Their self-titled debut album"The National" (Brassland 2001) was recorded and released before they had played even a single show. They cut the album with engineer Nick Lloyd and formed a label with writer Alec Bemis, so those recordings could be released. Kerrang! magazine gave it four Ks, calling it "the stuff underground legends are made of."
The National made a second album, "Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers" (Brassland/Talitres 2003). The staff was the same, though Peter Katis, who produced "Turn on The Bright Lights" and "Antics" by Interpol, helped produce and mix, and Australian composer Padma Newsome from Clogs collaborated on arrangements and strings.
Following the first session of several for Bernard Lenoir on France's Radio Inter, an in-between EP was released, Cherry Tree, containing what would become the blueprint for the sound on their next record and the session of Sad Song's standout Murder Me Rachael. After these accolades and being impressed by their live show, Roger Trust signed them to Beggars Banquet.
A show at their favorite bar became a van ride to neighboring cities, became a plane ride to Europe, became two summers overseas. Their ties to those good jobs slackened. And they continue on their own path, moving out even further out in Brooklyn to Ditmas Park, where there is space and familiar suburban streets and even Geese on Beverly Road. Their album, "Alligator", much of which was recorded at their homes in Ditmas Park, was engineered by Paul Mahajan, who has worked with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and TV on the Radio. Padma Newsome camped out for a month with the band, and Peter Katis added more production and mixed the record at his house in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Berninger's potent baritone still intones about matters fraught and funny and sad; about record collections, missing persons and medium-sized American hearts. But the record's not simply gothic or miserablist -- more like the plays of Tennessee Williams, it's full of peculiar intimacies and awkward grace. Alligator's heroes are reckless and possessed seducers, but they are apologetic ones. In The National's imaginings, in songs alternately lush and spare, there is something twighlit and dreamy worked out in the basement of our brains.
"Abel," "Secret Meeting," and "Lit Up" were released as singles.
On May 22, 2007, The National released their follow-up to Alligator, Boxer, on Beggars Banquet. Taking advantage of the fact that nobody had heard their first album and earliest demos, Matt proceeded to steal lyrics and melodies from them and give them the attention they deserved while keeping the intimacy that made them special. They even managed to convince new friend Sufjan Stevens to lay down some piano tracks for them, and recorded the album in a scant 6 months after coming off the long post-Alligator road.
"Mistaken for Strangers", "Fake Empire" and "Apartment Story" have been released as singles. The band have just finished touring North America and are on a large European autumn/winter tour after playing high slots at several large festivals. In their Dec. 07/Jan. 08 issue, Paste magazine named Boxer best record of 2007.
The band's fifth album, High Violet, was released on May 10, 2010 by 4AD Records. "Bloodbuzz Ohio", "Anyone's Ghost" and "Terrible Love" were released as singles.
In 2013 their sixth studio record Trouble Will Find Me was released and named "Best New Music" by Pitchfork. The album contained the single "I Need My Girl". In 2015, the album outtake "Sunshine On My Back" was released.
Four years after Trouble Will Find Me, marking the longest timespan between albums in their career so far, they released their seventh album Sleep Well Beast on September 8th, 2017 and were yet again met with great critical success.
The National homepage: http://www.americanmary.com/
The National blog http://tntl.tumblr.com
The National on Twitter http://twitter.com/TheNational
The National on Instagram http://instagram.com/TheNational
Brassland homepage: http://brassland.org/
Beggars Banquet homepage: http://www.beggars.com/
Anyone's Ghost
The National Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Alone with the flu
Find out from friends
That wasn't true
Go out at night with your headphones on, again
And walk through the Manhattan valleys of, the dead
Didn't want to be your ghost
Didn't want to be your ghost
Didn't want to be anyone's ghost
But I don't want anybody else
I don't want anybody else
You said I came close
As anyone has come
To live underwater
For more than a month
You said it was not inside my heart, it was
You said it should tear a kid apart, it does
Didn't want to be your ghost
Didn't want to be anyone's ghost
Didn't want to be your ghost
Didn't want to be anyone's ghost
But I don't want anybody else
I don't want anybody else
I don't want anybody else
I don't want anybody else
I had a hole in the middle where the lightning went through it
Told my friends not to worry
I had a hole in the middle someone's sideshow to do
I told my friends not to worry
Didn't want to be your ghost
Didn't want to be anyone's ghost
Didn't want to be your ghost
Didn't want to be anyone's ghost
In "Anyone's Ghost" by The National, the song delves into the feeling of being misunderstood and perceived as a ghost, wanting to be heard and seen by the person they love. The song starts with the lyrics, "Say you stay at home, Alone with the flu, Find out from friends, That wasn't true," which sets the tone for the rest of the song. The singer is left feeling isolated and ignored by their significant other, as they turn to spending their time alone at night in the Manhattan valleys of the dead. The desire to connect with their significant other is prevalent in the lyrics, "But I don't want anybody else, I don't want anybody else," revealing their love for them.
The second half of the song illustrates the singer's frustration with their significant other's perception of them. The lyrics, "You said I came close, As anyone has come, To live underwater, For more than a month," describes a feeling of suffocation and drowning in the relationship. The singer is coming to terms with the fact that they don't want to be seen as a ghost, but rather as a real person with emotions and feelings. The final verse, "I had a hole in the middle where the lightning went through it, Told my friends not to worry," hints at the idea of emotional pain that the singer tried to hide from the people around them.
Line by Line Meaning
Say you stay at home
You tell someone that you're staying at home
Alone with the flu
You say that you're alone and sick with the flu
Find out from friends
Later, you hear from friends
That wasn't true
That what you previously said was not true
Go out at night with your headphones on, again
You leave home at night, once more with headphones playing music
And walk through the Manhattan valleys of, the dead
You walk through a part of Manhattan that reminds you of death
Didn't want to be your ghost
You do not want to be someone's haunting memory
Didn't want to be anyone's ghost
You do not want to be a ghost or a haunting memory for anyone
But I don't want anybody else
You still want them, despite not wanting to become a ghost for them
You said I came close
Someone tells you that you came close to something
As anyone has come
This was something that no one else has come close to achieving
To live underwater
This achievement refers to living underwater or something similar
For more than a month
This was achieved for a long time, exceeding one month
You said it was not inside my heart, it was
The achievement was not solely due to your heart, but other factors too
You said it should tear a kid apart, it does
This achievement was tough, so much so that it would tear a child apart
I had a hole in the middle where the lightning went through it
You feel that you have a hole inside you, that is pierced by lightning
Told my friends not to worry
You tell your friends that everything is fine, there is no need to worry
I had a hole in the middle someone's sideshow to do
You feel that the bad things happening to you are just a part of someone else's show
Didn't want to be your ghost
Again, you do not wish to become someone's haunting memory
Didn't want to be anyone's ghost
You do not want to become a ghost or memory for anyone else, either
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Matthew Donald Berninger, Bryce David Dessner
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind