Runaway

The National make songs for adults who have realized something they can’t tell anyone yet. “Runaway” is that mode at its most distilled — a slow waltz with horns and Matt Berninger singing in the lowest, saddest part of his register about staying when leaving would be easier.

The arrangement is almost liturgical. The horns don’t crescendo so much as accumulate, the way light accumulates in a room as dusk settles. By the last chorus there’s nothing more to add and nothing to resolve — the song simply keeps its promise to itself and fades, which is also what the character in the song is doing.