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/
Wasp Nest
The National Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Red sun saint around your neck
A wet martini in a paper cup
You're a wasp nest, you're a wasp nest.
Your eyes are broken bottles
And I'm afraid to ask
And all your wrath and cutting beauty
You're a wasp nest, you're a wasp nest
You're all humming live wires under your killing clothes.
Get over here, I wanna kiss your skinny throat
You're a wasp nest, you're a wasp nest
The National's song Wasp Nest is a complex and vivid portrayal of a person who is simultaneously alluring and dangerous. The lyrics paint a picture of a woman in a cocktail dress that her mother wore when she was young, with a red sun saint around her neck. She holds a wet martini in a paper cup, and the singer likens her to a wasp nest. This comparison is significant because it suggests that she is both beautiful and deadly, with a dangerous energy pulsing just beneath the surface.
The second verse of the song continues to delve into the complexity of her character. Her eyes are described as "broken bottles," which suggests that there is something sharp and dangerous about her gaze. The singer is "afraid to ask" about whatever is causing her to feel such anger and cutting beauty. He recognizes that there is a defiant and rebellious quality to her, and that she is both attractive and poisonous, like a "pretty glass" filled with poison. The third verse is perhaps the most sensual and dangerous, as the singer compares her to "humming live wires" hidden beneath her "killing clothes." He expresses a desire to kiss her "skinny throat," even though he recognizes that she is as dangerous and intimidating as a wasp nest.
Line by Line Meaning
You're cussing a storm in a cocktail dress your mother wore when she was young
You are swearing loudly and acting out of control while wearing your mother's old cocktail dress.
Red sun saint around your neck
You have a saint pendant around your neck that is red in color.
A wet martini in a paper cup
You are drinking a martini that is served in a paper cup and is still wet.
You're a wasp nest, you're a wasp nest.
You are an unpredictable and dangerous person, similar to a wasp nest.
Your eyes are broken bottles
Your eyes are filled with pain and have a shattered, broken look to them.
And I'm afraid to ask
I am hesitant to ask about the cause of your pain and anger.
And all your wrath and cutting beauty
Your anger and sharp, striking appearance are overwhelming.
You're poison in the pretty glass
Your outward beauty masks a poisonous and toxic personality beneath the surface.
You're a wasp nest, you're a wasp nest
You are still a volatile and unpredictable individual, much like a wasp nest.
You're all humming live wires under your killing clothes.
Your energy is wild and dangerous, and is waiting to explode underneath your seemingly calm exterior.
Get over here, I wanna kiss your skinny throat
Despite the danger, I am drawn to your undeniable allure, and wish to be near you.
You're a wasp nest, you're a wasp nest
Once again, you are the embodiment of unpredictability and danger, like a wasp nest.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Aaron Dessner, Matthew D. Berninger
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind