The National are considered by their fans many to be the best band in the world right now. The National’s rabid fan base have similar qualities to that of a fan base of a cult television show like The Wire or Breaking Bad. They will ceaselessly push their music on you and tell you, “you’ll understand, just give it time.”
Part of their allure is that they write flawless metaphorically charged lyrics and have a band with the musical chops to back these genius phrases up with genius music.
One of The National’s most well-known/loved songs is Mr. November, a stirring existential pump-up tune that took on political connotation three years after it was recorded. The song was written and recorded for The National’s breakthrough album Alligator which came out in 2005.
The beauty of Mr. November, as well as plenty of songs written by the band’s frontman –Matt Berninger, is that they have universal appeal yet feel incredibly personal.
At it’s heart the song is about being someone who can be relied on to come through when it matters the most. That is literally the definition of Derek Jeter. If you look up Jeterian in the dictionary it will say someone who doesn’t f–k up when other people are relying on them need to not f–k up.
Thanks to his heroics in the 2001 World Series which ran into November, Derek Jeter earned the moniker Mr. November. As a player who has made quite the living coming up big when it mattered the most, it is easy to think that Berninger wrote this song with DJ in mind. I assume that isn’t the case but you just never know.
Let’s take a quick look at the chorus to Mr. November and you will see that this song is just a perfect fit for Jeet.
I’m the new blue blood,
I’m the great white hope,
I’m the new blue blood.
I won’t f–k us over,
I’m Mr. November.
I’m Mr. November,
I won’t f–k us over.
Obviously the language would be an issue for the song to be blaring throughout Yankee Stadium, but players use rap songs as their music all the time so I don’t think that’s going to be an unsolvable problem. In fact, a few years ago the band was playing at Lollapalooza and when Berninger did his traditional mosey into the crowd during Mr. November he came face-to-face with a young girl and he censored himself! What a guy.
The song is just raw from the opening notes to the closing lyrics and tells the tale of a clutch performer who believes in himself. Not only is Jeter the perfect candidate for this song because his nickname is the name of the friggin‘ song. But Jeter likes to have some fun with his walk-up music, when he returned from his fractured ankle he was accompanied to the plate by Eminem’s Square Dance which has an opening lyric of “People! It feels so good to be back!”
I don’t know if Jeter is really into The National or Indie Rock in general, but I think if he just realized that there is a song out there that is basically a Jeterian Biography, he would understand and make us all happy by making this song his.
