Peer Validated

Dear The National,

I want to let you know that I think you strained far too hard to write a song about living in New York. I mean, c’mon man, it’s easy. Just sing about how there are so many people, and skyscrapers, the Statue of friggin’ Liberty! Maybe namedrop TRL and get that joint on the countdown.

But you didn’t do that on “Fake Empire,” did you? Instead, you were subtle, and you cried about your everyday life. Well, guess what, I didn’t hear anything cool. You didn’t make New York sound all that cool to me at all. You just made it sound like everyone there is crushed by the weight of The Big Apple, like you guys have real, actual lives, and you don‘t 100 percent love how incredibly gigantic your city is. Yeah right, you guys probably go to Times Square everyday to be with the bazillion people who are always there. I’m sure that would never get old, am I right or am I right?

And that ending of the song. You’ve got to do something about that. All of those trumpets and strings, what is this, a beautiful orchestra?

So just lay back and try again guys. I mean, this song is the opener of “Boxer,” which has been one of the most highly anticipated albums for over a year now. You really don’t want to screw this up! And you might just have enough time before it’s released on May 22. Maybe start with a sick guitar riff or something, see where it takes you.

Your friend,

Andy Plank

P.S., I don’t know if you know yet, but some guy named Vincent Moon has been filming you the entire time you were making this album. Um, he’s going to sell it. You might want to check out the preview clips at www.thenationalboxer.com.

P.P.S., here’s the mp3 for “Fake Empire,” so you can hear exactly what I mean.