Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Music for Robots

The National - Mr. November

From the opening chords we know we're dealing with a great American single. Matt Berninger and the boys from Cincinatti have created a song with almost unlimited appeal. High praise, I know, but listen to the damn thing -- it's incredible. I can listen to the chorus "I won't fuck us over/I'm Mr. November" til the cows come home -- and I have no idea what Mr. November is. I'm pretty sure he's a quarterback, but he could be a dude who posed in a Calendar for all I know. It's not important.
What is important is that Mr. November will fuck us over. He has to. There's so much desperation, so much to lose, there is no other way. He's buried in all this old pride, this leftover bravado, but it's not worth a shit. None of it matters because whatever he's attempting now is bound to fail. Even though the song is absolutely bursting with hope, I can't help but feel it's false.

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