the national - brainy

it's friday and i feel upbeat, optimistic and a little silly. in that light i'm going to post about a song which shines in my current mood and sticks out in a dark and sarcastic album (i'm not putting the album down).

as many other bands i'm in love with, the national still practices the lost art of creating albums. yes, an album used to be a collection of songs which fit together in a holistic sense to craft a story, sentiment or just a theme. currently the music industry is shying away from albums since the popularity of singles has risen during the current digital age.

the national's boxer from two years ago was from start to finish a complete album. backed by a dark canvas, boxer has moments of seriousness, silliness, optimism, pessimism, honesty, sarcasm and overall drunkenness. the track i'm posting 'brainy' is possibly just an inner dialogue of a boyfriend trying to impress his lady with booksmarts. the persistent upbeat drum work is the spine of the main character, the churping guitar falling like streetlights onto him. horns envelop this picture, distinct but only from an arm's length.

happy friday