A Song for the Postal Service, By the Postal Service

Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service dedicated a song to the United States Postal Service.

It came during a two-song performance for Joe Biden’s campaign under the hashtag #TeamJoeSings. Gibbard opened with “Northern Lights” from Death Cab For Cutie’s most recent album Thank You For Today. Then before he played “Such Great Heights” he said, “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 went on to explain, “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.”

Gibbard has had some dealing with the United States Postal Service when he and Jimmy Tamborello released their first single in 2003. The USPS first sent a cease and desist notice to the band for violating their trademark, but then came to an agreement where the duo could use the name in exchange for promoting the postal service. “Such Great Heights” ended up running a USPS ad.