Matt Berninger praised Bridgers’ “crucial” role in the single in an interview with Apple Music 1.
The NationalJosh Goleman
The National unveiled a music video for “Your Mind Is Not Your Friend,” their new single with Phoebe Bridgers, on Wednesday (April 12).
On the track, Matt Berninger and the Punisher singer harmonize as they intone, “Don’t you understand?/ Your mind is not your friend again/ It takes you by the hand/ And leaves you nowhere/ You are like a child/ You’re gonna flip your lid again/ Don’t you understand?/ Your mind is not your friend” on the wistful chorus.
In an interview with Hanuman Welch on Apple Music 1the frontman explained how the collab came together, saying, “This one came later in the phase when I was kind of climbing out of a long phase of writer’s block and depression and just kind of self-disgust. I didn’t even want to write or think about myself for a long time, and my wife was repeating to me over the course of that long period, telling me that ‘This is just a phase. This is not really you.’”
Berninger also praised Bridgers’ contribution to the final product, adding, “I kind of felt like it needed that presence of another voice or another person, and Phoebe jumped in. She was just perfect for that. And because her voice is just such a tender just warm hug, and so it added that sort of dimension to it, which was crucial for it to work.”
“Your Mind Is Not Your Friend” follows “Tropic Morning News,” “New Order T-Shirt” and “Eucalyptus” as the fourth single from The National’s latest album First Two Pages of Frankenstein. Bridgers, meanwhile, just released Boygenius’ The Record with pals and bandmates Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus and will join Taylor Swift next month as an opener on The Eras Tour.
Watch the music video for “Your Mind Is Not Your Friend” below.
