i think its about a couple who has been having problems, but their fights start more easily because of the strain on the relationship and wouldnt really be fights at a better time (ie "we're tired and wired and ruin too easy") but theyre just going to tough out "the winter" and wait for a better time when they can be happy

I don't think it's about a couple's personal struggles, as much as it about confrontig adulthood. The song is about a couple, but in the verses the language alludes to what appears to responsibilities of work and the real world.

In the chorus he mentions "rosy-minded fuzz" and doing what the TV tells them (an allusion to pop-culture). Also, on the outro he mentions they'll still have their "looks and perfume." To me, that is playing on the notion they still have some semblance of youth.

So damned catchy... And, kinda like mjhyp3 said, I think it's really a denial of the normal, social idea of maturity and adulthood... Uhm, lemme go through this line by line:

"Be still for a second while I try and try to pin your flowers on
Can you carry my drink I have everything else"

He's trying so hard to fulfill the role of a responsible caregiver and partner, but he's finding that it seems like he's doing all the work in the relationship.

"I can tie my tie all by myself
I’m getting tired, I’m forgetting why"

The first part is him trying to show maturity and independence, like he is an adult. But the second part, and I really do think that word is "TIRED", because he's getting worn out by the modern lifestyle, and he doesn't understand it, because it's what everyone is supposed to do. If it is "Tied", then perhaps he's getting into a serious relationship("tying the knot"), and he doesn't know why, but he's just doing it because everyone else is.

"Oh we’re so disarming darling, everything we did believe
is diving diving diving diving off the balcony"

Every idea that he had as a child about relationships and adulthood is proving to be wrong... And, this relationship, in particular, seems even more alarming and, say, disarming.

"Tired and wired we ruin too easy
sleep in our clothes and wait for winter to leave"

A general hope that, no matter how fragile and helpless we may feel, if we just persevere and don't let it get to us, eventually winter will pass, and things will get better.

"Hold ourselves together with our arms around the stereo for hours
While it sings to itself or whatever it does
when it sings to itself of its long lost loves
I’m getting tied, I’m forgetting why"

Finding themselves in music, and relating to the personal heartbreaks of others. It's just the common ground, the ability to know that other people are going through the same thing as you. TIED to the rest of society, and TIED to each other in the relationship.

"Tired and wired we ruin too easy
sleep in our clothes and wait for winter to leave
but I’ll be with you behind the couch when they come
on a different day just like this one"

It's as if he knows that if he were to reject society and this adult responsibility, it's doomed to failure. But, it wouldn't change anything. It would still be a different day, just like the last, but the idea adds some uncertainty and excitement to life.

"We’ll stay inside til somebody finds us
do whatever the TV tells us
stay inside our rosy-minded fuzz for days"

Just telling the rest of society to fuck off, and relishing in the blissful ignorance of mindless programming and pop culture.

"so worry not
all things are well
we’ll be alright
we have our looks and perfume"

An optimistic end, saying that, even if the rest of the world sucks, the best that we can do is just embrace the few things that we enjoy, the few things that we can relish, the few things that set us apart from everyone else.

Sorry I ranted, this is just such a beautiful song, and, although my interpretation might be a bit skewed, it really resonates in my life today, as I'm graduating next week and moving on with my so-called 'adult' life.

jessepence, you really should consider doing explications like the above for other songs by the national. I think what you have said is very insightful, and in any song there will always be a bit of a skew of its meaning toward your own personal life, but that in my opinion that's what makes Matt Berninger's lyrics so appealing. Some would call your post a rant, but after all this is a site meant to interpret songs, and you have done just that.

To me, this song seemed incredibly sarcastic. It's about a couple that lives in a sort of dream-state, shrinking away from the world, "rosy minded fuzz" seems to be a reference to viewing the world through rose-colored glasses. The end is the most positively bitter; turning a deaf ear to complaints and being satisfied with materialism and never leaving your 'safety zone.'

Hopefully people recognize the theme of things going over the balcony.... I've seen this probably in a few levi's commericals, where they guy's done something and the girl is throwing all of his stuff out of the window...

i can relate to this song, i agree with some of the themes mentioned in the comments with becoming an adult, having responsibilities.

Some of the feelings i get from this song i can relate to when i started working a full time job when uni had finished, getting up early and feeling constantly tired wondering "Is this cycle going to be my life?"

I've been listening to this album a lot recently and feel that alcohol is a very common theme, and was wondering whether someone could give me an insight into what this means to them.

Don't you drink alcohol? Isn't really a common theme among everyone as a sort of escape? A bit of state-approved tomfoolery? The idea of inebriation holds a lot of flexibility when writing.

Also, thanks Myswordhand, but I don't know if I could get nearly as into any other song by the National as I do this one. It just really strikes me.

Sorry for the double post.

this video's really cool too

It is definitely about doing ecstasy, and coming down.

I know this for a fact.

OH MAN, best song on the album. Regardless of it being about ecstasy. Actually, I'm down with ecstasy. Whatever. THIS SONG IS AMAZING.

This is such a great song - perfectly captures that feeling of being young and in a new relationship. There's that uncertainty about the real world and just wanting to escape by being with that other person all the time, while in the back of your head, you know it can't stay this way forever.

"We'll stay inside till somebody finds us
Don whatever the TV finds us"

Such great lines.

uh, its "do whatever the tv tells us."

staying inside during the winter months...... listening to the national. it all makes sense. and some people spend their time meditating.......... :)

i love the song and of course the lyrics are great but i love how the cymbals are used, really leaps out at me, they're almost constant so when they stop it's really poignant

i'm in a bit of a dream up until these points then wake up a bit, both states are equally nice though

This is going to be long, annoying, and probably unnecessary, but I'm bad at saying things in a few words. =/

I think this song is about a couple that's trying to deal with the adult world when it's thrown in their faces. I think the first verse is about how they've progressed from high-school ("pin your flowers on" sounds like a prom) and moved on. "I can tie my tie all by myself" is growing up.

Then the second verse is talking about how everything they thought they knew is "diving off the balcony" and it doesn't apply anymore. The adult world is making them tired, and now they're strung out and "ruin too easy". I think the couple sort of combats this by clinging to their young lives, as in:

"Sleep in our clothes and wait for winter to leave"
"Hold ourselves together with out arms around the stereo for hours"
They're just sitting locked up in an apartment listening to pop songs on the radio and ignoring all the responsibility of adult life.

"I'm getting tied, I'm forgetting why" seems just like he realizes that they can't ignore the real world forever, but he doesn't quite realize that.

"But I'll be with you behind the couch when they come on a different day just like this one" Favorite lines in the song. This just reminds me of kids hiding behind the couch when a solicitor or someone comes to the door. They're just hiding from the rest of the world together, not answering the door, pretending no one's home.

"We'll stay inside 'til somebody finds us, do whatever the TV tells us" Acting really childish and just hiding from the adult world, letting the television rule their lives like it used to and just acting really naive, as if everything will go away if they just stay in their own little world.

"Stay inside our rosy-minded fuzz for days" Keep on going thinking they can just live in their own little world, where everything is warm and fuzzy and just peachy, even though outside the apartment, the real world is waiting for them. But they just want to stay inside the fantasy world they created.

"So worry not, all things are well, we'll be alright" is sort of just the narrator reassuring the girl that everything will work out, even when they have to leave their rosy-minded fuzz and deal with the rest of the world.

"We have our looks and perfume on" is saying that even though they have to deal with the real world again, they still have their youth, even if they're 'adults' now. They're still young enough to pretend like they're kids, hiding in their apartment and wishing everything would go away.

At least, that's what I see in it. A lot of The National's songs seem to have darker meanings than I thought they did, but I like to think this one is just hopeful.

beautiful song. i think entitude gets it pretty much spot on except i also get the feeling that is about something specific, either a marriage between two young couples who may or may not actually be ready for such a commitment or just about two lovers moving in with each other for the first time and wondering what it might to do to their relationship. despite their doubts, they try to console themselves in a very naive fashion, that despite what may happen they still have their youth.

the perfect evocation of a young couple moving in together and their relationship disintegrating as they come to actually know each other. i imagine all they could do in the end was sit on a couch and watch t.v. because they literally had nothing to say to each other, clinging to rosy-minded optimisim through avoiding actual interaction.

or anyway, that's what happened to me the first time i moved in with a girl. and this song sure does make me think of it.

I’ve been having real issues interpreting this song because it’s so easy to do contradictory readings of the thing. This is one version, I might post one of the opposites sometime. This is closer to what I feel about it right now though.


‘Be still for a second while I try and try to pin your flowers on’

The girl is restless while he wants to take the time to do the little things that may or may not matter, the little gestures that can easily slip unnoticed. It shows the difference in their personalities. She can’t stay still while he can take the extra time for something insignificant.

‘Can you carry my drink I have everything else
I can tie my tie all by myself’

He tries to take on too much responsibility, either because he doesn’t trust her to do these things or he thinks he has to.

‘I’m getting tired/tied, I’m forgetting why’

If he’s unsure about getting tied then he has doubts about the relationship and can’t work out what to do. He keeps taking things further and doesn’t know how to get out. If he isn’t sure why he’s getting tired then it’s because he thinks things should be easier with the person you’re with.

‘Oh we’re so disarming darling,’

They had their doubts about the relationship from the start but stuck with it anyway to see what happened. Either that or they just allayed any fears they had and rushed straight in, believing that if it was meant to be then things would work out.

‘everything we did believe
is diving diving diving diving off the balcony’

They had certain ideas about love and relationships and now they’ve moved in together all of those ideals are flying out of the window.

‘Tired and wired we ruin too easy’

As someone said in a previous comment, maybe ‘we ruin to easy’ means that they’re letting things affect them that would never have made a difference before. They aren’t resilient enough as a couple.

‘sleep in our clothes and wait for winter to leave’

I get an image of two people laying back to back in bed, touching but only barely. There’s a coldness between them that was never there before. They’re waiting for the bad times to pass so that they can be how they were before. But they aren’t doing anything about it, they’re just ‘waiting’ and hoping.

‘Hold ourselves together with our arms around the stereo for hours
While it sings to itself or whatever it does
when it sings to itself of its long lost loves’

They rely on modern technology to keep together. They can just sit and listen to the stereo and not have to communicate – the stereo does it for them.

‘but I’ll be with you behind the couch when they come
on a different day just like this one’

On another day, in better times, they’d be fine. They’d be huddled up close together. They’d get over the trivial problems but right now they’re struggling.

‘We’ll stay inside til somebody finds us
do whatever the TV tells us
stay inside our rosy-minded fuzz for days’

Again, relying on anything that prevents them from having to communicate. In the beginning of the song they were going out and having fun. Now they can’t even be bothered to do that. They’d rather watch TV and construct a ‘rosy-minded fuzz’. Perhaps optimistic that TV can help when in a rut?

‘so worry not
all things are well
we’ll be alright
we have our looks and perfume’

Sounds very sarcastic to me, as if they have everything they need in their ‘rosy-minded fuzz’.
Could be the break-up – ‘it’s okay, we’re young and good-looking, we’ll find other people’

entitude hit this one right on with how I hear it. We grow up and have all kinds of responsbility, but what really makes us happy is just being together at home, hiding from the world. Maybe it's because I'm in a good relationship, I don't hear the bad relationship part. Just being at home and being yourself with your significant other. The world is a tiring place, but we can pretend we don't have responsibility and just waste away the days in our apartment...that's my apartment story...

I don't know how Theosepiphanes knows for a fact that this is about coming down off ecstacy, but it obviously means a lot more to the majority of people posting. I really like one or clown's take on it; it's different than what everyone else is saying. But let me add one thing that hasn't quite been emphasized that the song means to me.

Many of us, in our younger years, have developed and held onto certain social and artistic ideals. We are moved by what's not pop culture because it means something beyond just being popular. We form subcultures that are anti-conformist or counter-culture, and which, many times, circulate around music. THEN we grow up.

What I'm saying is that it's more than just growing up and having responsibility. It's growing up AND leaving behind the ideals that formed your identity as a teenager and young adult. Take, for example, the film SLC Punk! Steve-o is a punk, but by the end of the film, he has this very realization and admits he is going to law school. I think this is an important element to this song that hasn't been presented yet.

I definitely agree that it's about facing the "real" world and "adult" responsibilities. But I also think the first part is about getting ready to go to some stupid corporate party or maybe a friends wedding, and that's when the couple realizes their relationship and life in general is getting tired and monotonous. I love the lines about staying inside with the TV and listening to the radio, because it seems that's all they find enjoyment in anymore.