Smoke Detector

Album: Laugh Track (2023)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The National lead singer Matt Berninger wrote the lyrics to this song on the fly in a stream-of-consciousness style, reciting them into a microphone as he listened to the track that his bandmates Aaron and Bryce Dessner created. It was a breakthrough for Berninger, who was coming out of a depression and struggling to form his thoughts into lyrics. The song ended up running 7:47 and closing out the Laugh Track album.
  • The song is a look inside Berninger's mind as he struggled with depression. It got pretty bad during the pandemic when he felt isolated and disconnected. When lockdown ended, the clouds didn't just lift - Berninger had to slowly find his way back.

    Berninger did a lot of work to treat his condition, including therapy. Some mental health professionals liken the amygdala, the emotional hub of the brain, to a smoke detector, sounding the alarm even if it's just a candle burning.
  • David Letterman is a big National fan and was fascinated with the lyric "sit in the backyard in my pharmacy slippers" when he heard this song. He and Berninger had a discussion where they talked about it, with Letterman saying that if you're wearing pharmacy slippers, most likely things are not well. This led Berninger to explain: "When I was in a deep depression, I was well aware that I needed to take some action. I can't just wait for this to pass. I was seeing psychiatrists and I was trying different cocktails of antidepressants and all this kind of stuff, so I was in Rite Aid a lot. When you're in a pharmacy under the fluorescent lights waiting for your antidepressant. When I was in the worst place, I had a hard time even going to a pharmacy. I like to show that there's a silly side to everything pathetic and heartbreaking. There's something comical about what a mess I was."
  • Laugh Track was the second album The National released in 2023, a companion to the previous album, First Two Pages Of Frankenstein. Laugh Track marked a shift to where the songs flowed more freely as Berninger emerged from his funk. They broke out of the publicity cycle by releasing the album just days after announcing it.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

They Might Be Giants

They Might Be GiantsSongwriter Interviews

Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.

James Bond Theme Songs

James Bond Theme SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the 007 theme songs?

Arrested For Your Art - The Story Of 2 Live Crew's "Obscene" Album

Arrested For Your Art - The Story Of 2 Live Crew's "Obscene" AlbumSong Writing

In the summer of 1990, you could get arrested for selling a 2 Live Crew album or performing their songs in Southern Florida. And that's exactly what happened.

Spot The Real Red Hot Chili Peppers Song Titles

Spot The Real Red Hot Chili Peppers Song TitlesMusic Quiz

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have some rather unusual song titles - see if you can spot the real ones.

We Will Rock You (To Sleep): Pop Stars Who Recorded Kids' Albums

We Will Rock You (To Sleep): Pop Stars Who Recorded Kids' AlbumsSong Writing

With the rise of Kindie rock, more musicians are embracing their inner child with tunes for tots - here, we look at pop stars who recorded kids' albums.

Jesus Christ Superstar: Ted Neeley Tells the Inside Story

Jesus Christ Superstar: Ted Neeley Tells the Inside StorySong Writing

The in-depth discussion about the making of Jesus Christ Superstar with Ted Neeley, who played Jesus in the 1973 film.