04 October 2010

Video of the Day: The National - Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks (Live Unplugged)

My dear friend saw The National live last night at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN and while she said the entire show was incredible, she singled out an unplugged version of "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks" as one of the best parts. Seeing the entire crowd softly singing along really affected her  - "not even a microphone!" she text me.

Well I didn't understand it until I saw this video. Have you ever seen a band do something like this before? This song is already an emotional segment of the show at a regular concert but to see it done like this is overwhelming. Seeing the entire crowd singing back up is unbelievable. The lyrics to this song are particularly poignant and it's strange how the diversity of the crowd doesn't change the fact that we all have these thoughts. There is a genuine feeling that lives inside this song that just resonates with people - any one of these audience members could've written these lyrics because they are truly that universal. Like I said in the last post, many of The National's songs can easily become anthems for people in their own lives. The repetition of certain lyrics bring out the truth in them somehow. It's also strange to hear the last line, "I'll explain everything to the geeks", without Matt Berninger's classic shouting. It all works though.

This is so impressive and a perfect depiction of how interactive and perceptive The National are as a band.



Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks Lyrics by The National

Leave your home
Change your name
Live alone
Eat your cake

Vanderlyle, crybaby, cry

Oh the waters are risin'
Still no surprisin' you
Vanderlyle, crybaby, cry
Man its all been forgivin'
Swans are a swimmin'
I'll explain everything to the geeks


All the very best of us
String ourselves up for love
All the very best of us
String ourselves up for love
All the very best of us
String ourselves up for love
All the very best of us
String ourselves up for love


Vanderlyle, crybaby, cry
Oh the waters are risin'
Still no surprisin' you
Vanderlyle, crybaby, cry
Man its all been forgivin'
Swans are a swimmin'
I'll explain everything to the geeks


Hangin' from chandeliers
Same small world
At your heels


All the very best of us
String ourselves up for love
All the very best of us
String ourselves up for love
All the very best of us
String ourselves up for love
All the very best of us
String ourselves up for love


Vanderlyle, crybaby, cry
Oh the waters are risin'
Still no surprisin' you
Vanderlyle, crybaby, cry
Man its all been forgivin'
Swans are a swimmin'

I'll explain everything to the geeks
I'll explain everything to the geeks

3 comments:

Lucinda Rabbit said...

Did you see that picture of Matt sitting on a bench in a park? Its hawt.

Robin Rollercoaster said...

I have National songs stuck in my head all day at work. Maven, you're not helping! LOL!

Oksana Luciana Braverman said...

Being at the National concert in Nashville made me believe in music again. I was crying hysterically and the EMTs had to take me out in a gurney - of course that made me cry even more! Go figure... I love the National with all my heart and then some. I decorated my apartment with lemons after listening to Lemonworld. It kind of smells now because the lemons went bad, but the National will never rot!