The National - Terrible Love

Matt Berninger - This is called “Terrible Love.” It is a good thing. Terrible love is a positive.

Aaron Dessner - He’s trying to prove to you he’s not depressed. Terrible love is good.

Matt Berninger - It’s the only kind of love.

Well... he is not wrong. At least I am in no position to argue.

This dialogue is all met with laughter from both the crowd and the band, which lets us know that “Terrible Love” at least the concept is probably not a positive, however there is a entire field of creative art that focuses on twisting dark things into positive things, and the joyful way The National and their fans alike can jest about a song as theatrically as depressing as “Terrible Love” is in of itself an example of this. The National, including lead singer Matt Berninger, is happy to perform a song about dire bitter heartbreak, and the crowd is uplifted rather than being saddened. It is a beautiful phenomenon watching such a successful expression in action. So is “Terrible Love” a good thing? The song is absolutely, but what about the idea?

Yeah, not so much.

Matt and Aaron share the above quoted exchange at the beginning of this video that is an alternate version of “Terrible Love” in case you want to hear/see it yourself:

"Terrible Love" Live:

I have heard a very similar, or perhaps completely identical, exchange between Matt and Aaron in another live performance video where The National performed “Sorrow” another song that is completely overwhelming in how depressing it is. Also both tracks are from the 2010 album “High Violet” which is an album I keep returning too and enjoying more and more every time I listen to it.

For whatever reasons, there are probably several, I have been very addicted to the song “Terrible Love” as of late. It is not like this is a new song to me; I have heard it several times while visiting and revisiting “High Violet,” but something has clicked recently. Very much like the song “Sorrow” did a few years ago, which I totally love because it perfectly clicks with more or less my experiences with, well, sorrow, “Terrible Love” is clicking with me perhaps because I am getting burned out with all the terrible love I keep getting exposed to, and not just mine, it is exhausting watching my friends get beat up by terrible love too.

The good old Sorrow review: http://colinkellymusicinreview.blogspot.in/2012/06/game-of-thrones-season-2-episode-9.html

Perhaps my interest in “Terrible Love” has been re-peeked because I have been listening a little closer to the lyrics than ever before. Evidently I have been singing alone to “Terrible Love” for a few years now getting multiple lines wrong.

For example, what I thought the chorus was:

“It's a terrible love,
That’s walking beside me.
It's a terrible love that I'm walking with.”

But in reality it turns out to be:

“It's a terrible love,
That I'm walking with spiders.
It's a terrible love that I'm walking with.”

Spiders huh? I would not have, and did not, guess that. My version was a little more direct to the idea of spending time with someone who is representative of “terrible love” while the real version is presumably a lot more symbolic. Why spiders? I have not figured that out yet. Regardless this seems to be the line artistic people have taken to the most, as evident by the amount or artwork one can find focusing on this line.

By Sean Kelly

By Todd Slater

By Oora

Also I could have sworn that Matt was singing “shivered bones” instead of “ship of hopes” and later “ship of woes.” Now in this example of me getting the lyrics wrong, I might be the one being more symbolic, because it is not even exactly clear to me what “shivered bones” means. In my mind’s imagination it was symbolic to the idea of having a terrible chill overcome your body down to the bones. I think I made up a pretty good line. Maybe I should write my own song, no wait... I have no musical talent; you got me corned again world.

It really is the second verse that has arrested my attention as of late more than anything:

“But I won't follow you,
Into the rabbit hole.
I said I would,
But then I saw,
The ship of woes.
They didn't want me to.”

There is a clear conflict of emotion in these lines. I wanted to, but you did not want me to. I wanted to but then I saw the sadness awaiting me. The experience is being unwanted while also seeing the raw deal that is the relationship in question. The terrible love ends up being a combination of rejection as while as escape.

Correctly hearing for the first time the lines “ship of hopes” and “ship of woes” does help support the most repeated line in the song “it takes an ocean not to break.” I can now see an aquatic theme in “Terrible Love” though I am at a loss as to what that exactly means. I really like the line “it takes an ocean not to break” even though when I pause to dissect the line it never fits quite as well as I would like. It takes an ocean’s worth of strength to stay strong while keeping terrible love as company? That works, but I am not sure that is the exact intended meaning. Also none of this explains the “spiders” reference.

This is the charm of cryptic lyrics. The general message of “Terrible Love” is fairly obvious, that restrained, non-mutual, or destructive relationships are horribly painful and sad; obviously. But the symbolism lets our imagination run wild and there is a million and one possible subtle variant ways of approaching the song, I myself could not help but project my own “terrible love(s)” onto the song’s lyrics, how could I not, when I do so the song seems to perfectly describe them, and I imagine the same is true for everyone else.

Until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.

- King of Braves

The National - The Rains of Castamere

And who are you, the proud lord said,

That I must bow so low?

Only a cat of a different coat,

That’s all the truth I know.

In a coat of gold or a coat of red,

A lion still has claws,

And mine are long and sharp, my lord,

As long and sharp as yours.

And so he spoke, and so he spoke,

That lord of Castamere,

But now the rains weep o’er his hall,

With no one there to hear.

Yes now the rains weep o’er his hall,

And not a soul to hear.

And so he spoke, and so he spoke,

That lord of Castamere,

But now the rains weep o’er his hall,

With no one there to hear.

Yes now the rains weep o’er his hall,

And not a soul to hear.

The National - Sorrow

“A Game of Thrones” Season 2 - Episode 9 – Blackwater, ended with a nice rendition of “The Rains of Castamere.” “The Rains of Castamere,” is one of many poems contained within the book series “A Song of Ice and Fire,” written by genius George R.R. Martin, also it is just about the only poem I bothered to pay much attention too whilst reading the series. I could on and on about “A Game of Thrones,” (Go Stannis!) but that’s not what this is about, this is about the band that performed “The Rains of Castamere,” for the television series.

I knew the voice was familiar when I heard it the first time and I probably should have put my finger on it right away, but I was so caught up with “A Game of Thrones,” the series and the characters I was not thinking about it. The voice was Matt Berninger, and the band is The National. That National has been around since 1999 but I only recently discovered them. I like The National, but I like them a little more now after hearing them perform one of George R.R. Martin’s poems/songs, which is a totally awesome thing to do.

This is not the first time I have stumbled into a song by The National in the media of film. I stumbled upon The National whilst watching the first true mixed martial arts movie “Warrior.” Joel Edgerton plays a Rich Franklin caricature (teacher/fighter) and Tom Hardy plays his brother, a Brain Stann caricature (U.S. mariner/fighter). They participate in a tournament featuring real life mixed martial artist like Nate Marquardt and Anthony Johnson, also professional wrestler Kurt Angle plays a Fedor Emelianenko caricature. If you knew all the names I just mentioned you get a hundred cool points. Anyway “Warrior” is an okay movie, at the end when the brothers must fight each other and the dramatic end to the fight approaches the soulful The National song “About Today,” plays. It is probably the best moment in the movie.

However as charming as The National has been with songs like “The Rains of Castamere,” and “About Today,” there is a third song I would prefer to divert your attention too, “Sorrow.”

The National are a very melancholy band... oh god I finally used that word in a review, “melancholy,” which of course is just a fancy way of saying “sad.” The National are a very “sad” band, so a song title like “Sorrow” fits them like a glove. I watched a live performance of theirs on youtube.com where lead singer Matt Berninger felt the need to explain to the crowd that he was not, in fact, a manic depressant. However after some good natured teasing from his fellow band mates Berninger settled for admitting he was a slight manic depressant.

I have heard other critics compare The National to bands like Leonard Cohen and Joy Davison. I think every music critic likes to compare every band to Joy Division. Joy Division wrote some morbidly sad songs, and Leonard Cohen had an unearthly talent for summing up painful emotions in short sentences, and I must concur that general feelings of tolerating unhappiness is present in all three examples but as far as sound is concerned I would dare say The National have more in common with their indie British counterpart Editors.

If you remember all the way back to April you will recall me reviewing Editors and having some very nice things to say about them. The National has a few things in common with Editors, both are high quality Indie rock bands, both have solid acoustic melodies, and both have strong front men with manly voices. Matt Berninger does not quiet have the deep pitch of Editors Tom Smith, but he does sing like a man, proper and strong, admittedly this may be an intangible compliment. Despite the absolutely desperate things he sings, Berninger never really sounds weak; there is always a cold complacency in this tone. I believe this strong accepting voice of depressing truth is no better felt than in “Sorrow.” Perhaps saying The National is like Editors is an unfair statement, The National formed three years prior to Editors.

I really like the lyrics so here they are;

"Sorrow found me when I was young,
Sorrow waited, sorrow won.
Sorrow that put me on the pills,
It's in my honey, it's in my milk.
Don't leave my hyper heart alone,
On the water,
Cover me in rag and bones, sympathy.
Cause I don't wanna get over you.
I don't wanna get over you.

Sorrows my body on the waves,
Sorrows a girl inside my cave,
I live in a city sorrow built.
It's in my honey, it's in my milk.
Dont leave my hyper heart alone,
On the water,
Cover me in rag and bones, sympathy.
Cause I don't wanna get over you.
I don't wanna get over you.

dont leave my hyper heart alone,
On the water,
Cover me in rag and bones, sympathy.

Cause I don't wanna get over you.

I don't wanna get over you."

Those are sad lyrics. I especially like the lines “It’s in my honey, it’s in my milk,” that strikes up some very haggard visuals. Sorrow takes away the joy from everything, even nourishment, even flavor. Perhaps even better than that is the simple but effective line of “I don’t want to get over you,” that is such an endearing line. It takes strength to love when heartbroken, and the nation that someone would cling to loving someone even when their gone, that is just so romantic, it also so very sad, but it is romantic. It’s a heavy song, but it is a good one.

To sum things up, The National is a powerful melancholy/sad indie rock band, “Warrior” was a mediocre movie, everyone should be watching “A Game of Thrones” by now, Stannis Baratheon is the one true king, and until later this month keep on rocking in the free world.

- Colin Kelly