The National’s sixth album, High Violet, is an extremely soothing listen, despite mislead­ing track titles such as Sorrow, Terrible Love, I’m Afraid of Ev­eryone, Little Faith or Anyone’s Ghost.

Conversation 16 is the per­sonal thoughts of a man who is struggling with a marriage to a woman he loves. It is probably the most meaningful song on the album because it confesses what all spouses fear of one an­other.

He is a mundane middle-aged man who is bored with his life. He says exactly what he’s sup­posed to, and only tells his wife he is miserable after she’s gone to sleep.

In the lyrics we begin to feel his guilt so much that we carry it with him, and while we want to find comforting words for him, or ourselves, they seem completely absent. Between the title of the song and Matt Ber­ninger’s droning voice, we feel as hopeless as he.

With the most honest of lyr­ics, he sings, “I am evil,” and professes to his wife that “You’re the only thing I ever want any­more,” or “I do not want to dis­appoint anymore.”

In a nation whose divorce rate outweighs faith in one another, this song has the ability to con­nect with an audience and shake it to truth.

The song is a perfect motif for the rest of the album: unfeigned lyrics that, though sometimes morbid, are unbelievably re­freshing.