On Wednesday night Ben Gibbard performed two songs for the DNC as part of a new series called #TeamJoeSings. Gibbard played two songs on the night, "Northern Lights" from Death Cab For Cutie’s most recent album Thank You For Today and The Postal Service's 2003 hit "Such Great Heights."
The timely nature of playing Postal Service material wasn't lost on Gibbard who took the opportunity to praise the USPS amid a series of attacks on the service from Donald Trump and his re-election campaign.
“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 before playing the song. “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.”
As Stereogum points out, the USPS actually sent a cease and desist notice to The Postal Service when they first started releasing music. However, the two sides eventually came to an agreement whereby the musicians could use the name in exchange for “Such Great Heights” appearing in a USPS advertisement.
In related news, Billie Eilish performed at the Democratic National Convention last night and shared a voting registration PSA.
