For those of us who have ever missed the boat...

there's Modest Mouse.

While we're on the subject,
could we change the subject now?
I was knocking on your ears.
Don't worry, you were always out.
Looking towards the future,
we were begging for the past.
Well, we know we had the good things,
but those never seemed to last.
Oh, please just last.

Everyone's unhappy.
Everyone's ashamed.
Well, we all just got caught looking
at somebody else's page.
Well, nothing ever went
quite exactly as we planned.
Our ideas held no water,
but we used them like a dam.

Oh, and we carried it all so well.
As if we got a new position.
Oh, and I laugh all the way to hell.
Saying, "Yes, this is a fine promotion."
Oh, and I laugh all the way to hell.

Of course everyone goes crazy
over such and such and such.
We made ourselves a pillar,
but we just used it as a crutch.
We were certainly uncertain.
At least I'm pretty sure I am.
Well, we didn't need the water,
but we just built that good goddamn.

Oh, and I know this of myself.
I'd assume as much for other people.
Oh, and I know this of myself.
We've listened more to life's end gong
than the sound of life's sweet bells.

Was it ever worth it?
Was there all that much to gain?
Well, we knew we'd missed the boat
and we'd already missed the plane.
We didn't read the invite.
We just danced at our own wake.
All our favorites were playing
so we could shake, shake, shake, shake, shake.

Tiny curtains opened and we heard the tiny clap of little hands.
A tiny man would tell a little joke and get a tiny laugh from all the folks
sitting, drifting around in bubbles and thinking it was us that carried them,
when we finally got it figured out that we had truly missed the boat.

Oh, and we carried it all so well.
As if we got a new position.
Oh, and we owned all the tools ourselves.
But not the skills to make a shelf with.
Oh, what useless tools ourselves.