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.
Water Stop
Dispatch Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You stole what was left of the sky,
I remember how you freed your hair,
Hung your head in a forgotten stare
And I thought, and I thought
When will the water stop, will it pour all day?
When will the water stop?
Turning to fall out of our lives,
Spinning pictures: blue screams and red kisses,
You sank into yourself and I got lost somewhere in between
When will the water stop, will it pour all day?
When will the water stop?
I know that you can't say.
She is washed up on his shore,
There's no time to get into his life,
She is washed up on his shore,
There's no time to get into his life.
The lyrics of Dispatch's "Water Stop" are rich with vivid imagery and poetic language that makes them open to interpretation but at the same time offer an invitation to explore the many emotions and ideas that they evoke. The song appears to be a reflection on a relationship that has become stagnant and possibly even destructive. The opening line, "When you dove, drunk with sleep in your eyes," suggests a sense of vacancy or inertia, and the singer is describing their partner as having stolen the sky because they're not fully present in the world. The imagery of the partner freeing their hair and staring off into the distance conveys a sense of detachment and emotional distance.
As the song goes on, the singer describes how they feel lost in their relationship, unable to bridge the divide between them and their partner. The lines "Spinning pictures: blue screams and red kisses" feel particularly jarring juxtaposed against each other, conveying a sense of emotional intensity and confusion. The repeated refrain of "When will the water stop?" echoes this sense of frustration and longing. The water could be interpreted as a symbol of emotions or an overwhelming force that won't relent, and the singer is pleading with their partner to help put an end to it.
The final stanza introduces a new character in the form of "She," who is washed up on "his" shore. This could suggest a sense of powerlessness on her part or that she's somehow at the mercy of the love or life of the person who owns the shore. Either way, the lines "There's no time to get into his life" could be interpreted as reflecting how the dynamics of the relationship have made it impossible for this "She" to truly connect with her lover.
Line by Line Meaning
When you dove, drunk with sleep in your eyes
You were so tired that you dove into a body of water, and that's when everything changed.
You stole what was left of the sky
You caused the last bit of light in the sky to disappear when you jumped in.
I remember how you freed your hair
I noticed how you let down your hair, maybe to feel more free or alive.
Hung your head in a forgotten stare
You seemed lost in thought, staring off into the distance with your head hanging low.
And I thought, and I thought
I started to think about the situation and the impact it had on you.
When will the water stop, will it pour all day?
I wonder when the rain (or possibly tears) will stop falling, or if it will keep going nonstop.
When will the water stop?
I want to know when this difficult time will end.
I know that you can't say.
I understand that you may not be able to answer me, and that's okay.
Turning to fall out of our lives
Things didn't get better, and we started drifting apart.
Spinning pictures: blue screams and red kisses
I can't stop thinking about the chaos and mixed emotions that have come from all of this.
You sank into yourself and I got lost somewhere in between
You withdrew and became distant, and I couldn't find my way back to you.
She is washed up on his shore
A woman is washed up on someone's shore, meaning she is vulnerable or in need of help.
There's no time to get into his life
The person she meets doesn't have the time or capacity to take her in or help her out.
She is washed up on his shore
Again, the woman is in need and potentially dependent on someone else.
There's no time to get into his life.
Once again, the person she meets doesn't have the resources or energy to help her out.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Bradley Joseph Corrigan, Chad Stokes Urmston, Peter Francis Heimbold
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Mark Mckinnon
Favorite song by you guys
Daniel Hart
This is one of the songs that I have always sung to my daughters as babies to help them sleep. Such an underrated song and just a joy to listen to. Love it 👍🏻
Casey O'Mack
Trying this to get my son to sleep! Hoping it works lol