| The National – Hard to Find Lyrics | 11 years ago |
| This song coming out at pretty much the same time as Gatsby is perfect. "I can see the glowing lights / I can see them every night." Wonder if they glow green? | |
| The National – I Need My Girl Lyrics | 11 years ago |
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This seems to me like a heart-wrenching, but completely relatable story of a teenager's dependence on his girl for companionship and emotional support. "I am good, I am grounded," is a nice play on being grounded emotionally, but also the life of a teen, going from good to grounded, to good to grounded. "Davy says that I look taller," seems like a clear indication that the narrator is a teenager, growing up. But despite him maturation, he can't shake this feelings of depression: "can't get [his] head around it / I keep feeling smaller and smaller / I need my girl." So despite him growing up and entering into late teens/early adulthood, he feels this isolation without her. He needs his girl. The second stanza (Remember... no one saw it) is an emotionally-charged memory they shared together that he's looking upon fondly of her crashing the car, and them laughing about it. Really endearing, and revealing about their relationship. He needs his girl. The third (and eventually fifth) is a detailing of the pressure he's feeling from (most likely) his family, but quite possibly himself, too. "I'm under the gun again (pressure) / I know I was a 45 percenter then (struggling with grades and expectations) / I know I was a lot of things." He was a lot of things in high school, but the one constant-- he needs his girl. The fourth reveals his feelings of isolation and anxiety towards both family ("There's some things that I should never / Laugh about in front of family"), and his peers ("I'll try to call you from the party / It's full of punks and canonballers"). He doesn't feel connected with his family or the other kids his age they way he feels connected with her. And in both situations, he feels a longing, and a need for his girl. What I'm unsure about is how separated he actually is (vs. how much he feels like he is) from her. Either she is gone for whatever reason (broke up with him and he misses her, perhaps), or they are still together, but he is totally emotionally dependent upon her, and constantly feels like he needs her there with him because he loves her so very much. Either way, it is a amazingly beautiful and heart-breaking story of a young man's love for his girl. This, and This Is the Last Time I think are my favorites from TWFM so far, with Fireproof and Don't Swallow the Cap close behind. I can't get over how truly incredible this band is, we are lucky to have them. |
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