I don’t like hearing about great concerts that I missed months ago with out knowing about it. whoa, arrgh, darn.
The National, was at BAM in late Feb…
But this song is so good that it is actively being used in the Barrack Obama campaign. “YES WE CAN”. The campaign remove the lyrics because of the dark-ish content. But the effect is equally elegiac for a sad-lame-duck presidency, and evocative of a possible “Obama restoration”. It’s sad and happy. It is like gourmet salt on top a sugary brownie, so wrong but also tasty-weird.
At any rate, the lyrics are really good as well. But the lyrics are darker than any campaign could endure, so they use just the instrument tracks. The song does work as a positive soundtrack, but also and as a political & personal song. All the best songs have more than one meaning. It’s one quality that allows them to stay fresh over the years.
FAKE EMPIRE
The National
Stay out super late tonight
picking apples, making pies
put a little something in our lemonade and take it with us
we’re half-awake in a fake empire
we’re half-awake in a fake empireTiptoe through our shiny city
with our diamond slippers on
do our gay ballet on ice
bluebirds on our shoulderswe’re half-awake in a fake empire
we’re half-awake in a fake empireTurn the light out say goodnight
no thinking for a little while
lets not try to figure out everything at once
It’s hard to keep track of you falling through the sky
we’re half-awake in a fake empire
we’re half-awake in a fake empire
I like the apple-pie line and the overall optimism. I hope to do some more volunteering for the campaign later in the summer.