An interview that can be found at aquariumdrunkard.com/2008/07/10/matt-berninger-the-national-the-ad-interview/:

An interview that can be found at http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2008/07/10/matt-berninger-the-national-the-ad-interview/: The lyrics are sad and nostalgic, and they position a romantic relationship by using politicized language. Relationships are about losing and regaining personal sovereignty, and creating--upon a given landscape--a kind of psychic map...think of it as geographic waypoints significant to a couple's existence. The "Fake Empire" is the relationship as projected out into a city...it creates a significant landscape that is meaningful to the singer, but is ultimately just a construct, not real in any formal sense. It's the territory of the couple's own making...both real and imaginary. We just carry on living our lives oblivious to the many problems around us - hence the "half-asleep."
Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it. It’s highly unlikely that anyone would ever go out dancing with this particular pair of shoes, but you never really know. The insole bears the name of both companies that worked on the shoes: Jada Dubai and Passion Jewelers. Both names are embossed in pure gold, a simple detail that adds thousands to the value of the Passion Diamond shoes. Majari created the shoes after noticing that there’s not a lot of shoe stores out there that sell ultra high-end shoes. If there were one place in the world that could sustain an ultra high-end business, it would be Dubai. There are tons of millionaires and billionaires that walk around that city every day. Many people have expressed disinterest and distaste for the pair of shoes. The idea that a pair could sell for that much while so much of the world suffers is difficult for some to avoid. Be that as it may, many consider the pair of shoes a work of art, which was the ultimate goal of both Jada Dubai and Passion Jewelers. BeliefIf you had all the carpets stripped out of your house to make way for stylish wooden floorboards and elegant hallway tiles, then we applaud your interior design skills but are you getting to the stage where you miss having something plush and warm underfoot? Don’t worry, we hear you and we’ve come up with fur-lined mule slippers as a result. So, you get all the comfort of the plushest carpet and all the style points of your wooden flooring. Wedding bells are ringing AD: I’ve spoken with several artists who have begun to write purposefully ambiguous lyrics because they know that their songs are going to be interpreted differently by different people; to what extent do you do the same? How do you feel about the way your songs are interpreted? The shoes took about 9 months to make. That makes sense considering the amount of attention the shoes require. Maria Majari, co-founder of Jada Dubai, said that they only use rare diamonds on their shoes, according to this article. That adds a tremendous value to the total cost of the shoes. Majari was also the one that designed the Passion Diamond Shoes. The pair of high heels is made out of four main materials: gold patent leather, silk, gold, and diamonds. What else could you ever need in a pair of shoes, after all? The pumps are quite sophisticated. The lines are clean, the tips pointy. The heel itself is about 5 inches of the golden stiletto. The outline of the upper is lined with brilliant small diamonds—all 236 of them. At the center of each of the shoe sits one flawless and stunning 15-carat D diamond. We just hope that they use something stronger than super glue to make sure that gem doesn’t go anywhere. I think you could interpret these lyrics in that way if you want. For me though this song is more about the sorry state of affairs in the modern Western world.
Are you a furry pom pom mule with kitten heel type of slipper wearer? Or are you more of a cute and characterful critter type? If it’s the latter, then we think you’re going to be perfectly happy with our range. Choose from an adorable 3D unicorn design or super cute 3D dachshund. These could make perfect gifts, too. Slippers that are warm underfoot

if the lemonade here is intended to suggest the lemonade made in the axiom about life handing you lemons, it's crushing to think that even that most optimistic outlook is so bleak that we might "put a little something in our lemonade" - i.e. liquor it up to numb ourselves, to stay only "half-awake" so we don't have to admit it's a fake empire. Truly a beautiful song. It's clearly a relationship song--the entire album is an exploration of an individual's experiences reliving a bittersweet relationship, and this one starts it out... Brilliant song! Here's a thought about the meaning. I wonder if this song is about finding a new love. There's a purity in the feeling of happiness when you initially fall in love, that 'honeymoon period', when you're like children - 'making pies', 'lemonade', 'tiptoe through the city', 'bluebirds', not worrying about what others think about your public displays ('do our gay ballet on ice'). one way or another, this song is about the bit of sadness in everything - it's an empire, sure, but it isn't real - it's lemonade, of course, but it isn't enough - it's a shiny city and we've got bluebirds on our shoulders (woopsay: i definitely think that's a tongue-in-cheek shot towards "zip-a-dee-doo-dah") but the emphasis is on quelling thoughts and ideas, hiding them behind glitter and pretense. there's definitely some questioning of identity, or at least "genuine" identity. Ladies, it’s time to talk about slippers. Take a look at the huge range of slippers we have that make up part of the complete women’s footwear collection and get ready to get comfy. Cute critter slippersMatt Berninger: Neither were every really songs about war. “Fake Empire” has political allusions but it’s also just a song about going out and forgetting your troubles. If anything, its more about trying to avoid thinking about the state of the world. The timeless and well-loved footwear was claimed to have been worn by Jobs in the 1970s and 1980s, deemed as some of the most “pivotal moments in Apple’s history,” according to Julien’s Auctions. These Adidas Stan Smith sneakers, personally customized by Pharrell Williams, were acquired from his personal collection for the Just Phriends auction. The unique hand-drawn design adds a touch of individuality and exclusivity to these iconic shoes.