The band originated in the early 1990s as One Fell Swoop, but changed their name to Dispatch in 1996. Chad Urmston, Braddigan, and Pete (Francis) Heimbold, who were all attending Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont comprised the band's lineup throughout their entire career. Their music has drawn on several influences, such as acoustic folk-rock, reggae, and funk.
Dispatch gained much recognition outside of New England, without any help from a label, and stuck together long enough to release seven albums, three of which were live performances. During concerts, the band had been known to improvise upon their album releases, often resulting in a song ending in twice the length of the original. The group was also fond of switching instruments and vocal duties when playing live.
Upon the announcement of its break-up in 2002, the band scheduled one final concert. The free show was performed at the Hatch Shell in Boston on July 31, 2004. "The Last Dispatch," as it was referred, is said to be the largest concert in independent music history; roughly 110,000 fans from over 20 different countries attended the show. Parts of the performance were released as a CD/DVD two-disc set later that year, entitled All Points Bulletin, along with an earlier show in Somerville, Massachusetts.
All three of the band's members are currently still in the music industry. Urmston is now the frontman of State Radio, while Corrigan (now credited as Braddigan, a nickname by which he was known since his time with Dispatch) and Heimbold (now credited as Pete Francis, his middle name) are succesfully pursuing solo efforts.
After the song Elias, written by Urmston after his experience living and teaching in Zimbabwe, the "Elias Fund" was formed to send children from the ravaged country to college.
Dispatch came out with a movie entitled "Last Dispatch" in July 2005, which documents their final 12 days together as a band and tells the story of how they became "the band that redefined independent music history". The film was released and previewed in Boston. Chad, Brad, and Pete attended the showing and celebrated throughout the weekend with their fans.
On December 22, 2005, Corrigan helped to organize a benefit concert, known as the Relief Project, at Irving Plaza in New York, New York. Along with several other performers, Corrigan invited Heimbold and State Radio to play. The three reunited very briefly, playing the song Here We Go as an encore. Corrigan stated there that he plans further Relief Project concerts featuring all three and perhaps sometime in 2007, a major Dispatch reunion concert.
Entitled "Dispatch: Zimbabwe", Dispatch arranged for one show in Madison Square Garden, with all the money sent towards relief efforts in Zimbabwe. Originally billed as a one show deal on July 14, Dispatch was surprised how quickly this first show sold out and set two more shows for the 13 and 15. After all three shows sold out, Dispatch announced another smaller show on July 11th at Webster Hall in New York, where they made their comeback debut to great success.
Dispatch had a second set of reunion concerts beginning at Red Rocks amphitheater in Denver, Colorado on June 3, 4, and 5th, 2011. These performances launched a reunion tour around the US and the release of their Dispatch EP on May 17th.
In 2017, the band released the song, "Only The Wild Ones" from their album, America, Location 12.
Broken American
Dispatch Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
From the inlands to the shore
From the high planes to the backends
From the mountains to the valley floor
And the streets were not paved with gold
There were men to find a wage
But now we don't know where to go
[Chorus]
And now i got to leave this place, oh, oh
Back to my sweet land, oh oh
Now i've got to leave this place, oh, oh
Back to my sweet land
We speak in broken american
From the inlands to the shore
They tell us how the west was won
And what to fight for
And they said they wouldn't send us far
Yeah that most of us could stay
But we speak in broken american
And we got the news today
[Chorus]
Say bye bye, say bye bye (2x)
[Incomprehensible, possibly nonsense words�what do you all think?]
Say bye bye, say bye bye (6x)
Oh, oh, oh (7x)
The song "Broken American" by Dispatch is a reflection of the state of America and its people. The first verse talks about how despite the diversity of the country, everyone speaks in a broken American, a reflection of the division and lack of unity among the people. The mention of different regions, from inlands to shores, high planes to backends, and mountains to valleys, represents the vastness of the country and the different experiences and struggles of its people.
The next verse talks about how the streets were not paved with gold and how men had to work to find a wage, a reflection of the hardships and struggles that some Americans face. The mention of not knowing where to go to work is a representation of the state of the economy and the lack of job opportunities that some Americans encounter. The chorus talks about the need to leave this place, back to a sweet land, possibly referring to a desire to return to a better version of America, one that is united and prosperous.
The second verse talks about the propaganda and rhetoric that Americans are fed, including the mythology surrounding the west and what to fight for. The mention of broken American is again used to represent a lack of understanding and unity among the people. The last line, "And we got the news today," could refer to a negative event that further perpetuates the division or misunderstanding among Americans.
Line by Line Meaning
We speak in broken American
We talk using an imperfect version of the English language, which is common throughout America.
From the inlands to the shore
Our language is spoken across the whole country, from the interior to the coasts.
From the high planes to the backends
Our language is spoken across all geographic features, from mountains to plains.
From the mountains to the valley floor
Our language is spoken across all elevations, from high peaks to low valleys.
And the streets were not paved with gold
There were no guarantees of prosperity in the places where we lived.
There were men to find a wage
There were always jobs to be done to earn a living.
But now we don't know where to go
We are no longer sure where to find the opportunities we once relied on.
To work the livelong day
We are willing to work hard every day to support ourselves.
And now i got to leave this place, oh, oh
I have to leave my current location.
Back to my sweet land, oh oh
I will return to a place that feels more like home.
They tell us how the west was won
We hear stories of how the American West was conquered by settlers and pioneers.
And what to fight for
We are taught what is worth fighting for when living in America.
And they said they wouldn't send us far
We were promised we would not be sent to far-off places to fight.
Yeah that most of us could stay
We thought we would be allowed to continue our daily lives without being compelled to fight.
And we got the news today
We have just received an update about our situation.
Say bye bye, say bye bye (2x)
We are saying goodbye to someone.
[Incomprehensible, possibly nonsense words�what do you all think?]
This line is unintelligible and difficult to make sense of.
Say bye bye, say bye bye (6x)
We continue to say goodbye to someone.
Oh, oh, oh (7x)
This is an exclamation of emotion without a clear meaning.
Contributed by Brody W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Southpaw-Holmes
Love this tune, can't get enough of it still!
C Smith-Szkirka
One of my favorites! My sons and I tell everyone about you and we even met some neighbors that love you as well!
Cody Quinn
Amazing!
Sammy Alan
this is a such peaceful song