I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Sit down dear we gotta talk
You're acting like a kid
We don't want to hear about
The things you never did
You could've been a legend
But you became a father
That's what you are today
That's what you are today
Spending all your time
Somewhere inside your head
Haunted by the important
Life you could've lead
But your kisses aren't enough
To keep your kids in line
So you better straighten out yourself
And give your baby time
'Cause if you don't give her what she needs
She'll get it where she can
'Cause she's lonely man
Don't. don't leave yourself alone for too many days
Sooner than you know your gonna start slipping
You'll end up talking to the ghost
Of your wife as if you knew her
Your eyes will put her everywhere
And spending all your time
Somewhere inside your head
Haunted by the important
Life you could've lead
You'll fuck yourself to clear your head
You'll close your door and go to bed
You'll try to sleep without a dream
'Cause that's where she finds you
Yeah, that's where she finds you
Don't leave yourself alone for too many days
'Cause sooner than you know your gonna start slipping
Dear we better get a drink in you
Before you start to bore us
Dear we better get a drink in you
Before you start to bore us
Dear we better get a drink in you
Before you start to bore us
Dear we better get a drink in you
Before you start to bore us
"Don't forget the alcohol ooh baby, ooh baby, ooh baby, ooh baby, ooh baby"
You're acting like a kid
We don't want to hear about
The things you never did
You could've been a legend
But you became a father
That's what you are today
That's what you are today
Spending all your time
Somewhere inside your head
Haunted by the important
Life you could've lead
But your kisses aren't enough
To keep your kids in line
So you better straighten out yourself
And give your baby time
'Cause if you don't give her what she needs
She'll get it where she can
'Cause she's lonely man
Don't. don't leave yourself alone for too many days
Sooner than you know your gonna start slipping
You'll end up talking to the ghost
Of your wife as if you knew her
Your eyes will put her everywhere
And spending all your time
Somewhere inside your head
Haunted by the important
Life you could've lead
You'll fuck yourself to clear your head
You'll close your door and go to bed
You'll try to sleep without a dream
'Cause that's where she finds you
Yeah, that's where she finds you
Don't leave yourself alone for too many days
'Cause sooner than you know your gonna start slipping
Dear we better get a drink in you
Before you start to bore us
Dear we better get a drink in you
Before you start to bore us
Dear we better get a drink in you
Before you start to bore us
Dear we better get a drink in you
Before you start to bore us
"Don't forget the alcohol ooh baby, ooh baby, ooh baby, ooh baby, ooh baby"
Lyrics submitted by SomethingClever, edited by smallwonderrobot
Slipping Husband Lyrics as written by Bryan Devendorf Aaron Dessner
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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people who do not know the difference between 'your' and 'you're' should be banned from submitting lyrics.
I know, right? Drives me crazy.
Male regret - emasculated and pathetic.
No-body father, drunk in the corner boring his friends.
So fucking good. Matt really needs to scream more often. The first time that I downloaded (yes, I know, I know, but I bought Alligator and I will buy Boxer as soon as I find it) this song, it cut off around 2:45, right before the screaming starts, and I only thought that this song was mediocre-okay. But, as soon as I heard the whole thing, I was entranced, and I was forced to listen through it again, and I thus gained a new appreciation for a bloody brilliant song.
My favorite song by The National.
This song is about feeling trapped. There are tons of songs/books/movies/ladies room conversations about women being trapped by marriage/family. This is from a husband's perspective. That situation definitely goes both ways, men just tend not to discuss it as much - which is what makes song cool. Springsteen has some good songs about this topic too, specifically The River comes to mind.
TheQuietMan and the_associate have left the most accurate comments on this song so far. Almost every other post seem to think that the narrator has no merit in his complaints and regret, and that's not necessarily true. Sure, the narrator isn't paying attention to his family and his wife, and his drinking buddies are just telling him "pay more attention to them or you'll lose them" as an excuse so that they'll go back to drinking. The men (possibly women too) don't want to commiserate through articulation and the narrator's left in a nightmare of regret.
We certainly shouldn't define the narrator by his fatherhood/husbandry/etc. The narrator has a minimal amount of love for his family, but wants much more out of life. Who is he supposed to turn to when no one in his life understands?
The subjects wife is dead and he's left with the kids but unwilling unready to be the father that they need. It sounds like an intervention.
This husband is I think a definitive coward/bore/yuppie. typical
wish they played this on every one of their sets
When I hear this song, I picture a man who is avoiding his family because he resents having to give up his dreams to settle down. Now the situation has reached the breaking point, and this guys friend is trying to get through to him that he's going to lose everything if he doesn't stop being selfish and pay more attention to his family.
In the second verse, we get the idea the friend is speaking from experience, as he describes what's going to happen if the man doesn't get his act together.
Finally, I wonder if the friend gives up, and gets the guy a drink so he doesn't have to hear more about "the important life he coulda led."