" Fake Empire " was written by Bryce Dessner of The National . Commenting on the song 's initial concept , he said , " Conceptually I said I would love to write a song that was based on a certain polyrhythm , the four-over-three pattern , which is what you hear in the piano . It 's something I , personally , have never heard in rock music . What 's interesting is the song sounds like it 's in four , but it 's in three . The harmonies and the way I 'm playing the piano music are actually incredibly simple – sort of like " Chopsticks " simple – with this really weird rhythm . At the end we said , ' Oh , would n't it be cool if we had a horn fanfare ? ' so Padma Newsome wrote this very Steve Reichian minimalist horn fanfare . " Lyrically , " Fake Empire " is a commentary about a generation lost to disillusion and apathy . Vocalist Matt Berninger further explained to '' The Quietus '' that it is about " where you ca n't deal with the reality of what 's really going on , so let 's just pretend that the world 's full of bluebirds and ice skating . " The National made their network television debut when they performed " Fake Empire " on the '' Late Show with David Letterman '' on July 24 , 2007 . In the television series '' Chuck '' , the song appeared in the episode " Chuck Versus the Break-up " on October 13 , 2008 . " Fake Empire " also played during the final scene of the pilot episode of NBC 's police drama '' Southland '' , as well as over the concluding scene and credits of the 2008 film '' Battle in Seattle '' . An instrumental version of the song was featured in Barack Obama 's campaign video " Signs of Hope and Change " during his 2008 United States presidential campaign , and the song was also played at the 2008 Democratic National Convention . The members of The National supported the presidential candidate ; they put Obama 's face on a fundraising T-shirt with the text " Mr. November " , taken from the name of a song from the band 's third album , '' Alligator '' . In the fifth season premiere episode of the teen drama television series '' One Tree Hill '' , several songs by The National were featured , including " Fake Empire " . It was also featured in Person of Interest , at the end of the episode Sotto Voce , 9th episode of the 5th season
2008 Democratic National Convention
2008 Democratic National Convention
Fake Empire