'Weird Goodbyes'

 

Two of my favourite bands/artists released a new song, that I just got to hear, a few hours before leaving London (again).

And this is such a perfect soundtrack to these last couple of days... I've been interviewing veterans from forgotten wars, writing about artists creating music and visual art with sounds of (sacred) waters, and I'm about to say goodbye - again - to my 'other country', to my 'yellow brick road', to my dream of happiness, to be pursued elsewhere, obviously...

But I didn't say goodbye. To anyone. Not even the ones I think about everyday. Especially not them.

The National - feat. Bon Iver 

'Weird Goodbyes'

It's funny how we read into lyrics...

Uncanny... The sky was definitely leaking today...

And I even dragged a towel around all day...

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“It’s about letting go of the past and moving on, then later being overwhelmed by second thoughts,” The National frontman Matt Berninger further explained in a statement.

Along with Bon Iver, the song features strings by the London Contemporary Orchestra as orchestrated by The National’s Bryce Dessner.

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Lyrics:

[Verse 1: Matt Berninger]
Memorize the bathwater, memorize the air
There'll come a time I'll wanna know I was here
Names on the doorframes, inches and ages
Handprints in concrete at the softest stages

[Refrain: Matt Berninger]
I don't know why I don't try harder
I feel like throwin' towels into water

[Verse 2: Matt Berninger]
Get it down to nothin', everything that matters
Fever flashes, eyelashes and traffic patterns
Humidity, history, chemistry and panic
Swimsuits in the windows of electric minivans

[Refrain: Matt Berninger with Justin Vernon]
I don't know why I don't try harder
I've been goin' down some, some strange water

[Pre-Chorus: Matt Berninger, together with Justin Vernon]
Move forward now, there's nothin' to do
Can't turn around, I can't follow you
Your coat's in my car, I guess you forgot
It's crazy the things we let go of
It finally hits me, a mile's drive
The sky is leaking, the windshield's crying
I'm feelin' sacred, my soul is stripped
Radio's painful, the words are clipped
[Chorus: Matt Berninger with Justin Vernon]
The grief it gets me, the weird goodbyes
My car is creepin', I think it's dyin'
I'm pullin' over until it heals
I'm on a shoulder of lemon fields

[Bridge: Matt Berninger]
What was I even leavin' for?
I keep goin' back and forth
I think now I'm about to see
Didn't know how sad it'd be
[Verse 3: Matt Berninger]
Memorize the bathwater, memorize the air
There'll come a time I'll wanna know when I was here
Names on the doorframes, inches and ages
Handprints in concrete at the softest stages

[Refrain: Matt Berninger with Justin Vernon]
I don't know why I don't try harder
I feel like throwin' towels into water

[Pre-Chorus: Matt Berninger, together with Justin Vernon]
Move forward now, there's nothin' to do
Can't turn around, I can't follow you
Your coat's in my car, I guess you forgot
It's crazy the things we let go of
It finally hits me, a mile's drive
The sky is leaking, the windshield's crying
I'm feelin' sacred, my soul is stripped
Radio's painful, the words are clipped
[Chorus: Matt Berninger with Justin Vernon]
The grief it gets me, the weird goodbyes
My car is creepin', I think it's dyin'
I'm pullin' over until it heals
I'm on a shoulder of lemon fields
The grief it gets me, the weird goodbyes
My car is creepin', I think it's dyin'
I'm pullin' over until it heals
I'm on a shoulder of lemon fields