I know the ask game post was a few days ago but now I have to bounce this question right back to you because I HAVE to know: what are YOUR top 5 The National songs and fave lyrics?
hell yes i was born for this
Carin at the Liquor Store (i was a worm, i was a creature /i get on the ground the second I'd see you / you cannot command your love) AND (it wasn't so bad, I wasn't that sick / got taken by love, I wasn't that quick / a foregone conclusion) i'm probably cheating by picking multiple favorite lines but i don't care, it's a tremendous display of self-restraint not to just post the whole song. NOTHING in this world fills me with quite the same feeling of overwhelming, tender melancholy as "carin at the liquor store" - it is my most listened to national song and my 15th most listened to song overall (from the last like 10 years or whatever) based on last.fm scrobbles. augh.
This is the Last Time (oh, don't tell anyone i'm here / i got tylenol and beer / i was thinking that you'd call / somebody closer to you) again it's a struggle to pick a single line bc this whole song is just perfect to me. all of trouble will find me makes me want to weep like a baby in the best way. this line in particular has this really beautiful specificity that still manages to feel really emotionally relatable
Conversation 16 - (i'm a confident liar / have my head in the oven so you'll know where i'll be / i'll try to be more romantic / i want to believe in everything you believe / i was less than amazing / i do not know what all the troubles are for / fall asleep in your branches / you're the only thing I ever want anymore) YES that's the entire third verse BUT IT'S ALL NECESSARY. much like "i should live in salt" is like extremely versatile for character playlists, there's a specific type of character i really love that i'm always assigning "conversation 16" to. also i just fucking love the instrumentation here - the horns! the keys! and i really love how this song rides on bryan's high hats for the entirety of all the verses and then the chorus just opens up to those fills that feel so expansive. it's so good
Brainy - (you're the tall kingdom I surround / think i better follow you around / you might need me more than you think you will / come home in the car you love, brainy, brainy, brainy) haven't we all been in love with a girl smarter than us? i love how the sprightly drums contrast against the more atmospheric guitar work in this song. it's in that mood they do really well - the sort of aching, yearning vibe that runs through all my favorite national song is SO present here.
honorable mentions:
sea of love (i see you rushing down / tell me how to reach you) - if your first ever truly devastating lesbian breakup happens when you're like 22 and it's with a girl named jo DO NOT LISTEN TO SEA OF LOVE BY THE NATIONAL IT'LL FUCK YOU UP FOR A LONG TIME
mistaken for strangers (you wouldn't want an angel watching over you / surprise, surprise they wouldn't wanna watch) - another 'ooohhhhh this was on repeat through a very bad time for me' song. but fuck if it doesn't go so fucking hard lyrically oh m ygod
lightyears (everyone was lighting up in the shadows alone / you could've been right there next to me, and I'd have never known) what if i laid all the way down huh
anyway
THIS IS SO FUCKING FUNNY, LITERALLY A MESSAGE THAT CAME THROUGH FROM MY BEST FRIEND @holdsteady WHILE I WAS ANSWERING THIS ASK
