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He picked along to it with me and it immediately sounded like Aaron and Bryce playing the guitar in the basement as kids, which was my intent, Dessner remembers. The words mean a lot to me. Its about my childhood with Bryce, and how I had pretty severe depression in high school. He was the one who kept me going and took care of me until I was back on my feet. Ive lost close friends to depression and this song is about how important it was that Bryce was there for me at that time and is still here. In addition to being one of the more lyrically significant tracks on the album, Dessner says singing it himself felt like an important act of self-acceptance.
I always sing under my breath when I write music, but I usually hand it off to [National vocalist] Matt [Berninger] or others” he says. When you’re in a band for so long and somebody else is that person, you come to rely on it and Ive always loved Matts voice and his words. But singing Brycie myself helped rewire my brain to realize that maybe Big Red Machine is the project that not only enables me to create songs with other people, but also sometimes finish songs on my own.
Recalling sessions at Sonic Ranch in Texas when Dessner recorded his vocal takes, Vernon says, Aaron showed me Brycie a couple years ago now. I was like, this is beautiful, and you should do more singing. Not only would it be good for the future of your songwriting, but your voice sounds really good to me. It was exciting to see him flourish in that way to now be a part of that process and realize the hardships in that and also the victories. On this record, hes leading the charge, wholly and completely.
Musically, How Long Do You Think Its Gonna Last? features what Dessner calls maybe the clearest distillation of his varying songwriting and production styles. Songs like Reese, the Dessner-sung Magnolia and the elegiac Hutch are built on the kinds of tear-jerking piano melodies millions of fans have come to love from The National, but then move at their own pace toward unusual sonic destinations. Aarons greatest gift as a collaborator is his ability to evolve and experiment with the emotional sound that is so natural to him,” Vernon says of the material.
Elsewhere, the dream-like Hoping Then sets layered vocals by Vernon, Dessner and Hannigan (Its the on the edge of why I cant sleep soundly) atop chopped and phased violin lines, programmed drums and countermelodies played on a rubber bridge guitar. His brother Bryces orchestration ebbs and flows throughout this song and many others. The main instrumental track of the chugging, groovy Easy to Sabotage was stitched together from two different live recordings and later enveloped in warm keyboard textures and the head-nodding vocals of Naeem. It just feels alive and electric, and it just happened, Dessner says of the song.
That sense of shared experience extended to the new albums title, which was coined by Swift after Dessner told her he wasnt sure what to call the new album. Intuitively summing up the themes, she suggested titling it How Long Do You Think Its Gonna Last?, a question which she pointed out could refer to multiple subjects addressed therein: childhood, family, marriages, a depression, a losing streak, a winning streak or a creative streak. Taylor saw it all so clearly, Dessner says. A year ago, wed never even worked together. Its so cool that this community keeps extending and that everyone who contributed to this album connected so naturally to the emotions at the heart of the music.”
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