Songfacts®:

• "Weird Goodbyes" is a mournful song where Matt Berninger sings of breaking up with someone only to later question his decision to move on. As memories of their time together flood his mind, he feels the loss and regrets the split. "It's about letting go of the past and moving on, then later being overwhelmed by second thoughts," said Berninger.
• "Weird Goodbyes" originated with The National multi-instrumentalist Aaron Dessner experimenting with a beat he felt was perfect for drummer Bryan Devendorf. "I was misusing drum machines, as usual, and stumbled onto this beat that got stuck in my head," Dessner told 4AD. "It felt like something only Bryan could naturally play."
• Dessner and his The National bandmates built the song around the beat, then Berninger added his lyrics. "Matt's melody and words felt so elegant and moving from the beginning," Dessner said, "mourning a loss of innocence and motivation, holding onto memories and feelings that inevitably slip away and the grief we all suffer in weird goodbyes."
• Bon Iver mainman Justin Vernon joins Berninger on the song. Dessner and Vernon frequently work together, both in their Big Red Machine project and with Taylor Swift, but this is the first time Vernon has collaborated with The National. Dessner heard Vernon's "voice and heart" on "Weird Goodbyes" from the start. "We sent it to him and it moved him," Dessner said, "he then sang with Matt so powerfully."
• Justin Vernon's contribution is the first appearance by a male guest vocalist on a National studio recording.
• "Weird Goodbyes" features strings by the London Contemporary Orchestra as orchestrated by The National guitarist Bryce Dessner.
• The National performed "Weird Goodbyes" live for the first time in Pamplona, Spain on May 28, 2022 – the first National show in three years. They billed it on the setlist as "Bathwater (Mount Auburn)." The first show where the song was printed on the setlist as "Weird Goodbyes" was the Cooperstown, New York date of the band's 2022 North American tour, which took place on July 20.