Cover art for Dark Side of the Gym by The National

Dark Side of the Gym

The National
Track 11 on Sleep Well Beast 

Producers

Bryce Dessner & Aaron Dessner
The title of the song doesn’t refer to a fitness centre gym, but rather a gymnasium. It’s a reference to a Leonard Cohen song ‘Memories’: Just dance me to the dark side of… Read More 
Sep. 8, 20171 viewer70K views

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About

Genius Annotation

The title of the song doesn’t refer to a fitness centre gym, but rather a gymnasium. It’s a reference to a Leonard Cohen song ‘Memories’:

Just dance me to the dark side of the gym,
Chances are I’ll let you do most anything

Matt, as he does about once an album, sings a pure love song.

His metaphor seems to be Renaissance painting and music, with high-pitched castrati and imagery of the first man and woman emerging from the sea Botticelli’s Birth of Venus:

Q&A

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Sleep Well Beast (2017)
  1. 1.
    Nobody Else Will Be There
  2. 2.
    Day I Die
  3. 3.
    Walk It Back
  4. 4.
    The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness
  5. 5.
    Born to Beg
  6. 6.
    Turtleneck
  7. 7.
    Empire Line
  8. 8.
    I’ll Still Destroy You
  9. 9.
    Guilty Party
  10. 10.
    Carin at the Liquor Store
  11. 11.
    Dark Side of the Gym
  12. 12.
    Sleep Well Beast
Credits
Producers
Writers
Label
Released on
September 8, 2017
Tags
RockChamber PopAlternative RockGlitchIndie Rock
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