Most overrated song goes to I need My Girl!

Hon. mentions are the T. Swift songs.

Next up: heaviest song.

I wrote a little bit about getting older and specifically the impact of their album Alligator on my life. I didn't really know where else to share this but it feels like something I wanted someone else to read. thanks everyone!

I’ve been falling into a very specific kind of sadness for going on 20 years now.  It’s unique.  It’s easy.  It’s the kind that indulges in the continual ebbs and flows of my biggest teenage tantrums, where I can cosplay in the emotional landscape of my youth, but with the kind of adult control that lets you modulate your mood in time to make dinner.  I used to worry that this meant it wasn’t authentic, like I was sad for fun, but I think now it’s more of an evolution, a milestone that meant I could not only indulge my sadness with authenticity, but that I could also find my way back out.

To be sure, I know the other kind of sadness too.  The one that locks you in place, the one that feels bigger than you, the one your doctor medicates, the one you medicate yourself.  It’s the one that never gives up.  But I don’t want to talk about that kind of sadness here.  I want to indulge the one I love.

The National’s music has served as the soundtrack to that sadness since I first discovered them after graduating college in 2007.  I felt alienated from the very notion of being 22, and in The National, I found someone who embodied the kind of privileged hopelessness I felt – a recession that didn’t mean poverty, but corporate anonymity, showered and blue blazered.  It meant endless war, but not for a college man like me.  It was music for someone who hated the very idea of working but would never give up his paycheck.  It was music for someone who could cry over a whiskey but pay for it with their AMEX.  It was music for people who felt they were outside themselves, watching themselves day by day working towards a middle-class ideal that would have sworn they would have rebelled against only a few years before.

Ultimately though, I am grateful for this kind of sadness.  It’s a reminder of my own empathy, that I am capable of unadulterated emotion at an age where life doesn’t offer much room for it.  For sure there are still moments of reflection – on your kids, your career, your house, and the physical changes that remind you that the world doesn’t see you the same way you see yourself.  But sadness is the ocean of my life, and it divides me into great continents of time, experience, and feeling.  My first foray into The National was their 2005 album Alligator.  An album full of a fermented angst left over from my teens but imbibed now like it’s my parents’ best scotch. This album brings me back to that specific time and feeling in my life more so than any other art produced.  It helped me accept that I may always feel this way, but it assured me that at least I wasn’t alone.  

These days when I do come back to Alligator, it must be done with intention.  I recognize an opportunity: a long drive or a solitary walk with the dog, where I know I can devote myself, meditatively, to the act of listening.  Because the listening is a journey to a certain part of me that exists in time, and Alligator is the bridge that I cross to reach the sullen uncertainty of my youth.  I’m thankful I can come and go to this place with ease, that the uncertainties of now don’t color that part of my heart and I can allow time to smooth the rough edges of my sorrow and leave me with the kind of remembered sadness that makes nostalgia such a comfortable place.    

As I reflect on these 20 years since I first hit play on my iPod, I think of what Alligator has given me.  It’s provided me with a profound realization that not only am I not special, but maybe, I never wanted to be.  That school aged dreams of being president, an astronaut, or an athlete get replaced by a desire to just be quiet. The relief you feel when you realize that you’re not at all special is shocking.  That the same person who dreamed in such vivacity can feel so much bliss in the boring milestones you once promised yourself would never define you – a family, a job, a house.  You give yourself to it all because it becomes so indescribably beautiful.  You give up a part of your old self when you find someone whose hand you still want to hold a decade after meeting them.  You give up a part of your old self when you hold your child and know they can’t imagine a safer spot in the entirety of the world than in your arms.  These moments demand payment from who you were, a ransom from who you thought you would be, to pay for who you’ve become.  

Alligator prepared me for this trade off; and the realization that maybe I’ll always feel a bit sad, and maybe I’ll always feel a little sorry for myself, but that, above anything else, is okay – cause baby we’ll be fine, all we got to do is be brave and be kind.

What would you pay for a nice acoustic guitar signed (with certifications) by all band members? Thank you!

I still find it crazy that the boys are a part of the Criterion Collection now. This definitely was not on my 2026 bingo card.

Most underrated song goes to Little Faith! Such a good one.

Hon. mentions: Available, 90-Mile Water Wall, and Baby We’ll Be Fine.

Next up: most overrated song.

Admittedly I’m too down bad for my sad dads but can we please just take a moment to appreciate how ACHINGLY beautiful Matt’s performance of Gospel was at Electric Ballroom? I’ve seen little snippets here and there & it has reduced me to **TEARS**

Oh man! If anyone has the full video, please do share! God I so wish he did a live album for this tour. Something in me is really connecting stronger than ever with all things NTL. Maybe I’m just sad boy maxing? Eh! If the shoe fits, walk in it until your high heels break.

"She finishes off my drink and

Gets out a bottle of Bintang."

I hear it every time. I need others to hear it too. Thank you and sorry.

Embroidery I stitched for the London show last night! Here’s hoping it found its way to the man, the myth, the legend

London gig was fire, thank you all, Matt is the GOAT. thanks the club for opening the door to air us out a bit, otherwise it would’ve been a bit too hot! not thanks to the club for almost burning my eyes out during Ronboy (the legend and the moment) set, what was that light engineering idk

much love!!!

r/arcticmonkeys has been doing this and I think it could be fun for The National.

Most upvoted song in 24 hours (12 PM ET tomorrow) wins the round.

To start: which The National song is their most underrated song?

Hi folks!

A bit ago I asked people about their favourite album opener as far as being a tone-setter goes (or just on quality). I really enjoyed that discussion, and thought I'd flip over to the other end of the album.

What's your favourite final song on an album? Live, EP, full album, whatever it may be! What song ends the album the best, the "credit scroll" of the album, the song that perfectly distills everything and leaves you with a good vibe? I feel like The National are particularly good at crafting closers, so I'd be very curious as to what people thought.

As for me, the answer is quite simply Sleep Well Beast. Although Smoke Detector is my 2nd favourite National song, nothing quite comes close to the feeling you get at the end of the eponymous album and you're welcomed by the most SWB-esque song. It's fitting, really!

What does everyone else think? I imagine Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks will be pretty popular.

Does anyone have a video of Bonnet of Pins from Kilkenny? If you have the second chorus in particular that would be amazing, thanks

The show in Kilkenny last night was genuinely something special and the crowd were great (with the exception of the two women towards the left of the stage who seemed to have spent their presumably hard-earner cash to have an loud expensive chat rather than to watch Matt perform).

Matt's energy was something else - he spent the whole of Bonnet of Pins down in the crowd with us and was clearly having a ball. I have been a fan of the National for over 20 years and this may have actually beaten any of their concerts for me, and that's with the acknowledgement that his solo stuff is not on par with peak National (although for me it beats TFTPOF and I may even prefer Get Sunk to Laugh Track after those performances last night!). Nowhere Special was unreal live and he was clearly having a ball. Just wanted to share because I am so happy this morning after it and those of you heading to London are in for a treat if it's anything I'm like last night!

Unfortunately I can't go tonight and have 2 VIP tickets for sale!

Couple of shots from last night. 🤗

Hi folks - does anyone else have a VIP ticket for tonight? Ive not received any details yet in timing for the sound check. Cheers!

I was just wondering if anyone at Matts show in Kilkenny yesterday has a video of of Terrible Love, specifically the end of the song when he was down by the front row singing the last few "it takes an ocean not to break"? Thanks

saw a tweet ages ago about SWB, had the album cover attached, something like “this fucking album finds you again on a winter night.” can’t find it anywhere. anyone remember it or have it saved? would appreciate a link.

Pulled this out for a Friday evening spin and forgot how great this live album is. It still makes me laugh at the end when they say “so that was Boxer for those of you who don’t already know…” and Matt replies with “it was?!?!”

This was worth standing in line for on RSD a few years back.

The music video for this song finally premiered. Have heard this in a handful of concerts.

Hi all, due to health issues I’ve listed 2 cherry tree presale tickets for Matt’s sold out London show on ticket master if anyone was after some! They’re just at the face value I originally paid for them. Thanks.

What do we all think of the new track? I personally loved it. Not quite the revelation that Bonnet of Pins was but it’s a really solid indie number imo.

This whole time I thought people were just calling it that because they couldn’t understand what Matt was singing at a live concert.

Anyway, it’s out now and sounds great. On first listen I thought it was a tad generic but by the second listen I was nodding along. Backing vocals are great.