for a little while, you'll be here, the only good part of me

The National's Alligator is the best album of all time.

I was recently trying to get my mom into the National, since I'd come home wearing a band t-shirt of theirs and she was curious. My mom is very literal about her music. She prefers songs to be about "dancing" or "very very deep, likely secretly about Jesus" (the first band I got her into was U2, so now she just expects it). But she always wants to know what a particular piece of music is about. Getting her into the National was difficult for that reason. "This song is about trying to convince your friend not to drive drunk, but, like, you're also kind of a mess and everything is about to go to shit?" "This song is about your friend leaving you, and you know it is because you are also a bad person!" "This song is sooorta about the Obama administration but also choosing to be okay as a person and mental illness!"

It went fine. Afterward, I was telling my friend who also loves that band how difficult it was to say what the album was "about." He said how he hated that idea of looking at music that way, that it was missing the point. So that naturally made me think, contrarily, "oh, wait, what is that album actually about?"

I think it's an album dealing with identity. It's about being a mess sometimes, being really down, but not in a sad love song way. It never slips into self pity or angst. The songs are unforgiving, relentless, real, and entirely optimistic. They are celebration of an authentic state. They are songs about being okay, even when stuff is hard and doesn't make sense.

Best Songs:
-Mr November
-Lit Up
-Friend of Mine

Best lyric:
baby, we'll be fine: all we've got to do is be brave and be kind 

Best good rock and roll guitar part:
Abel, or Mr November