BEST OF 2010 (songs) #5 The National - Terrible Love

"Terrible Love" is one of the National's big anthematic songs, with soaring harmonies, massive percussion and furious guitar playing. Yet, even if this is the kind of thing we expect from The National, there is a change in tone here from records past. Unlike similar songs on "Boxer" and even "Alligator" the sound here is less celebratory. The band sounds more constricted and withdrawn making for a more troubled, melancholic. The National have always been men on the verge of breakdown, but here they sound closer to the edge than ever. Gone is the darkly romantic bravado of past. In it's place is the regretful and world-weary sound of guys facing middle-age with fear and loathing in their hearts, but not the kind that finds you changing in your high-school sweetheart for that blond in the sports car, it's much more authentic than that. It's the kind of internal war that occurs when you wake up from the sleep of convention, it can be dangerous and self-destructive, but at least it's self-aware and honest, and "Terrible Love" made it sound exhilarating.