Ben Gibbard Finally Dedicates “Such Great Heights” To The Postal Service

Ben Gibbard Finally Dedicates “Such Great Heights” To The Postal Service

The United States Postal Service has been at the forefront of the political conversation for the last few weeks. And, incidentally, so has the Postal Service, Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello’s enduring indie-pop project, mostly because it’s hard not to make a joke about the duo whenever the postal service comes up. Well, Gibbard has taken advantage of that to draw attention to the very real threat that the USPS faces. During a recent livestream performance, Gibbard performed the Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights” and dedicated it to the USPS.

“I think more than any election in my lifetime, this one is of paramount importance. And one of the many institutions outside of democracy that is very core that is under fire is that of the United States Postal Service,” Gibbard said in the stream. “For those who are not aware, I was in a band called the Postal Service. We put out a record in 2003 and we made this music by sending CDs back and forth to each other … I think in the midst of this global pandemic, nothing is more important than to being able to vote safely and securely and vote by mail has shown to be that over and over and over again.”

Back when the Postal Service were first coming up, the USPS sent a cease and desist notice to the band for violating their trademark. But they came to an agreement where the band were given free license to use the name in exchange for promoting the postal service — “Such Great Heights” was later used in a USPS advertisement. So Gibbard has been a postal service champion for a while now.

For the livestream, Gibbard was back in his home studio where he did all of his livestream performances earlier this year. He also did “Northern Lights” from Death Cab For Cutie’s most recent album Thank You For Today. Watch below — Postal Service talk starts at 3m30s in.

What better way to help the USPS than mailing a new Postal Service album back and forth?

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