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.
Even
Dispatch Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The song "Even" by Dispatch is a haunting piece that speaks of the desire to remain hidden from the world, even as it struggles to find you. In it, the singer invites the listener to come to the edge of the room, where they can watch the search from a place of safety. The first verse speaks of an "effigy" that is meant to distract the searchers, while the singer remains hidden. He longs to see the "head man" roll away, implying that he is hiding from an authority figure or someone who has power over him. He repeats the phrase "they'll never ever ever find me" as a mantra, reassurance to himself that he is safe.
The second verse introduces a "dead man" who has told the singer where to hide. He speaks of waiting in a place where everything is "even," which could refer to death or to a place where there is no pain or struggle. The searchers are described as coming up through the ground and betraying the hidden and afraid, while those who are misconstructed remain outside. The hands that hold the singer's face are trying to keep him warm, but he insists that they will never find him.
The chorus repeats the idea that the searchers will never find the singer and that he will never give them part of himself. He will save his right "so hard to the ground" until he and the listener lay themselves down.
Overall, the song seems to be about the desire to find peace and safety by hiding from the world, even as it continues to search for you. It speaks to the fear of being discovered, and the need to protect oneself.
Line by Line Meaning
Come now to the edge of the room
Let's move to the edge of the room where we can see everything going on.
Soon they'll come in and come up here
People will soon come into the room and come up to where we are.
Let them find an effigy
Let them focus on this fake representation of us instead of finding us.
You can see them all crowdin' around but they'll never find me
Even though people are looking for us, they will never be able to find us.
Head man I live to see you roll away
I can't wait for the leader to leave or fail.
They'll never ever ever find me
I'm confident that I won't be found.
Head man, walkig, right infront of me
The leader is walking right in front of me.
Don't you, look in, I'm not here you see
I'm hiding in plain sight; pretend you don't see me.
Dead man told me wher I am to hide
Someone who is no longer alive gave me a tip on where to hide.
Said he's waitin' there, where it's all even...
The person who gave me the tip on where to hide is waiting in a place where everything is balanced.
You can feel them coming up through your heels
You can sense danger approaching from the ground up.
The hidden afraid are never betrayed outside misconstructed
Those who are hiding in fear will never be betrayed by those who don't understand their situation.
The search continues by the already gound and taken away
The search for us continues by those who have already lost something or have been taken away.
Oh and in a different place the hands that hold your face are only trying only tryin' to keep you warm
In another place, someone who cares about you is only trying to comfort you.
They'll never ever ever find me
I can't be found no matter how hard they look.
Headman, walking, right in front of me
The leader is still walking right in front of me.
Don't you, look in, I'm not here you see
I'm still hiding in plain sight.
Deadman told me where I am to hide
I'm still relying on the tip from the person who is no longer alive.
Said he's waitin' there, where it's all walk on
The tip was to hide in a place where everything is moving forward.
Will we, walk on even... with our heads to the wall
Will we continue walking forward even if it seems impossible?
Let them find that they'll never find us all
Let them find the fake representation of us, but they will never find all of us.
Hey I wanted a life less hidden
I wanted to live a life where I didn't have to hide.
They wanted a life but I'll never give them part of me...
Those who are searching for us want a part of us, but I will never give it to them.
Part of me... I will save my right so hard to the ground
I will hold onto my rights and fight to keep them.
Til we lay ourselves down til we lay down
We'll keep fighting until we can't fight anymore and are forced to give up.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Bradley Joseph Corrigan, Chad Stokes Urmston, Peter Francis Heimbold
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@billiape6536
Jam
@KosherPorky
Bam!