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/
Watching You Well
The National Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A little moon is coming in the room
You stand there still
Like you were in the arms of
Everyone you ever wanted
I was watching you well
The water on your cheek is the only thing smooth and
I'm ashamed that I'm ashamed of you
Standing in my room, lest more water overtake you
And I was watching you, watching you well
Why won't you leave me quicker?
Why won't you leave me?
I'm ashamed that I'm ashamed of you
For standing in my room, lest more water overtake you
I won't stop you
And I won't speak
Why won't you leave me quicker?
Why won't you leave me?
The National's song Watching You Well is a melancholic and introspective reflection on the complexities of human relationships, and the struggle between intimacy and distance. The opening lines set the scene with a little moon coming into the room, creating a sense of an intimate and private moment. The singer is observing the other person quietly, provoking a sense of detachment, while the other person is lost in their own emotional world, imagining they are in the arms of everyone they ever wanted.
The singer expresses a sense of shame for feeling that way, highlighting a conflicted sense of connection and disconnection. They watch, but don't act, and the water on the other person's cheek is the only thing that's smooth, perhaps referring to the way tears smooth out the rough edges of emotions. The line "why won't you leave me?" could be interpreted as both a plea and a desire to maintain a safe distance, as if the singer is uncertain of what they truly want.
The line "I won't speak, and I won't stop you" leaves room for the ambiguity, as the singer doesn't interfere, but also doesn't make any effort to engage. The song ends with the singer's ambiguous plea for the other person to leave quicker, perhaps a sign of their internal conflict between wanting and not wanting intimacy.
Overall, Watching You Well is a poignant and introspective song that explores the complexities of human emotion and the struggle to balance intimacy and distance in relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
You stand now, on yourself
You are standing alone, relying only on yourself.
A little moon is coming in the room
The room is dimly lit by a small moonlight.
You stand there still
You are standing motionless.
Like you were in the arms of everyone you ever wanted
You are standing as if you have already achieved everything that you have ever wanted.
I was watching you well
I was observing you closely and carefully.
I won't stop you, I won't speak
I won't interfere with your actions or say anything.
The water on your cheek is the only thing smooth
The only thing that is not disturbed on your face is the water droplet on your cheek.
And I'm ashamed that I'm ashamed of you
I feel embarrassed about myself for feeling embarrassed of you.
Standing in my room, lest more water overtake you
You are standing in my room, trying to avoid being submerged in your emotions.
And I was watching you, watching you well
I was paying close attention to you as you tried to control your emotions.
Why won't you leave me quicker?
Why won't you just go and leave me alone?
Why won't you leave me?
I wish you would leave me alone.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Bryan Devendorf, Matthew Berninger
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind