Ironically, the fifth-best track is the fifth track on the album. Also ironically, Ben and Jimmy describe being in the cabin of an airplane where the air is literally recycled. From the synthesizer and keyboard that begin the song, to the calming guitar solo, Recycled Air is the calmest song on Give Up. Its relaxed lyrics and instrumental personify The Postal Service. Much like the band itself, the song is simple and beautiful.
4. Such Great Heights
Easily the most commercially successful single off Give Up, Such Great Heights might also be the most upbeat one as well. The song describes one’s feelings for what is likely the love of their life. When Jimmy and Ben talk about how they believe the freckles in their eyes are mirror images of their significant others as they kiss, you can feel the feelings they have for this person.
Other lyrics like “And I have to speculate/That God himself did make/Us into corresponding shapes/Like puzzle pieces from the clay” make this song another lyrical masterpiece.
3. Nothing Better
Originally recorded with Jen Wood, Nothing Better is the only track on Give Up with a feature. The only thing better than the smooth sounds that Ben and Jimmy create is the inclusion of a light-hearted, steady female vocal. That would only improve when Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley became the official/unofficial member of The Postal Service. Her voice complements the voice of Ben Gibbard to create harmonic bliss.
2. The District Sleeps Alone Tonight
As the opening track of Give Up, The District Sleep Alone Tonight holds a special meaning 20 years later. Not only did it set the tone for the entire LP, but it sets the tone for the band itself. The Postal Service would go on to release some EPs, covers, and B-sides, but Give Up remains to be its only full-length album, which makes the following lyrics hit home a little harder when you realize that the band would not become a permanent fixture in the studio:
I’ll wear my badge..a vinyl sticker with big block letters adherent to my chest
That tells your new friends I am a visitor here…
I am not permanent
1. Clark Gable
Clark Cable is one of the most famous actors of all time, often referred to as The King of Hollywood. On Give Up, Clark Gable reigns as the ultimate song of an Indie masterpiece. On this track, Jimmy and Ben describe feelings of longing and nostalgia for a love now lost.
Wanting to pretend they are in love again, they recruit that lost love and reenact a simple kiss. A kiss so good that Clark Gable would have admired it. Like many other songs off Give Up, and we’ll leave you with this at Team NBS Media, Clark Gable left us longing for more in the past, and in the present, with lyrics, as follows:
I want so badly to believe that “there is truth, that love is real”
And I want life in every word to the extent that it’s absurd
I know you’re wise beyond your years, but do you ever get the fear
That your perfect verse is just a lie you tell yourself to help you get by?
