Fake Empire
| "Fake Empire" | |||||||||
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| Single by The National | |||||||||
| from the album Boxer | |||||||||
| Released | June 23, 2008 | ||||||||
| Format | Digital download | ||||||||
| Recorded | Tarquin Studios | ||||||||
| Genre | Indie rock, post-punk revival | ||||||||
| Length | 3:27 | ||||||||
| Label | Beggars Banquet Records | ||||||||
| Writer(s) | The National | ||||||||
| Producer(s) | Peter Katis and The National | ||||||||
| The National singles chronology | |||||||||
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"Fake Empire" is a song by Brooklyn-based indie rock band The National from their fourth studio album, Boxer. The song was released in June 2008 as the album's third and final single.
"Fake Empire" was written by Bryce Dessner of The National. Commenting on the song's initial concept, he said, "Conceptually I said I would love to write a song that was based on a certain polyrhythm, the four-over-three pattern, which is what you hear in the piano. It's something I, personally, have never heard in rock music. What's interesting is the song sounds like it's in four, but it's in three. The harmonies and the way I'm playing the piano music are actually incredibly simple – sort of like "Chopsticks" simple – with this really weird rhythm. At the end we said, 'Oh, wouldn't it be cool if we had a horn fanfare?' so Padma [Newsome] wrote this very Steve Reichian minimalist horn fanfare."
Lyrically, "Fake Empire" is a commentary about a generation lost to disillusion and apathy. Vocalist Matt Berninger further explained to The Quietus that it is about "where you can't deal with the reality of what's really going on, so let's just pretend that the world's full of bluebirds and ice skating."
The National made their network television debut when they performed "Fake Empire" on the Late Show with David Letterman on July 24, 2007. In the television series Chuck, the song appeared in the episode "Chuck Versus the Break-up" on October 13, 2008. "Fake Empire" also played during the final scene of the pilot episode of NBC's police drama Southland, as well as over the concluding scene and credits of the 2008 film Battle in Seattle. An instrumental version of the song was featured in Barack Obama's campaign video "Signs of Hope and Change" during his 2008 United States presidential campaign, and the song was also played at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. The members of The National supported the presidential candidate; they put Obama's face on a fundraising T-shirt with the text "Mr. November", taken from the name of a song from the band's third album, Alligator. In the fifth season premiere episode of the teen drama television series One Tree Hill, several songs by The National were featured, including "Fake Empire". It was also featured in Person of Interest, at the end of the episode Sotto Voce, 9th episode of the 5th season.
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