With the release of their new album, First Two Pages of Frankenstein, The National has also unveiled a heartbreak feature with Taylor Swift, called “The Alcott.”
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While the album additionally features Phoebe Bridgers and Sufjan Stevens, “The Alcott” with Swift demonstrates exceptional promise. The song narrates the story of two lovers in a relationship as it quietly, but undeniably, falls apart. Swifties are sure to point this song toward Taylor's alleged break-up with actor Joe Alwyn after a six-year relationship, yet, “The Alcott” stands on its own as a hard-to-admit heartbreak song, with or without the rumor mill.
Perhaps the most heartbreaking lyrics occur during the bridge, where The National lead singer Matt Berninger and Swift trade lines, “I’ll ruin it all over (Why don’t you rain on my parade?) / I’ll ruin it over 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).”
Songwriter and band lead Aaron Dessner has long been a collaborator of Swift’s, having co-written tracks for albums folklore, evermore, and Midnights. It seems only fitting that Swift has a feature on his band’s album as well. Yet, as Dessner told Billboard, he was still unsure of the song. It first began as a mix of ideas he’d already written, and thought that, “it might be something [Taylor] would really click with.”
“I sent it to her, and was a little nervous as I didn’t hear back for 20 minutes or so,” Dessner admitted. “By the time she responded, Taylor had written all her parts and recorded a voice memo with the lyrics she’d added in a dialogue with Matt and everyone fell immediately in love with it.”
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Watch the official lyric video above, and check out the National’s collaborative-filled album, First Two Pages of Frankenstein, out now.
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