I think this song is about their drummer Jeremiah (Jeremy) Green. He suffered a nervous breakdown and temporarily quit the band in 2003, just before the sessions for Good News For People Who Love Bad News began (the album to which this song is an outtake from).
"What a shock its Mr. sweet and awful
Don't look so pissed off we all lose the plot occasionally"
In the book, Modest Mouse: A Pretty Good Read by Adam Goldsher, it is revealed that before Jeremiah left the band, he was struggling with bi-polar behavior, usually lashing out at the other band members for no real reason and then hiding in some corner of the studio.
"How consistent
How can someone so consistently mess up as much as
Every instance
How can someone inconsistent mess up so consistently"
-Also possibly about his bi-polar behavior prior to quitting the band. In the book it says that he barely made any effort to play the drums properly for the new song demos, meaning that he lost consistency with drumming abilities. This theory is a little more far fetched, but it seems viable. The "inconsistent" part could be referring to his crazy behavioral patterns at the time.
Judging from the amount of turmoil surrounding Modest Mouse in the 2003-2004 era, it seems like their longtime drummer and (I would imagine) best friend's leaving the band on unfriendly, mentally unstable terms would be good fuel for a wry new song.
I think this song is about their drummer Jeremiah (Jeremy) Green. He suffered a nervous breakdown and temporarily quit the band in 2003, just before the sessions for Good News For People Who Love Bad News began (the album to which this song is an outtake from).
"What a shock its Mr. sweet and awful Don't look so pissed off we all lose the plot occasionally"
"How consistent How can someone so consistently mess up as much as Every instance How can someone inconsistent mess up so consistently"
-Also possibly about his bi-polar behavior prior to quitting the band. In the book it says that he barely made any effort to play the drums properly for the new song demos, meaning that he lost consistency with drumming abilities. This theory is a little more far fetched, but it seems viable. The "inconsistent" part could be referring to his crazy behavioral patterns at the time.
Judging from the amount of turmoil surrounding Modest Mouse in the 2003-2004 era, it seems like their longtime drummer and (I would imagine) best friend's leaving the band on unfriendly, mentally unstable terms would be good fuel for a wry new song.