The Benja-man Is Verbose

  (I'm not sure exactly which number listen this was.) I know I recognized about five records ago that I'd be a lot happier if I spent less brain power trying to decipher National bullshit word salad lyrics.  Sometimes I can't help it.  I'm a lyrics guy; it's not an absolute but I really do prefer if songs are about something.  I Am Easy has a lot of quiet songs that allow the singing to be prominent, plus all of my time listening to and writing about Fish has my mind primed to dive into the words.  Basically, there are some songwriters who can directly explain what's on their mind and make the listener care, often with some clever turns of phrase, like, for example, certain singer-songwriters whose stage name rhymes with "ish." *   We've established that, for one reason or another, direct isn't the style of Matt Berninger et al , for the most part.  Except that there are exceptions.  He has the ability to write a very evocative and easy to und