The Cold Part

"'The Cold Part' is the point of origin, the departure from a frigid physical surrounding and the hope for a change from all which fate has dwelt."

From the Modest Mouse website.

If I ever kill myself instead of leaving a suicide note I'll just put this song on repeat on my stereo.

Yeah good idea, then modest mouse will be the target of a mass of litigations and negative media attention for prompting stupid kids to suicide that will probably ruin their popularity and possibly prevent them from releasing new material. At the very least they'll be known as "that suicide band". good fucking idea.

This is an awe-inspiring song. The discordance of the music and the repetitiveness of the lyrics were very evocative of suicide for me. I think that most of the song is pretty obvious, but the "So long to this salt soaked part of the world" quote to me brought forth images of barren wasteland that nothing will live or grow in because of the salt (or bad things) sown into the soil. Then the "I stepped down as president of Antarctica Can't blame me, don't blame me, don’t" line might mean that he wants to relinquish all control of his cold, meaningless life (hence the stepped down as president of antarctica part) and that no one can blame him for his suicide, because if they had been in his position, they would have done the same thing.

I'm probably wrong about this, or reading too far into the lines, but thats just the way I see it....

Also, WarpWhistlee, I dont think that Nate meant it literally when he said that. Even if he did, you probably shouldnt have reacted to it the way you did... it was a bit of an overreaction. But then again, everyone has their own opinion, and I'm not one to judge anyone else's actions, because I'm anything but perfect.

He's done living the life he describes in the song.

I see the cold part of the world as one's depression or whatever ails you, and Isaac is saying "so Long", as in he is going to leave it behind him and move on. Or at least try.

"I stepped down as president of Antarctica Can't blame me, don't blame me, don't" Because Antarctica is the "cold part of the world", being the president of it would mean one is the most depressed or coldest person in the world. Isaac wants to step down, but he feels an obligation to stay in his state of mind, because leaving the cold part might be leaving some people who either cause him pain or he associates with pain. "Can't blame me" He reasons that you can't really blame someone for trying to leave their depression. "Don't blame me" He starts to feel afraid of what he's trying to do. The people he's trying to leave, and the depression he has become so accustomed to. "Don't..." He's genuinely scared at this point.

I sympathize with this song more than anything.

If you have ever read "An Antarctic Mystery" by Jules Verne the lyrics and atmosphere fit absolutely perfectly with the section of the story when they finally escape Antarctica. I would bet that Isaac Brock has read that book.

way back when man lived in ice caves and freezing weather. quite possibly he's talking about evolution and cavemen saying goodbye to the cold and migrating south. most likely not what Isaac meant, but that's what it means to me. That's the great thing about the mouse. how so many of his songs mean different things. kind of like reading a book and having your own vision of what's going on.

or a poem, which is what music is, I like the quote, good song, veryyy sad.

i want this song played at my funeral