I get a lot of new music recs by following Scott’s posts (he’s my new music guru), and I’m curious why he switched to Tidal. I’ve already been kicking around the idea of jumping ship to Apple Music, and now I’m curious about Tidal.

Anyone else leave Spotify for either of the other two platforms?

Hi all,

I have a poster for the second of the two Alexandra Palace concerts which I don't have room to put up so it's offered here for £30 plus postage if anyone is interested!

Picture of the poster below. I'm in the UK.

Aaron Dessner is playing with Gracie Abrams.

They did one of her songs, and now are covering Counting Crows' "Long December"

I just got my notification email ☺️

Has the band ever explained or acknowledged this? That lyric/statement is so similar, despite the projects being completely different and separated by several years.

Is there any thematic tie between songs? I don't know. I just randomly noticed this connection lol

Recently, after watching A Complete Unknown, I’ve been on a Dylan spree, which is a joy. I am also a huge fan of The National. Imagine my delight when finding this original take of “Like a Rolling Stone” and noting the chords are where they must have nicked the opening for “Fake Empire” from.

Personally, I LOVE finding stuff like this.

https://youtu.be/HgRdeyWk1tM?si=4UcncQDFCJYmGsr6

Edited to correct potential factual error.

anyone here like the strokes? Just curious . if you do, I'm curious on what's yalls favorite song?

Hi everyone. I'm a bit of a Reddit lurker, taking things in, rather than posting. Have noticed that tattoo ideas in relation to The National are always a good topic of discussion. I got this "Storyboard" done 4 months ago, here in Canberra (Australia). Based on Boxer / Fake Empire, initially similar to an Apartment Story graphic I had seen, adding in another 3 designs I came up with, including good input from the Tattoo Artist as well. Then flew in to Seattle and Vancouver for a couple of gigs on the Zen Diagram tour, complete with sore arm. An Ice Hockey match too which was brilliant, great part of the world 😊

This is obviously my own interpretation but I like to think of these songs as companion pieces when it comes to Matt's relationship with his daughter.

In I'm Afraid of Everyone, you can really feel Matt's anxiety when it comes to his responsibilities as a father. He is scared to do things wrong and looks into desperate methods to deal with this anxiety. An obvious example of this anxiety is in the line

With my kid on my shoulders I try
Not to hurt anybody I like

The fact that he is visualizing his kid on his shoulders makes me think that he feels that if he falls, his kid will fall. Then there is the repeating line

yellow voices swallowing my soul

To me, these 'yellow voices' feel like cries from a kid. Again, this line clearly shows his anxiety.

Then in I'll Still Destroy You, there seems to be some kind of evolution here. He's no longer anxious, he's beyond that, he's in a worse state. He is picking his drugs, choosing how to feel and being very deterministic about who he is and will be, in a very bleak way. He only brings his kid up near the end of the song, but it's one of my favorite National lines of all time.

Put your heels against the wall
I swear you got a little bit taller since I saw you
I'll still destroy you

That last line is so deterministic and dark, he's no longer anxious, he's convinced he'll ruin his kid.

Then there is Grease in Your Hair. I never knew what to make of that song, but I see it as a love letter to his kid in a way.

Grease in your hair
Fingernail polish
Water balloon eyes
Totally honest

This seems like the description of a young child, innocent and curious about the world with her water balloon eyes (I love this wording). But more importantly, in contrast to the other songs, Matt sounds hopeful about it. Excited about the future and no longer scared. This evolution becomes clear in the line

You give me such a future feeling

I see this all as Matt being mesmerized by the way his daughter looks at life. But then the twist happens when he says

and I kept thinking I would catch it

This is Matt realizing that, even though his daughter radiates this joy and hope, he will not catch on to it and inevitably return to his dark state of mind.

But it's interesting to me that he first was anxious about his kid, then straight up cynical, then hopeful for a second, to go back to some sort of disappointment when he realizes that he can share in the joy of his child yet never be cured from his depression.

I'm 100% sure this is not at all what Matt intended when writing those lyrics but I enjoy listening to these songs like that and thought I'd share to hear your thoughts.

I have seen the commercial for this movie and I found it interesting. I evetually got the chance to watch it. While watching, listening to the singing, the lyrics and the tone, I couldn't help but think it is similar to something and I just couldn't pin point it. That's when I searched about it and found out that this amazing, talented band is behind it. Oh man, I felt like it was meant to be for me to see this movie. I have been sick the past four days and right now watching this movie, listening to beautiful music makes me feel better. The National, you guys are a gift to this world.

Thought I'd share my framed poster from the Zen Tour. I included the other VIP memorabilia as well. Really happy how it turned out. Glad I saved one of the drink tokens lol.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/25/120-days-german-man-sets-world-record-for-living-under-water

Feels like I’ve been waiting forever for these to arrive!

https://open.spotify.com/track/6q8cc6Azwfv2d1iHV9Op7y?si=a7ebf16ad6634d44

just came in on my release radar.. i hope they "put on a slow dumb show for me"

Today I was listening to Lean on YouTube, and there was a comment saying it was a complete rip of I Walked by Sufjan Steven. So I checked it out and yeah they are similar. I know that Bryce and Sufjan are close friends so I wouldn't be surprised if one inspired the other. I just thought it was neat.

Coming to this great sub looking for some book reccs. Indie leaning; not decades old. If you connect with Matt’s lyrics, what are you reading? I loved Anyone’s Ghost. Doesn’t have to be a coming of age story, although I am all for them.

Hi everyone! I've been compiling an anti-Trump/anti-fascism/anti-imperialism, etc playlist to get me through the first weeks of the second Trump administration and being a fan of The National of course I've included some of their songs. So far I have:

Fake Empire

Turtleneck

The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness

Not in Kansas

And, National-adjacent: Are These My Jets? by El Vy

What National songs would you add? TIA!

This: I was walking around like I was the one who found dead John Cheever.

I thought it was about Don Cheadle and I was like Don Cheadle ain’t dead so I looked it up.

Anyway love this song 🖤

Seen a few of these referencing other bands, but I felt it applied to the National, so here it is.

I was wearing my favorite shirt, so my second-favorite shirt became my artistic muse. Safe to say, painting isn’t my forte!