Taylor Swift Sings About Reconnecting with a Former Lover in The National's New Song "The Alcott"
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Swifties, have you heard? While Taylor Swift is still hitting the stage as part of her Eras Tour, the singer just released a new collaboration. On Friday, April 28, The Nations released their ninth studio album First Two Pages of Frankenstein, and the band's single, "The Alcott," features an appearance from the 12-time Grammy winner.
"The Alcott" follows Taylor and The National's lead singer Matt Berninger as they sing from the POV of two former lovers looking back at a long-lost relationship. Matt appeared on The Zane Lowe Show, where he revealed that he wrote the song about his wife, Carin Besser, who he frequently collaborates with. "It very much is a perspective of one person sort of coming to try to reconnect with the other person in a hotel bar," he said. "I’d written all that side of it, and Aaron [Dessner, The National's guitarist] sent it to Taylor right away, and I think she jumped right into the role of the other voice, the other perspective … It sets a scene of a person with a notebook writing in a bar … and she fit right into that spot."
This isn't the first time Taylor has linked up with The National. Back in 2020, they collabed on Tay's surprise album evermore on the track "Coney Island."
Read ahead for a lyric breakdown of The Nationals and Taylor Swift's new song, "The Alcott."
Lyrics provided by Genius.
[Verse 1: Matt Berninger]
I get myself twisted in threads
To meet you at The Alcott
I'd go to the corner in the back
Where you'd always be
And there you are, sittin' as usual
With your golden notebook
Writing something about someone
Who used to be me
During Matt's interview with Zane Lowe, he revealed that the song is set to take place at a bar. The first verse introduces The Alcott as the bar in question, a place where he had frequented with his former lover, who would write about him in a golden notebook.
[Chorus: Matt Berninger & Taylor Swift, Matt Berninger]
And the last thing you wanted
Is the first thing I do
I tell you my problems
You tell me the truth
It's the last thing you wanted
It's the first thing I do
I tell you that I think I'm fallin'
Back in love with you
The chorus highlights the struggles that the couple has endured and how they try to hold on to each other.
[Verse 2: Matt Berninger, Taylor Swift, Both]
I sit there silently
Waitin' for you to look up (Ah)
I see you smile
When you see it's me
I had to do something
To break into your golden thinking (Ah)
How many times will I do this
And you'll still believe? (Ah)
In the second verse, Matt sings about visiting The Alcott with hopes of seeing his former lover and references the golden notebook first mentioned in verse one.
[Chorus: Matt Berninger & Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift]
It's the last thing you wanted
(Tell me, which side are you on, dear?)
It's the first thing you do
(Give me some tips to forget you)
You tell me your problems
(Have I become one of your problems?)
And I tell you the truth
(Could it be easy this once?)
It's the last thing you wanted
(Everything that's mine is a landmine)
It's the first thing I do
(Did my love aid and abet you?)
I tell you that I think I'm fallin'
Back in love with you
[Bridge: Matt Berninger, Taylor Swift]
And I'll ruin it all over
I'll ruin it for you
I'll ruin it all over
And over like I always do
I'll ruin it all over
(Why don't you rain on my parade?)
I'll ruin it for you
(Shred my evenin' gown)
I'll ruin it all over
(Read my sentence out loud)
And over like I always do
('Cause I love this curse on our house)
[Chorus: Matt Berninger, Taylor Swift]
It's the last thing I wanted
(Tell me, which side are you on, dear?)
It's the first thing I do
(Give me some tips to forget you)
I tell you my problems
(Have I become one of your problems?)
And you tell me the truth
(Could it be easy this once?)
It's the last thing I wanted
(Everything that's mine is a landmine)
It's the first thing I do
(Did my love aid and abet you?)
I tell you that I think I'm fallin'
Back in love (Back in love)
Back in love with you
[Outro: Taylor Swift]
Back in love with you
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