Lyrics for Mistaken for Strangers as interpreted by lampada

Mistaken for Strangers Lyrics
You have to do it running but you do everything that they ask you to
cause you don't mind seeing yourself in a picture
as long as you look faraway, as long as you look removed
showered and blue-blazered, fill yourself with quarters
showered and blue-blazered, fill yourself with quarters

You get mistaken for strangers by your own friends
when you pass them at night under the silvery, silvery citibank lights
arm in arm in arm and eyes and eyes glazing under
oh you wouldn't want an angel watching over
surprise, surprise they wouldn't wannna watch
another uninnocent, elegant fall into the unmagnificent lives of adults

Make up something to believe in your heart of hearts
so you have something to wear on your sleeve of sleeves
so you swear you just saw a feathery woman
carry a blindfolded man through the trees
showered and blue-blazered, fill yourself with quarters
showered and blue-blazered, fill yourself with quarters

You get mistaken for strangers by your own friends
when you pass them at night under the silvery, silvery citibank lights
arm in arm in arm and eyes and eyes glazing under
oh you wouldn't want an angel watching over
surprise, surprise they wouldn't wannna watch
another uninnocent, elegant fall into the unmagnificent lives of adults

You get mistaken for strangers by your own friends
when you pass them at night under the silvery, silvery citibank lights
arm in arm in arm and eyes and eyes glazing under
oh you wouldn't want an angel watching over
surprise, surprise they wouldn't wannna watch
another uninnocent, elegant fall into the unmagnificent lives of adults

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powderfinger01
04-03-2007

Rated 0 
fucking brilliance. intro sounds like sonic youth.

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jasono52
04-03-2007

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pretty sick, probably my favorite off the new album so far

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upthera44
04-24-2007

Rated 0 
great sound and lyrics

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elbono
05-22-2007

Rated 0 
Such a brilliant song, it's one of those songs you don't want to end

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ElfyNibs33
06-15-2007

Rated 0 
when i first heard this the intro kinda put me off, but now its one of my favorites off boxer. "surprise surprise they wouldn't wanna watch"
ha, love that line

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xjaclynnx
06-15-2007

Rated 0 
aw, I love this song!

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BigRobb
06-25-2007

Rated 0 
A real fantastic song, in my opinion its the best off of Boxer and the best song The National have done.

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rossismad
07-04-2007

Rated 0 
I love this song. It looks like it is about what goes on during those years where you are stuck in early adulthood and still trying to figure yourself out. It is a confusing period where you undergo a lot of change and even your friends can no longer recognize you. And then the line, "another uninnocent, elegant fall into the unmagnificent lives of adults." Absolutely amazing. Similar to Mr. November off Alligator because it deals with the painful process of moving on.

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Beekarry
07-18-2007

Rated 0 
This always reminds me of American Psycho. In the book, the wall street guys constantly fail to identify each other. Plus, an angel wouldn't want to watch their sleazy, corrupt, homicidal ways. And er...that's it really.

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schizophrenique
07-27-2007

Rated 0 
I have never been a fan of The National but after hearing this song I just might be; it's grown on me and it's fantastic. It's so melancholy and yet catchy.

Great, sad song...the lyrics are incredible.
I agree with rossismad in that it's kindof about that transition in identity as you're really finding how the world works and your approach to it changes to fit it, struggling to be on your own and even alienating those around you...

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lapair
07-27-2007

Rated 0 
Whenever I hear this song, I think of someone becoming a famous model and forgetting their real friends. "Unmagnificent lives of adults" is just a reference to how though the model guy might seem bad, everyone's basically a jerk at heart. There's too many references to models to shake the notion; "don't mind seeing yourself in a picture," "showered and blue blazered"...yeah. Anyone else thing so?

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lapair
07-27-2007

Rated 0 
*think, sorry.

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schizophrenique
07-27-2007

Rated 0 
lapair, your theory makes sense.
I don't necessarily think of a model, persay, but when I first read the lyrics I thought it could apply to a similar type of thing, a person losing sight of their real friends...acting like a stranger to them.

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_space_
07-29-2007

Rated 0 
i kno nothing about this band but

i heard this song last week and its definitely the best new song of the year

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Penguincubus
09-11-2007

Rated 0 
Anyone have any sort of insight into the "just saw a feathery woman carry a blindfolded man through the trees" part?

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re-olson
09-24-2007

Rated 0 
to me this song is talking about how everyone in the states is all the same. blue blazered reminds me of in the 50s when blue suits were really popular, and everything was all cut and dry and the same, and everyone worked at a bank (citibank). the mistaken for strangers is that everyone becomes so similar, that nobody can tell themselves apart from each other... arm in arm.

"Make up something to believe in your heart of hearts
so you have something to wear on your sleeve of sleeves"

makes me think of mindless political debates about litmus testing issues such as abortion, gay rights, and the war in iraq. just stupid back and forth stuff that doesn't go anywhere. and these arguments exist just because people feel they need to take a position on it, just for the sole purpose that they have a position. this song is really, really powerful.

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mrmatches1
09-25-2007

Rated 0 
Ok ok i'll have a go at the 'feathery woman.....' lyric. As has been mentioned before this song is potentially about the painful transition of boy to man, child to adult right. Well could it be said that the 'blindfolded man' is a boy who has no sense of who he is or where he's going or who he will become. The trees could quite well be a metaphor for the ambiguous future a boy has, will he be good or bad etc. And the 'feathery woman' is quite tricky i have two notions, possibly it could be an angel guiding you through the unknown future or she could symbolise a parent who forces their child to grow up before their years. Theres my take on the whole thing anyway. Great Album.

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Knife 10.21
09-26-2007

Rated 0 
Alright, first off it must be said that this song is the definition of "the shit." I looked it up.

Now for my take on it, I would have to agree with most above that its a song about the self-induced murder of your youth by joining the "real world."

The first part just screams young employee/intern. Running around doing all the bitch work. The picture part makes me think of how people arent admittedly proud of themselves for joining the business world and working for "the man" but don't mind being recognized by the higher ups in pictures or portraits (as long as its in the back and subtle.) All showered up and blazered (which may point out a change from college life and youth which is customly just before a business job) starting out getting paid starter pay or "quarters." The whole part is just about a person starting out and not necessarily happy to be working for the man but at the same time anxious to succeed.

The second verse has the most ambiguity. The heart of heart sleeve of sleeve part i think refers to opinions and feeling like previous have said. Like wearing your "emotions on your sleeve," you believe what you do in your heart and then display your stance on your sleeve. The fact that Berninger adds "MAKE UP something to beleive" sound like our main character is a suck-up brown-noser trying to get ahead with the heads. Think the way they do and they'll respect you for it, have your own opinion and you'll suffer for it. That may lead into the feathery woman (most likely an angel) leading the blindfolded man (most likely an older employee whos been fired for our protagonists promotion) into the trees. The 2nd part shows how our main character is moving up in his new world, but for a price.

The chorus is awesome. As this person focuses more time on their new career and monetary success (citibank - banks are perfect examples of white collar successful/respectable jobs) they begin to loose touch with their past and friends who are still walking the night streets arm and arm with glazing eyes from being out drinking and having fun. The person is ashamed which is why he wouldn't want an angel watching over, but Berninger points out that angels have no interest in watching him/her walk down the same dull, trite path that so many nameless businessmen walk.

Its an uninnocent fall because our leading figure has brought it upon himself. I hope its never me.

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Technophobia
11-03-2007

Rated 0 
I love this song. I think it's about losing innocence, and having personal relationships with people that you don't really "know," or people who don't appreciate you. It's sad, but it sounds amazing.

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bobby the dolt
11-05-2007

Rated 0 
oh i love how the song starts off with a haunting sound and then blasts into a sweet percussion and finally into a tale about growing up and how its not all that great, even angels wouldnt wanna watch it. surprise. surprise. this song got me into the national.

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butterflykiss84
11-27-2007

Rated 0 
It's my favourite song by them...

To me, it's about viewing the world in a very negative way, losing innocence, seeing the terrible things that happen in the 'real' world and making that transition.

So basically, I've just written all of that, then scanned through other's comments and seen that you've said that all already!

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Welch151
12-25-2007

Rated 0 
Don't the national as a band just grow on you, one minute your not really into them the next your addicted? All their songs are like that

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acridine
02-22-2008

Rated 0 
Beekarry mentions above that this song reminds him of American Psycho. It evoked the same imagery for me.

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vivek99
04-03-2008

Rated 0 
I think this song is about selling out or transitioning from being a small local band to being a big band.

"You don't mind seeing yourself in a picture
as long as you look faraway, as long as you look removed" -- trying to look like a tortured artist in a photo (like many a indie band)

"showered and blue-blazered, fill yourself with quarters" -- how all indie bands dress now ... the quarters is a juke box reference (take a quarter and play what they (fans, record companies, etc.) want to hear)

Chorus: its about hitting it big and no longer being recognized by your old friends (as the showers and blue blazers have transformed them).
The angels part: I think this is about them having to make the conscious choice of "selling out" and that theyre no angels for having done so.
The lives of adults part: This selling out has quickly tranformed him into a boring adult (as in now hes a content, well-known artist rather than being an unsigned, hungry artist).

That's my take ... Whatcha think?

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fatalism
04-15-2008

Rated 0 
I think this song is about the socialization process and modernity; in other words, becoming part of a city, and performing the mindless and tedious activities of the modern corporate world. It is, in many ways, a song about dehumanization and the conflicting drives to both embrace this dehumanization--so you can be "showered and blue-blazered, fill yourself with quarters"--and be repulsed by this dehumanization--"oh you wouldn’t want an angel watching over."

Ultimately, the speaker seems to accuse these individuals of having sold their souls for the purpose of socialization; they have, in short, allowed themselves to be dehumanized because they don't have the ability to resist the pleasures of social conformity. The speaker views these individuals as being soulless yet self-righteous; the speaker views these individuals as being in constant denial toward their conformity. Yet, the sense of guilt is still pervasive.

The line, "so you swear you just saw a feathery woman
carry a blindfolded man through the trees," brings Egyptian mythology to mind: the Egyptian goddess Maat weighs men's souls against an ostrich feather in the afterlife. If the soul is lighter than a feather, then you are allowed to proceed into a cheerful afterlife; if the soul is heavier than a feather, then a beast will devour it. The blindfold is also a traditional symbol for 'justice;' thus, I find the implications of divine or heavenly judgment in this song somewhat likely.

The speaker seems to suggest these individuals convince themselves they are still individualistic; however, a divine eye or common knowledge will reveal that they no longer deserve being individuals.

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