Bright Eyes

[Hinny]

I made this post in swede's music thread about how much I love Bright Eyes' I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. I don't think I went into quite enough detail, so I'll just do it again.

This is without a doubt the best album since 2000. It was all good and well for the rockin' bands to turn up the volume to 11, and for the more progressive acts to explore the possibilities of music by sniping away at the boundaries, but there's just been that one element missing. Someone who can tell a story through song.

This was it. Though his previous efforts like Lifted were very good in their own right, I'm Wide Awake is the one that sends him right to the top. Why? Everything just comes together on I'm Wide Awake, from the opening word to the closing guitar feedback.

Dinner time. Come back to this afterwards.

[Hinny]

The start:
As I said, this is an album of stories, and we lead off with a monologue which sets the scene for the first song, At The Bottom of Everything, a tale about finding yourself. As Conor Oberst sings:
And in the caverns of tomorrow with our flashlights and our love
We must plunge, we must plunge, we must plunge

And then we have thew first of 3 tracks with Emmylou Harris on supporting vox, We Are Nowhere And It's Now, a story about a person who simply lives for the present tense- you're here. You're not living in the future or the past. Deal with it.

Old Soul Song (For The New World Order) is next, again with Emmylou Harris on backup. Writing about the worldwide protest against the war in Iraq on the weekend of 15th February 2003, the song is about the connection that so many people managed to find on that one day when we all came together, a feeling completely alien to a generation brought up on soulless consumerism. Conor Oberst has a passion for politics, and this is but a glimpse.

Lua, the next track, is a love song. Not much point explaining it- listening to the words, you're able to just picture this fellow living out this story. "i've got a flask inside my pocket we can share it on the train
and if you promise to stay conscious i will try and do the same". Simplicity is what it's all about.

[:: katie b ::]

yeh i want more bright eyes hinny. hook me up. ;)

[Hinny]

Track 5,Train Under Water, is a song about New York. I find it hard to discribe the story when it's all in the lyrics, so I'll just let the words do all the work
Body of water, toxic and timeless
Atlantic ocean, New York skyline
I always get lost, when I leave the village
So I couldn’t come meet you in Brooklyn last night

First Day of My Life is next. It's about the rejuvenation that a new relationship brings to a person's life. Cue for lyric.
Glad I didn't die before i met you.
Now I don't care, I could go anywhere with you.
And I'd probably be happy

Another Travellin' Song is, well, another travelling song.

[Hinny]

And here's my favourite part. The knock out punch. The killer ending. 1, 2, 3, out for the count.

Landlocked Blues. Any description on my part just won't do it justice.
And the world's got me dizzy again
You think after twenty-two years I'd be used to the spin
And it only feels worse when I stay in one place
So I'm always pacing around or walking away
and more...
I keep drinking the ink from my pen
And I'm balancing history books up on my head
But it all boils down to one quotable phrase
If you love something, give it away

Sigh. If that wasn't enough to make you wonder what the hell you're doing with your life as you sit there listening to the song, well, up comes Poison Oak.
And I never thought this life was possible.
You're the yellow bird that I've been waiting for.

The end of paralysis I was a statuette
Now I'm drunk as hell on a piano bench,
And when I press the keys it all gets reversed.
The sound of lonliness makes me happier.

After that, there's just no way for any more words to seep into your head any further. You can only have so much introspection before is just gets too much. Conor Oberst knows this, and what we have is Road To Joy. An old fashioned rock n roll romp with the guitars cranked up.
Let's fuck it up boys, make some noise!
And then the feedback hits, fades out, and there it is. The best album since the new millenium.

[christian]

i really like bright eyes! the i'm wide awake...album is brilliant! personally i like the lifted...album a bit more. i also like his cover of out on the weekend (neil young) which you can find on a ep...

[surrealist]

Here's a little review I wrote a while back:

How many possible clichés can we use to describe Conor Oberst? Troubled young troubadour? Tortured artist? The Bob Dylan of this generation? The list is endless, but in the case of “I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning” – the companion (though not really) piece to “Digital Ash in a Digital Urn” the clichés are entirely warranted, as Oberst exhibits all of these qualities. There is no shortage of eyeliner, earnestness, drug fuelled thoughts and damn good lyrics.

“I’m Wide Awake…” has a decidedly more country feel to the previous releases from Bright Eyes wunderkind Conor Oberst, but it a genre that manages to fit Oberst as well as any Nudie suit. With Emmylou Harris singing backup on several songs, a reference to Gram Parsons’ influence on Oberst is inevitable, but Oberst manages to transcend said influences, and become a freakish amalgam of all that was good about Vietnam-era protest songs, Dylan-esque phrasing, country and indie rock. “Road to Joy”, whilst borrowing liberally from “Ode to Joy” (get it?) is infused with a sense of urgency, belying sarcastic barbs aimed at George W. Bush. Whilst Oberst’s political associations are not at all hidden in the album “Landlocked Blues” quite possibly holds his most eloquent thoughts on the current situation befalling America. However, it is Oberst’s “love” songs that really hold the highlights of the album. The lead single “Lua” is a heartbreaking portrait of drug addiction and the stark (literal and metaphorical) differences between the evening and the morning such as “The mask I polish in the evening by the morning looks like shit.” Additionally, “First Day of My Life” is a little acoustic ditty in which Oberst manages to infuse a strong sense of hope in light of all the despair he has faced – “I don’t know where I am, don’t know where I’ve been but I know where I want to go.” However, at times throughout “I’m Wide Awake…” Oberst’s self-righteousness does become a bit repetitive, even so though; the sincerity of the vocal delivery and the lush arrangements (especially Mike Mogis’ gorgeous pedal steel) make up for Oberst’s occasional sojourns into his own moral superiority.

Oberst, whilst not necessarily covering any new ground or being as incredibly adventurous as his previous releases, has managed to create an excellent work of neo-folk/alt. country that will ensure Oberst’s status as one of the best songwriters of this generation.



Translation...good shit