This semi-detached rumination on social angst and death finds the song's narrator engaging in some self-indulgent despair. Frontman Matt Berniger croons: "I retired to the briars by the pool it gets so loud If I die this instant Taken from a distance They will probably list it down among other things around town." The song is one of several on Trouble Will Find Me where Berniger explores mortality in a playful way. Asked by The Independent what he has learned about death, the vocalist replied: "I'm a secular humanist. I believe that when our light goes off we're dust. I think our heaven and hell will come from how we leave the world and how we treat others – that was something that came into stark reality for me when I had a kid." "Maybe if I at least try to make my little girl happy," he continued, "I'll get to leave some heaven around and that will be my afterlife. I don't find that depressing – I actually find it very soothing and motivating."
The song features backing vocals from The National's fellow New Yorker, St. Vincent.
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