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The National — Green Gloves
Album: Boxer
Avg rating:
6.9

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1471









Released: 2007
Length: 3:33
Plays (last 30 days): 1
Falling out of touch with all, my
Friends are somewhere getting wasted
Hope they're staying glued together
I have arms for them

Take another sip of them, it
Floats around and takes me over
Like a little drop of ink in a
Glass of water

Get inside their clothes with my green gloves
Watch their videos in their chairs
Get inside their beds with my green gloves
Get inside their heads, love their loves

Cinderella through the room, I
Glide and swan 'cause I'm the
Best slow dancer in the
Universe

Falling out of touch with all, my
Friends are somewhere getting wasted
Hope they're staying glued together
I have arms for them

Get inside their clothes with my green gloves
Watch their videos in their chairs
Get inside their beds with my green gloves
Get inside their heads, love their loves

Now I hardly know them
And I'll take my time
I'll carry them over
And I'll make them mine

Get inside their clothes with my green gloves
Watch their videos in their chairs
Get inside their beds with my green gloves
Get inside their heads, love their loves
Comments (139)add comment
Recently saw these guys live. Excellent show! Better live than their recorded song. 
so little talent, 
Song in the Key of Mumbling. 
 itsme_bygolly wrote:

Agreed. Lyrics are important in they can catapult a good song to a great one. But I like listening to other cultures and language is not a barrier to enjoy a song.



Totaly agreed. When I was a teen I used to listen to pop and R'n'roll without knowing a word in english. And I remember to have crying or dancing with joy on so many songs without undestanding the exact subject but feeling the emotion. Is the same for this great song from the National, it give me a total emotion without searching to understand exactly what he is speaking about. Another love affair I think...
 Rockit999 wrote:

Stop mumbling already.


Totally agree. Like Rickie Lee Jones on her six albums after the first one.

And maybe mix up the melody? Ok, too much, sorry.
Stop mumbling already.
Heard an interview with the lead singer of the National and he was asked something like what memory stands out from a live concert you've done. His answer was that he asked the crowd if  they had any requests, and a someone in the crowd shouted "Ya, why don't you try singing the next song!" 

Nonetheless, I do quite like them. 
most boring band in the universe.
 S-curvy wrote:

This just sucks.  It's a downer without soul that sounds like every other National disappointment.  Nada, nothing, just extended suck.  I wish my net radio had a PSD, instead I'll have to come up with LSD just to make it thru another National drone-fest.

Please stop the madness. 




You said it much more eloquently then I could.  Thank you.
Lyrics for the non-Gaelic speakers  :)

Be the black deer with you
Be the fiolar
Be the black deer with you
The brown violet
The black deer
The wild fiddle
The black deer
The wild fiddle
More indie/folk/art rock.  I mean none of it is offensive in and of itself.  But as a collective, its just flippin' dreary.  I guess that I'm seeing the real danger of legalized weed??  Everyone's so damn chill now...
I love you h8erhater!!! ❤️
Bill - you've just programmed two of my all-time favourite albums in a row - Transatlantacism by Death Cab for Cutie, and Boxer by The National.
Simply brilliant! 
 MLavender wrote:

Bob Dylan is my favorite artist, but ultimately, this is music, not poetry. The voice is an instrument. The content can absolutely take a song to another level, but at the end of the day, music sounds good or it doesn't. Lyrics are a distant second in terms of what makes a song good.

Have you never appreciated a song sung in a foreign language that you don't understand?
 
Agreed. Lyrics are important in they can catapult a good song to a great one. But I like listening to other cultures and language is not a barrier to enjoy a song.
 hanssachs wrote:
After a few listens the whole mumbly-vocals schtick just gets old and irritating.  Not good ....
 
Bob Dylan is my favorite artist, but ultimately, this is music, not poetry. The voice is an instrument. The content can absolutely take a song to another level, but at the end of the day, music sounds good or it doesn't. Lyrics are a distant second in terms of what makes a song good.

Have you never appreciated a song sung in a foreign language that you don't understand?
 greiffenstein wrote:


I used to get annoyed by mumbly lyrics.  Then when I started to read a few lyrics I realized that it really doesn't matter what is said.  Music is an art, like a painting, sometimes the brush strokes are sloppy and coarse, the figures ill-defined.  What matters is the overall emotional impression of the composition.  I forget who it was, but one musician interviewed was asked about the significance of some cryptic lyrics and he said he didn't know what they meant either.  THey just kind of sounded good, went along with the mood.  I've found that I enjoy music much much more when I don't worry too much about understanding the words.  Besides, if it's that important,I can just click the lyrics tab on RP and there they are!!
 
Precisely, it's true that meaningful lyrics can enhance a song.  It is also true that the voice can be just another instrument in the mix and that the sound of those vocal notes can be pleasing regardless of the content of the words.
 greiffenstein wrote:


I used to get annoyed by mumbly lyrics.  Then when I started to read a few lyrics I realized that it really doesn't matter what is said.  Music is an art, like a painting, sometimes the brush strokes are sloppy and coarse, the figures ill-defined.  What matters is the overall emotional impression of the composition.  I forget who it was, but one musician interviewed was asked about the significance of some cryptic lyrics and he said he didn't know what they meant either.  THey just kind of sounded good, went along with the mood.  I've found that I enjoy music much much more when I don't worry too much about understanding the words.  Besides, if it's that important,I can just click the lyrics tab on RP and there they are!!
 
Early REM lyrics were just a bunch on nonsense that Stipe rolled together. It took years before he started writing lyrics with meanings but the early stuff is some their best. The lyrics create a feeling not a meaning. Hell the Cocteau Twins didn't even use words early on. Burning Down the House (Talking Heads) and Loser (Beck) were intentionally nonsensical lyrics. 
Heard the opening chords and had to stop and listen.... wish I could have seen them at Homecoming.{#Hearteyes}
This just sucks.  It's a downer without soul that sounds like every other National disappointment.  Nada, nothing, just extended suck.  I wish my net radio had a PSD, instead I'll have to come up with LSD just to make it thru another National drone-fest.

Please stop the madness. 
 fredriley wrote:

Yep. Like Wilco squared. The musical equivalent of a wet Sunday afternoon at a seaside town that they forgot to close down {#Sleep}

 
RP has played a lot of artists that at first listen I think wtf?
but I warm up to them and even have been become a big fan of most of them
but The National, no, I have tried and tried but there just isn't anything there
through the clouds in my coffee cup I was wondering why I dreamed about  you while you're dancing,
 westslope wrote:
I have mixed feelings about The National so fred's comment cracks me up.

That said, I have no issue with RP playing lots and lots of The National.

 
Yep, @westslope, now I forgot what Fred said. But like you, The National are magnetic to me. Oh yeah - it was something about misery. Fred, have you listened to The Smiths yet? Or maybe Leonard Cohen? Bob Dylan? Neil Youngj?

Most of our lives are misery, and tlhen one day in 99 we fluke it, and everytlhing is surrounded by sparkles and stars - nothing we can do fails, everybody loves us.

OK, we wake up in the morning, in a sanatorium, being treated for bipolar disorder - but that one day of freedom from sanity, from ordinariness, seems worth it.

Try Morrisey's 'Some Girls Are Bigger Than Other Girls', Cohen's 'Everybody Knows', Dylan's 'Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle', Neil Young's 'White Boat Comin' Up The River' for some misery magically converted, like lead into gold, from drudgeworthy meaninglessness into hilarity.

Hilarity, proof against the farcical possibility, for instance, that the lunatic fascist Donald Trump could be elected, in effect, to rule the world.

We poor poets have no means to resist the unstoppable power of money that such monsters can wield - the last unction available to us is to be humorously miserable about the inevitable, crushing destruction that they desire to besmirch upon this once-innocent planet.

I have mixed feelings about The National so fred's comment cracks me up.

That said, I have no issue with RP playing lots and lots of The National.
 fredriley wrote:

...The musical equivalent of a wet Sunday afternoon at a seaside town that they forgot to close down...

 
That doesn't necessarily mean it's something bad.
 hanssachs wrote:
After a few listens the whole mumbly-vocals schtick just gets old and irritating.  Not good ....

 

I used to get annoyed by mumbly lyrics.  Then when I started to read a few lyrics I realized that it really doesn't matter what is said.  Music is an art, like a painting, sometimes the brush strokes are sloppy and coarse, the figures ill-defined.  What matters is the overall emotional impression of the composition.  I forget who it was, but one musician interviewed was asked about the significance of some cryptic lyrics and he said he didn't know what they meant either.  THey just kind of sounded good, went along with the mood.  I've found that I enjoy music much much more when I don't worry too much about understanding the words.  Besides, if it's that important,I can just click the lyrics tab on RP and there they are!!
After a few listens the whole mumbly-vocals schtick just gets old and irritating.  Not good ....
exquisitely understated... engaging in a way that let's my mind fill in the blanks.

there are times when this is just what is called for.

don't always want everything "spelled out".

maybe that's just me. 
Is this even music?
 Nix wrote:
These guys are somehow "gray". There is no joy or life in their songs.

 
Yep. Like Wilco squared. The musical equivalent of a wet Sunday afternoon at a seaside town that they forgot to close down {#Sleep}
A great song from the best band today.
They sound like a puddle

 
Nix wrote:
These guys are somehow "gray". There is no joy or life in their songs.

 


Nice.  Haven't heard this one in a while.
These guys are somehow "gray". There is no joy or life in their songs.
HAHAHAHHAA best joke I've heard all day.
 

blotto wrote:

Because they suck.

dew34 wrote:
Sometimes how these ratings are determined in both frustrating and silly-this is a fine modern band and I don 't understand how anyone could not see that-but that's why variety is the reason for rating things      {#Eh}
 



 


 Darlington wrote:
New record coming out in September!

 

I meant May......
Sounds a helluva lot like "TV on the Radio"

Because they suck.

dew34 wrote:
Sometimes how these ratings are determined in both frustrating and silly-this is a fine modern band and I don 't understand how anyone could not see that-but that's why variety is the reason for rating things      {#Eh}
 


New record coming out in September!
I like The National a lot, especially Boxer and High Violet. More often, please?
 fergie348 wrote:
Gosh, I haven't had this much disdain for a major alt-rock act since Everclear burst on the scene nigh on a decade ago.  Every song I've heard from The National is pitiful.  My dog could have written that..
 
I feel your pain re: Everclear, but you're just plain wrong about The National.


These guys get mad props for doing "The Rains of Castamere" from the Game of Thrones soundtrack last season...
Sometimes how these ratings are determined in both frustrating and silly-this is a fine modern band and I don 't understand how anyone could not see that-but that's why variety is the reason for rating things      {#Eh}
 captanne wrote:
I just started listening to The National after many nights saying, "Oh!  I like this band.  Who is this?" only to see The National on the byline.  I bought Boxer and Alligator and I have to say I honestly adore Boxer.  Alligator is taking me longer to warm up to.  This is a particularly nice track.

I did see a comment here once that accused the lead singer of mumbling and it still makes me laugh out loud. 
 

I had the same experience with Alligator. Its warmed up some for me, but Boxer (which I dearly love) and High Violet are still my favorites.
The National seems to have fallen off the RP rotation over the past six months.  Sad. 
I just started listening to The National after many nights saying, "Oh!  I like this band.  Who is this?" only to see The National on the byline.  I bought Boxer and Alligator and I have to say I honestly adore Boxer.  Alligator is taking me longer to warm up to.  This is a particularly nice track.

I did see a comment here once that accused the lead singer of mumbling and it still makes me laugh out loud. 
 Laurelia wrote:

Yes, this was the song for me too. Still love it. Thank you RP for introducing me to this group! But my eyes are also hurting since the rating is still 6.7. They just seem to be one of those love 'em hate 'em groups, I'm afraid. Well, I love 'em.
 

My theory is that this isn't jazz or a song by a classicly renowned artist (think of Stones, Pink Floyd, Led etc). So people tend to be more critical about the song. I for one love this and would prefer to hear these guys play over a lot of the classics!
There's a quiet majesty to this.
ZZZ-Zzzz-ZZzzz-HngGGggh-Ppbhww- ZZZzzzZZ
 jpdribbler wrote:
The song that made me fall in love with The National - and still my favorite on Boxer. The current 6.7 rating really hurts my eyes (hey, The National haters, don't miss the opportunity to make a "hurts my ears" joke {#Wink}).
 

I raised my rating. To be sure - these cats are good. Just saw them last weekend in Chicago w/ Arcade Fire. Awesome show.
 Laurelia wrote:

Yes, this was the song for me too. Still love it. Thank you RP for introducing me to this group! But my eyes are also hurting since the rating is still 6.7. They just seem to be one of those love 'em hate 'em groups, I'm afraid. Well, I love 'em.
 

Solidly in the "love em" category here.
 jpdribbler wrote:
The song that made me fall in love with The National - and still my favorite on Boxer. The current 6.7 rating really hurts my eyes (hey, The National haters, don't miss the opportunity to make a "hurts my ears" joke {#Wink}).
 
Yes, this was the song for me too. Still love it. Thank you RP for introducing me to this group! But my eyes are also hurting since the rating is still 6.7. They just seem to be one of those love 'em hate 'em groups, I'm afraid. Well, I love 'em.


The song that made me fall in love with The National - and still my favorite on Boxer. The current 6.7 rating really hurts my eyes (hey, The National haters, don't miss the opportunity to make a "hurts my ears" joke {#Wink}).


 flapser wrote:
Only 6.5? This is such a good band!
 

I don't think I 've heard this song before, but regardless, I'm not hearing anything here to deviate from my consistant rating of 1 for any The National songs 
 zipper wrote:
I love the lyrics.

 
I've never been particularly fond of poetry, per se, and generally assess it in the same manner as visual art: you know what you like when you see it.  For me, interestingly, The National's lyrics are rather evocative.  I think they tell little, visual stories of relationships and snippets of life - enhanced, I think, by Matt Berninger's delivery.  I kinda get them. But the music on RP is like art - you typically like it or you don't.  I think The National is one of those sneaky bands that can grow on you if you look at it from a different perspective.

That's my stream-of-consciousness offering on the topic, FWIW, YMMV, etc...

Now for some caffeine... {#Smile}
 fergie348 wrote:
Gosh, I haven't had this much disdain for a major alt-rock act since Everclear burst on the scene nigh on a decade ago.  Every song I've heard from The National is pitiful.  My dog could have written that..
 
My dogs want to party with your dog. I love the lyrics.

First listen. Don't really like the National but can tell I will fall in love with this...
Gosh, I haven't had this much disdain for a major alt-rock act since Everclear burst on the scene nigh on a decade ago.  Every song I've heard from The National is pitiful.  My dog could have written that..
10 all the way from me.
 chyk5 wrote:

I've lost track of the many similar, unoriginal, humorless descriptions I've seen on this site.
 
If you say "for god's sakes man" like Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing, it makes it a lot funnier.  Go on.  Try it.

 chyk5 wrote:

I've lost track of the many similar, unoriginal, humorless descriptions I've seen on this site.
 

C'mon now, chyk5, you know he's right.  I like a good mushmouth as much as the next guy, but DAMN this song really takes it up a notch!
 chyk5 wrote:

I've lost track of the many similar, unoriginal, humorless descriptions I've seen on this site.
 

oh SNAP!
mush mouth mumbling...
Great song!
 flapser wrote:
Only 6.5? This is such a good band!
 

And this is a GREAT album too. One of my favorites of the past few years. I keep coming back to it again and again.
Only 6.5? This is such a good band!
Really nice

I like this. Beck comes to mind

 wrangler wrote:
for god's sakes man, take the marbles out of your mouth before you start singing  {#Cowboy}
 
I've lost track of the many similar, unoriginal, humorless descriptions I've seen on this site.
for god's sakes man, take the marbles out of your mouth before you start singing  {#Cowboy}
There's just something bone-chilling about almost every track on this album. So full of emotion. Not excitement, but emotion.
 jjbix wrote:
depressingly grey lackadaisical music
 
Quite
aquadonia wrote:
I'm liking this. It's an instant 7 for me. Not too shabby!


I'm gonna follow your lead on this one.

I'm liking this. It's an instant 7 for me. Not too shabby!
depressingly grey lackadaisical music

 FlamingLotus wrote:
Sounds like Beck's "Lost Cause"
 

true, but Beck's voice sounds affected, this sounds natural.
This band is growing on me
different

I like different
I think this group is pretty good.  They're different. You have to listen closely to the music. Lots of nice nuances and instrumental touches.  Yeah, the singer's vocal quality is, uhhh, different, but it's kinda soothing.  They've grown on me.
 eskles wrote:
First time I heard these guys, I was unimpressed. Now I am starting to actively and intensely dislike them. Is there a more annoying and boring voice to be heard on RP, other than Nick Drake? I think not.
 
Figuratively I think yes! You "voicing" your opinion.{#Laughing} Quite a good song.


Who is this?   Strangely compelling.

 

6->7  Could higher on subsequent listens.

 

Exc is a bored paper tiger.  No barbs, no hook point either.  Just a bandwidth eater.


 Excelsior wrote:


To be bored out of our skulls by atonal mumbling?
  One negative comment per song...please
quit your trolling...I keep getting snagged.


I agree...the vocals kinda ruin this song.  Pretty piano work though. {#Shifty}
natebett wrote:
This guy sounds like Assy McGee.
I have no idea what that means.
BORING
ScottFromWyoming wrote:
I finally got this album. I liked everything I heard on RP, usually about a "7" level... but I had the feeling it would be one of those that gets better and better after hearing it several times. I think I'm right.
Definitely right.
Like flies to honey.
Enunciate!
Excelsior wrote:
The National and Iron & Wine are neck-and-neck for the "most overplayed" and "most sleep inducing" awards on RP.
Seconded!
Alpine wrote:
This is why we listen to RP.
To be bored out of our skulls by atonal mumbling?
This guy sounds like Assy McGee.
I think I would've liked it better as an instrumental piece.
Wisecrowe wrote:
This band sucks. What's the hype anyways?
Loud and proud brother.
This band sucks. What's the hype anyways?
This guy sounds wasted.
The National and Iron & Wine are neck-and-neck for the "most overplayed" and "most sleep inducing" awards on RP. eskles wrote:
First time I heard these guys, I was unimpressed. Now I am starting to actively and intensely dislike them. Is there a more annoying and boring voice to be heard on RP, other than Nick Drake? I think not.
First time I heard these guys, I was unimpressed. Now I am starting to actively and intensely dislike them. Is there a more annoying and boring voice to be heard on RP, other than Nick Drake? I think not.
I finally got this album. I liked everything I heard on RP, usually about a "7" level... but I had the feeling it would be one of those that gets better and better after hearing it several times. I think I'm right.
Love this song. His voice sort of reminds me of a more muted version of the guy in Archers Of Loaf. Weird, I know.
GOOD
Alpine wrote:
This is why we listen to RP.
Because it's naptime?
...thought I heard an autoharp in there
FlamingLotus wrote:
Sounds like Beck's "Lost Cause"
I think it's mostly the melancholy mumble that does it. I like it though. :-)
This is why we listen to RP.
Dragonfly_Launch wrote:
Made several critics lists for best album of 2007. Nice.
It failed to make mine, unfortunately. I really didn't like the album from start to finish. Start a War was the only song that I could really stomach. Josh Ritter's album was my Album of the Year in 2007.
getting good
themotion wrote:
mumble, mumble, mumble *nice instrumentation* mumble, mumble, mumble.
Funny, but the CD is excellent!!! Another band I found listening to Radio Paradise.
One of my favorite CD's of last year....
Made several critics lists for best album of 2007. Nice.
GGendeman wrote:
The vocals are somewhere between Leo Kottke and Mark Knopfler
and perhaps a bit of chuck prophet in there too...
The vocals are somewhere between Leo Kottke and Mark Knopfler
Another nationals song, sweet!!!
Sounds like Beck's "Lost Cause"
spiritfla wrote:
My consistant ear prompts me to see what this is whenever RP plays it. I like it, I will probably go buy it.
I agree with you. In fact, RP causes me to check artists/songs all the time, and I've discovered so many cool new bands this way!
kristina_louise wrote:
I would miss this if it were gone. For sure.
I agree with you....I would miss this as well.
My consistant ear prompts me to see what this is whenever RP plays it. I like it, I will probably go buy it.
I would miss this if it were gone. For sure.
Bakaretsu wrote:
If Bill NEVER played this again no one would miss it.... is the singer eatting salt water taffy while singing or have the 'ludes kicked in..........
I quite disagree. I had never heard this before but I found the music very appealing. Play on, Bill!
I feel like they are channeling the Boss...anyone else hear the same?
This is such a great CD.....
Artist: The National SOng: Green Gloves Album The boxer. I think this is very cool.