After their High Violet touring ended and before they began recording Trouble Will Find Me, The National took time out to capture their live rendering of Little Faith (from High Violet) at a castle in the Hudson Valley.  As with most of Matt Berninger’s lyrics, each of us takes our own from his tragicomic words and lines.  Here, you might ponder burning blueberry fields.  Or you might play nuns versus priests on your own.  Or you might Peckinpah a fire to see what it kills.  For us, we’ll take a little faith to follow us around.  And all the while the horns and strings play on, and the Devendorf brothers lay down the perfect rhythmic propulsion and display.

The song’s lyrics follow the video.

Little Faith:

“Little faith, follow me
I’ll set a fire in a blackberry field
Make us laugh or nothing will
I’ll set a fire just to see what it kills
Now we’re stuck in New York and the rain’s coming down
I don’t feel like we’ll go anywhere
Stuck in New York and the rain’s coming down
Still in line for the vanity fair

Leave our red southern souls
Head for the coast
Leave our red southern souls
Everything goes

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 and thin
We’ll play nuns versus priests until somebody wins

Awesome prince, get your sleep
Lose your heart in history
Make us laugh or nothing will
I’ll set a fire just to see what it kills

Don’t be bitter, Anna, I know how you think
You’re waiting for Radio City to sink
You’ll find commiseration in everyone’s eyes
The storm will suck the pretty girls into the sky

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 and thin
We’ll play nuns versus priests until somebody wins

Leave our red southern souls
Head for the coast
Leave our red southern souls
Everything goes”