The song was written by guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker, and was their final single with the band.

"[3] In an interview, Ross noted that "There's a line in the song that goes, 'I know the world's a broken bone, but melt your headaches, call it home.'

[3] Sarah Rodman at The Boston Globe wrote that the song "combine[s] trippy imagery and dreamy melodies that pay homage without naked, outright theft.

"[8] At the MTV Video Music Awards on September 7, 2008, the band stated that "Northern Downpour" would be the next single released from Pretty.

The music video, which is in black-and-white and directed by Behn Fannin, begins with Ryan Ross playing his guitar and someone digging with a spade.

The lyrics "Fabled Foreign Tongues" appear on the front page of a newspaper that a man sitting on a park bench is reading.

Spray cans are then seen being dropped by Ross, who runs around a corner, after having spray-painted the lyrics "I missed your skin when you were east" on a wall, which soon appears on the news with the headline "Strange Graffiti in the Tri-County Area".

Afterwards, Jon Walker is seen attaching the lyrics "My one and lonely", which are painted on plastic tags, to security cameras in parking lots, then he runs away.