The National is an indie rock band formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1999 and currently based in Brooklyn, New York. The band's lyrics, which have been described as "dark, melancholy and difficult to interpret", are written and sung by Matt Berninger, a baritone. The rest of the band is composed of two pairs of brothers: twins Aaron (guitar and keyboard) and Bryce Dessner (guitar) and Scott (bass) and Bryan Devendorf (drums). The National has been compared to Joy Division, Leonard Cohen, Wilco and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. The name of the band was chosen because it "didn't mean anything" and was "benign and meaningless".
In 1991, Matt Berninger and Scott Devendorf met while attending the University of Cincinnati, where they also met Mike Brewer, Casey Reas and Jeff Salem. Together, the five of them formed the lo-fi garage band Nancy, named after Berninger's mother, aspiring to sound like Pavement. The band was together for five years, but only released one album, Ruther 3429, on Wife Records before breaking up after Berninger, Devendorf, Reas and Salem moved to Brooklyn.
You're walking taller than you should
The air is thin around your beautiful head
You're saying things with your mouth to me
That I don't recognize
You're aware of yourself lately
Redefining yourself
Designing yourself
You haven't looked at me forever
Got a diagram of your associations
A strategy
You're weighing your options
What would you trade me for?
You're measuring me lately
And I can tell
And I can tell I'm losing weight
You're measuring me lately
You're dressing me
Do not tell me I've changed
You're just raising your standards
Do not give me away
I am the same
I am the same
Have you found him?
Have you told him everything?
Does he say he feels bad about all this?
You've shown tenderness for me
Tenderness for me
To him
Do not tell me I've changed
You're just raising your standards
Do not give me away
I am the same
I am the same