Song #2 of 9999
Title: Bloodbuzz Ohio
Artist: The National
Year: 2010
Album: High Violet
These guys are my darlings of the moment. I could listen to this album every day and sometimes I get to the end and just start it over. I know the The National purists will say Boxer is better but that record hasn't connected with me quite like this one.
The first thing I think of when I hear this song is Peter Murphy, the former Bauhaus singer who had a moderately successfully solo career in the late 80s and early 90s. Once I get past the vocal similarity, I'm struck by how this song manages to have such a driving drumbeat but still comes off as being a ballad. The sleepily lethargic delivery of the lyrics has a lot to do with creating this illusion, but so does a slow-moving chord progression, a lot of instrumental reverb/sustain and repetition in the lyrics. Speaking of the lyrics, I haven't a clue what they mean, but they're intriguing. For as much as I work on my lyrics, I am frequently jealous of songwriters who can put words together in a way that is somewhat incoherent but still manage to convey a mood or an idea.
I also love this song.
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