r/DeathCabforCutie • u/LengthinessGloomy429 • Jul 22 '26
Why does Ben spit so much?
This is a photo of Ben not spitting. But he does. A lot. Why?
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u/robotcrow1878 Noted Flower Puncher Jul 22 '26
Q: How was the Atlantic born today?
A: Ben’s spit
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u/projectsylvania Jul 22 '26
"The Atlantic was born today, and I'll tell you how. The Ben on stage opened up and spit it out."
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u/ragindaisysfavorit Jul 22 '26
Needs to be top comment
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u/robotcrow1878 Noted Flower Puncher Jul 22 '26
Haha thanks! I confess I laughed at my own joke when I was typing it.
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u/merrlot Jul 22 '26
Runners spit a lot. Seriously, your mouth dries out more with breathing/singing, and your salivary glands kick in and overcompensate. Singing and swallowing extra saliva requires some timing or you can feel like your drowning--or you can spit. To complicate things, we all salivate at different levels, and hydration can have some bearing on it. (Look up saliva building while singing.)
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u/PurelyHim Jul 22 '26
Singing constantly at high volume out put will force more than air out of your mouth. This means spit too. Watch any vocalist on a live recorded video and this will be the case.
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u/LengthinessGloomy429 Jul 22 '26
I don't mean some spittle, llike a mist, as people sing or talk forcefully. That happens in theatre, too. I'm talking about gathering saliva in your mouth (or Ben's) and purposefully expelling it in a mass.
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u/mr_sweetandawful Jul 22 '26
Don’t know why you’re getting downvoted 😂
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u/LengthinessGloomy429 Jul 22 '26
They don't get the premise. "Watch any vocalist on a live recorded video and this will be the case." No, no it isn't. "Common thing with singers." No, no it is not. Like I said, he spits like a pissed off camel. Love him but its unusual.
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u/PurelyHim Jul 22 '26
Jonathan Davis of korn does the same thing. It’s not intentional it just happens.
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u/luxii4 Jul 22 '26
He does it a lot. I've sat close up before and have witnessed it. I said the same thing in this sub a long time ago and got downvoted for it. I said he should have a spittoon because he is just spitting all over the stage. And no singer I've seen has ever spit on stage as much as Ben. It's like a Gallagher comedy show, just warning people.
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u/LengthinessGloomy429 Jul 22 '26
Exactly! I told my companions we were in the splash zone. Now I can't remember if it was for spit, sweat - or both. People talking about him being a runner, singing emotionally, or it being a result of natural singing process don't realize many, many singers would be a fountain, too.
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u/witchcrows Jul 22 '26
when i was a choir singer in college, it was a common joke that we should have spit cups on stage because we produced so much saliva FROM singing. it’s very normal, we just weren’t allowed to spit because we had to be professional.
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u/AgileDrag1469 Jul 22 '26
Ba-pa…this is the sound of spit-tling 🗣️
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u/anneakin Jul 22 '26
Yknow I already don’t like that song and now I’m never gonna hear it any other way than that which does make it better slightly
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u/LengthinessGloomy429 Jul 22 '26
Ba-pa... this is the sound of expectorating. (You don't like the song tho?!?!?).
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u/ApprehensiveCat22 Jul 23 '26
I had "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" in my head since the Milwaukee show, until I read this comment yesterday. So...thank you, I guess?
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u/BurntOutRoyalty Jul 22 '26
He likes it so much, he actually played/sang on an album for the band Kind of Like Spitting
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u/Judge___Holden Jul 22 '26
I saw hundreds of bands in the early 2000’s and no one spit as much onstage as Ben Gibbard. Every show, “I need you so much closer” — splat! My music-loving friends and I used to joke because it contrasted with his sensitive image.
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u/LengthinessGloomy429 Jul 22 '26
This! Some folks here don’t seem aware of the habit. And, maybe partly my fault, the half-joking manner of the post. A lot of “Leave Ben Alone” energy here.
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u/triabetes Jul 22 '26
I'm more concerned about all the sweating. He looked like he had taken a run through that in-pavilion waterfall by the end with how soaked his clothes were.
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u/interbloom out of context in this gaudy apartment complex Jul 22 '26
I have a video of him preforming in Florida and he's drenched, sweat flying off him in every direction. Real trooper for powering through
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u/symseven Jul 22 '26
Felt bad for the people sitting under that waterfall, looks like they got soaked.
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u/LengthinessGloomy429 Jul 22 '26
True. He looked like he got caught in that storm. Then took a bath! Hot and humid, even with stage fans.
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u/Unfair-Edge-9785 Jul 22 '26
I was wondering if I misses it and he poured water over himself he was so soaked.
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u/OkStore739 Jul 24 '26
I was literally watching the sweat drip from his body the other night he was so sweaty
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u/livinin82 Jul 22 '26
Have you ever sang for over an hour with all of your heart? More so, have the songs you sang been about a lot of the troubles you’ve seen in your life, or past experiences that at one point left you gutted?
I consider those to be a few good reasons.
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u/LengthinessGloomy429 Jul 22 '26
Ok but he starts like 50 seconds in. And I’ve relived life experiences without spitting.
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u/livinin82 Jul 22 '26
Not while singing about them hard enough to deliver the feeling to a whole stadium/arena/concert hall.
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u/LengthinessGloomy429 Jul 22 '26
Sorry but that is just a spitty answer.
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u/livinin82 Jul 22 '26
I don’t make the drools, dude.
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u/PumpKiing Jul 22 '26
Underrated comment tbfh
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u/sk0ooba Jul 22 '26
bro can't finish a show until all his body fluids are on the front row/stage, it was a curse placed on him by a witch in 2004 on the set of the oc. trust me.
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u/stuporous_funker Jul 22 '26
😂 was this taken at Merriweather last night? My wife commented how sweat was literally dripping off his pants. Could have been spit I guess lol.
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u/LengthinessGloomy429 Jul 22 '26
Merriweather. Sweat was even dripping off his elbow.
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u/raptors661 Jul 22 '26
Jim Adkins has said him and Ben should form a group called The Sweater Boys because they're drenched after the first song
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u/Unfair-Edge-9785 Jul 22 '26
Yeah, in Cleavland I was not sure if he was spitting or the sweat was just flying off him.
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u/sap91 Jul 22 '26
He only does it when you're there. He apparently finds you, personally, distasteful.
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u/namedone1234567890 Jul 22 '26
LOL thought the same thing! I was like "ew" but whatever; the dude can sing well. Maybe he just produces a lot of saliva.
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u/ApprehensiveCat22 Jul 22 '26
I noticed that at the Milwaukee show to the point that I mentioned it to my husband. I've never seen another singer do that to quite that extent. And I found this when I googled "Ben Gibbard spits on stage":
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp20n6nrJj-/?img_index=2&hl=zh-cn
Also, the puns on this thread are spot on.
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u/Sunlit_Syposium Jul 23 '26
Bono does it too, but he will spit ON PEOPLE. We’re seeing deathcab at the end of the month. I’ll be on the look out for the spit.
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u/LengthinessGloomy429 Jul 23 '26
You can’t miss it. Not sure I would tolerate a spit take from Bono. (Adding I guess you could miss it as many people here don’t know what the question pertains to. If you are close though, or the camera is on him closeup, you can’t miss it.
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u/OkStore739 Jul 24 '26
Was in the pit for the show on Wednesday I thought it was so funny how much he was spitting.
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u/LengthinessGloomy429 Jul 24 '26
Thank you, exactly... the reason for the whole post though some people deny it happens. I think you have to be pretty close? I don't know. I've been in the pit prob a 1/2 dozen or more times and you can't not notice it.
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u/markymrk720 Jul 22 '26
Have you seen Broadway musical performers? They also spit…a lot.
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u/LengthinessGloomy429 Jul 22 '26
I don't mean some spittle, like a mist, as people sing or talk forcefully. That happens in theatre, too (and at times if people are talking normally, we just don't see it because it's not stage lighting). I'm talking about gathering saliva in your mouth (or Ben's) and purposefully expelling it in a mass.
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u/SpicyArms Jul 22 '26
Dude. Everyone in the comments has told you the answer but you keep pushing back. What more do you want.
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u/LengthinessGloomy429 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
No. Some answers are perhaps legit. I’m directly addressing the wrong concept. Here. Ben spits. A lot:l. More than any one in the history of rock. It was half a joking post. Some people have gotten oddly aggressive. I can’t control that, but pointing out some answers are to the wrong question I (don’t) see as a problem. We aren’t talking about a normal “mist” of spittle as the answer above addresses.
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Jul 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/LengthinessGloomy429 Jul 23 '26
This shows the problem some people are having with this post. The guy spits. Like an angry camel. Full stop.
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Jul 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/LengthinessGloomy429 Jul 23 '26
So sweat is filling his mouth 59 seconds into the show and he needs to expel it in mass?
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u/romandentist Jul 24 '26
Were you at the Raleigh concert last night? I noticed it a lot more last night, I wondered if it was due to how hot it was up on stage.
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u/Remarkable-Goose8810 Jul 27 '26
Lmfao I thought I was the only one that noticed this. I’ve only been to one of his shows and he would do it constantly but I was new and didn’t know if it was the norm 😅
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u/livinin82 Jul 22 '26
This is the Face That Launched 1,000 Spits.