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at Way Out West, Göteborg, 2008.

I recently tried to describe to friends why The National are so important to me, and I failed miserably with this seemingly simple task.

What can I say?

The lyrics are such a curious mix of earnest confessions, awkward declarations, tentative attempts at negotiations (ultimately doomed), all interspersed with oblique societal observations.

Yes, yes, it's a bad idea to take pop music so seriously, I know.

Still, it's the stuff of beauty, at least to me.