I've had a theory for awhile that pretty much every the National song has at least one line that that is every bit as quintessential to Angel's character as his stupid hair, his hero complex & his habit of moping. Apparently the ratio (subject to change) is 58 out of the 74 songs of theirs I have. That's 78%. Lower than I expected it to be, frankly.

• secret meeting
  • I think this place is full of spies, I think I'm ruined. didn't anybody tell you this river's full of lost sharks?
• karen
  • I must be me, I'm in my head; black birds are circling my bed. I must be me, I must be me; black feathers are falling on my feet. protect the nest, protect the title.
• lit up
  • you're the low life of the party, bad blood for everybody.
• looking for astronauts
  • you know you have a permanent piece of my medium-sized American heart.
• daughters of the soho riots
  • how can anybody know how they got to be this way? you must have known I'd do this someday. break my arms around the one I love, & be forgiven by the time my lover comes.
• baby we'll be fine
  • all we gotta do is be brave & be kind. I put on an argyle sweater & put on a smile; I don't know how to do this. I'm so sorry for everything.
• friend of mine
  • I'm getting nervous: no sign of a friend of mine.
• val jester
  • fill her coat with weapons and help her get it on, cause one day when she goes, she's gone. you should've held on to her better; you should've held on to her more.
• all the wine
  • I carry the dollhouse safe on my shoulders through the black city. night lights are on in the corners & everyone's sleeping upstairs, all safe and sound. I won't the let psychos around.
• abel
  • I see water on the bridge; well, you better hold my hand through this. turn around, turn around, take me back; I can't calm down. my mind's not alright.
• the geese of beverly road
  • we'll take ourselves out in the street & wear the blood in our cheeks like red roses.
• city middle
  • you were thinking out loud; you said, I'm overwhelmed. you said, I think I'm like Tennessee Williams -- I wait for the click; I wait, but it doesn't kick in.
• mr. november
  • I wish that I believed in fate, I wish I didn't sleep so late. I'm the great white hope: I'm Mr. November: I won't fuck us over.
• ashamed of the story I told
  • was it nothing I said? it's so attractive to be so silent: it keeps the mystery up & it seems it keeps you hanging on me.
• driver, surprise me
  • put the pervert in a suit, take him out & light him up. get him out of your system & warm your brand new bones.
• halo chagrin
  • I will be the rain upon your rainbow; don't look at me, I'm only breathing.
• keep it upstairs
  • these are the kinds of things we should worry about, but I keep it upstairs.
• sin-eaters
  • wanna give a withering speech to the fucked.
• so far around the bend
• walk off
  • believe me: the blue sky will smother us.
• you were a kindness
  • I was in a fog, I didn't notice everything was coming all apart inside of me. you made a slow disaster out of me. there's a radiant darkness upon us; I don't want you to worry: I was careful, but nothing is harmless.
• you've done it again, virginia
  • burn yourself alive & join the monster squad. they say, in this place, you can reinvent yourself.
• fake empire
• mistaken for strangers
  • you get mistaken for strangers by your own friends when you pass them at night under the silvery, silvery citibank lights, arm in arm in arm & eyes & eyes glazing under. oh, you wouldn't want an angel watching over.
• brainy
  • I keep your fingerprints in a pink folder in the middle of my table; you're the tall kingdom I surround. think I better follow you around.
• squalor victoria
  • I'm a professional, in my beloved white shirt. I'm going down among the saints.
• green gloves
  • falling out of touch with all my -- friends -- are somewhere getting wasted. hope they're staying glued together. I have arms for them.
• slow show
  • I made a mistake in my life today; everything I love gets lost in drawers. I want to start over, I want to be winning.
• apartment story
  • oh we're so disarming, darling; everything we did believe is diving off the balcony. tired & wired, we ruin too easy; sleep in our clothes and wait for winter to leave.
• start a war
  • we expected something, something better than before. we expected something more.
• guest room
  • we miss being ruffians, going wild & bright in the corners of front yards, getting in and out of cars; we miss being deviants.
• racing like a pro
  • one time you were a glowing young ruffian; oh my god, it was a million years ago.
• ada
• gospel
  • my angel face is falling; feathers are falling on my feet. darling, can you tie my string? killers are calling on me.
• wasp nest
  • you're all humming live wires under your killing clothes. get over here; I wanna kiss your skinny throat.
• all dolled-up in straps
• cherry tree
  • but no one is asking, so leave it alone; loose lips sink ships.
• about today
  • today you were far away & I didn't ask you why. what could I say? I was far away.
• reasonable man (I don't mind)
  • I don't mind waiting if it's for the best; a careful heart is better than none.
• terrible love
  • it's a terrible love & I'm walking with spiders; it's a terrible love & I'm walking in its quiet company.
• sorrow
  • sorrow's my body on the waves; sorrow's a girl inside my cave. I live in a city sorrow built: it's in my honey, it's in my milk.
• anyone's ghost
  • I had a hole in the middle where the lightning went through. I told my friends not to worry.
• little faith
  • all our lonely kicks are getting harder to find. we'll play nuns versus priests until somebody cries. all our lonely kicks, they'll make us saintly & thin. we'll play nuns versus priests until somebody wins.
• afraid of everyone
  • I defend my family with my orange umbrella. with my kid on my shoulders, I try not to hurt anybody I like. I'm afraid of everyone, I'm afraid of everyone.
• bloodbuzz ohio
  • I never thought about love when I thought about home. the floors are falling out from everybody I know. I'm on a bloodbuzz, god, I am.
• lemonworld
  • I gave my heart to the army: the only sentimental thing I could think of.
• runaway
  • there's no saving anything, but I won't be no runaway cause I won't run. we don't bleed when we don't fight. go ahead, throw your arms in the air tonight: we got another thing coming undone.
• conversation 16
  • I was afraid I'd eat your brains, cause I'm evil.
• england
• vanderlyle crybaby geeks
  • all the very best of us string ourselves up for love.
• beautiful head
• cold girl fever
  • don't hold on to me when there's nothing to hold.
• the perfect song
• american mary
  • if I could, I'd be your star again; fall across your falling sky.
• son
• pay for me
• bitters & absolut
• john's star
  • once ruined, baby, you stay ruined.
• watching you well
  • I was watching you well. I won't stop you, I won't speak.
• theory of the crows
  • traded my daylight for a career.
• 29 years
  • I'll never have a change of heart, my swan will never sing. I have no heart; the swan is gone & now I wear the wings.
• anna freud
• cardinal song
  • let her treat you like a criminal so you can treat her like a priest. girls, forgive my human mind; girls, forgive me one more time.
• slipping husband
  • you could've been a legend, but you became a father. that's what you are today.
• 90-mile water wall
• it never happened
• murder me rachael
  • murder me, I made a mistake. I loved her to ribbons.
• thirsty
• available
• sugar wife
  • I'm no butterfly. can you make me a man?
• trophy wife
  • run, baby, I don't feel alive; but I'm pretty & I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be alright to drive.
• fashion coat
  • I die fast in this city; outside I die slow. everywhere I am is just another thing without you in it.
• patterns of fairytales
  • I'm turning into fairytales, with glitter & some glue, everything we ever planned to ever do.
• lucky you
  • you could've made a safer bet, but what you break is what you get. you wake up in the bed you make; I think you made a big mistake.