Bright Eyes

So, since I didn't stumble upon any juicy threads today, and I was actually just chatting with a friend about how much I regret not discovering them back in high school (and no, this isn't just a thread for high schoolers 🙂), I decided to write a little something about them.
Bright Eyes is essentially the project of Conor Oberst, an American guy who kicked off his career at just 14 with the band Commander Venus before eventually teaming up with his bandmates to start the Saddle Creek label. But honestly, you can find all that technical stuff on AllMusic if you care.
What’s truly special about Bright Eyes—who sound like a Mexican-inspired version of Neutral Milk Hotel, or like what Bob Dylan might sound like if he were a depressed teenager with every intention of pulling himself together—is their lyrics. They are so powerful and delivered with such raw sincerity that every single song feels like its own standalone painting. I mean, it’s not necessarily about massive musical innovations or fancy production with guitars and backing vocals; it’s about what’s happening in the lines. It's those painful confessions, tiny snapshots of love, midnight regrets mixed with a glimmer of hope, songs about getting wasted with friends, and those little life insecurities... It’s basically pure high school energy 🙂 (not that they don't write about that stuff later, but that's where it all starts in its own little universe).
So far they've put out three albums (not counting the Christmas one) and a few EPs, and I think my absolute favorite might be Lifted or The Story is in The Soil... even though it's probably the toughest one to listen to on the first pass. A few of my personal favorites would have to be: Oh, You are the roots..., Messenger Bird's song, WE ara Free Men, Loos Leaves, Bowl of Oranges, fra a Balance beam, Let's not shit Ourselves ( to Love and to be loved, and don't know When but a day is gonna Come.... man, there are way too many to list here right now.

Anyway, they aren't exactly "unknown," so I'm not exactly uncovering some long-lost underground gem for the masses, but it doesn't hurt to mention them every once in a while, does it? 😁
Trivia: Who on this forum actually has Conor Oberst as their avatar? 😁
👋

So, we've got a "high schooler" chiming in. Fine, whatever, she just graduated... 🙄
Thanks for the thread, though I'm giving it a 4/10 strictly because you didn't mention Oberst's project Desaparecidos (which I actually dig even more)😛
But hey, I can see exactly where you're getting your info from... haha, AllMusic is the ultimate authority, right?
My personal picks: the city has sex (letting off the happiness), a Perfect Sonnet, and Neely O'Hara (EP every day and every night)
Then from the album Lifted or The Story is in The Soil, there's Let's not shit Ourselves ( to Love and to be loved, Method Acting, and you will. you?will. you?will. you?will.
Actually, the whole thing is solid🙂

this is such a beautiful album... 🙂
I suppose there’s just something about the track "lover i don't have to love" that hits me harder than the rest, I guess.

For me, it’s all about Oberst zakon!
Method Acting and The Calendar Hung Itself personal favorit are my absolute favorites. 👍

So, look, this might actually be a solid recommendation for music nerds out there—back in 2003, Bright Eyes picked up an award at something like the Shortlist Awards, which acts a bit like a subset of MTV where they actually acknowledge music exists outside of the massive mainstream industry machine. The other nominees on that list were nothing short of heavy hitters: Interpol, Cat Power, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and The Black Keys. The prize was $5,000 😁
You can read all about it here => here
Anyway, just throwing it out there, I won't bug you guys anymore 😎

Ugh, honestly, this "Digital Ash in a Digital Urn" is just a total disaster—a complete waste of megabytes. I mean, the music video for "Easy / Lucky / Free" was actually pretty engaging to watch, so I figured it might be worth a shot, but...
\n\nIt’s got a few decent moments here and there, I guess, but let’s be real: Oberst would be much better off just writing a book instead of trying to package his brilliant songwriting with this kind of music. 👎

I first discovered Conor's music right when I officially stopped being a teenager—which was the perfect timing, because I wouldn't have really understood him any sooner. I found him thanks to tajansven's Z. Simica train. If he were describing himself, he’d say he’s some kind of wunderkind who...

My favorite track is When The Curious Girl, though I honestly can't be bothered to type out the whole title...

I'll never quite wrap my head around the thousands of women obsessed with Conor... but hey, I can't blame them...😉

They've become a bit less interesting to me over time, but Oberst still knows how to drop a gem now and then. Honestly, I would have preferred if they had turned their last double album into a single one (too much urin in that Urn!😁 )

Oh, and I have to mention that Desaparecidos was a total revelation for me back in the day—actually, it was mind-blowing!
🙂...that's the kind of emo kids today really ought to be listening to...

Man, I totally missed out on catching Desaparecidos 😁 blasting their frustrations while I was out riding my bike, just hitting top speed and feeling completely effortless...

But man, I finally got around to listening to them today

Like, Animal Collective - did you see The Word is actually pretty solid, this new album is kind of 👍 awesome

Animal Collective - did you see The Word have been getting on my nerves since their very first album, and honestly, I don't think they're getting a second chance from me...

👎

they stole my bike too
😢

I'm Wide Awake is easily one of the best—if not *the* absolute best—albums I've heard in the last five years. It’s gorgeous... stunning... perfect.
Lifted or The Story is in The Soil (forget those ridiculous titles) is also incredible.
Digital Ash in a Digital Urn feels kind of mediocre to me, but since he dropped it at the exact same time as the phenomenal I'm Wide Awake... it wouldn't be fair to expect more from it.
The guy is seriously phenomenal. I'm not saying he's reinventing the wheel or doing anything revolutionary, but I could listen to those two albums on loop forever. Plus, I've always had a massive soft spot for that indie-post-folk-country vibe. He’s definitely at the top tier of what's out there right now, right up there with The Strokes, Interpol, The Streets, and Arcade Fire... he just has that spark. I truly believe that ten years from now, people will look back at this as a cult classic—total essential listening. I noticed some people on this forum aren't even listening to it. Honestly, people, you clearly have no idea what you're missing.😳

man, he's just dark... I mean, his interpretations and melodies are top-tier. The arrangements stay minimal, but they're clever and smart. Fevers and mirrors is definitely their peak—every single track is a winner. That’s not usually the case with the other albums, where I can only find maybe 40% of stuff worth listening to.
dramatic and pathetic, romantic and smart👍

@ Lisa Castillo

They’re absolutely at the top of today's music scene, right up there with The Strokes, Interpol, and Streets...

Honestly, you guys just don't have a clue...

...and clearly nobody does😁

just let the kids be 🙂

mkay? 😉

Fine by me.

Alright.

...Sean Wilson53 🙂

If you just flip his avatar into negative mode, you’ll see it’s clearly Conor Oberst himself 😁

Sean Wilson53 said:Flip his avatar upside down—you’ll realize it’s actually Conor Oberst himself. 😁

Honestly, I'm a better looker than Conor... 😁

just some nonsense for conoroljupce
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Sean Wilson53 said:So, since I couldn't find anything actually worth talking about today, I was just sitting around venting to a buddy about how much it sucks that I didn't know about them back in high school—and before anyone starts acting up, no, this isn't just some exclusive club for high schoolers, alright? 🙂 So, I finally decided I had to write something about them.
So, look, Bright Eyes is basically just the brainchild of Conor Oberst, right? This kid from the States who kicked things off when he was only fourteen years old with his band Commander Venus, and then eventually teamed up with the guys to launch that whole Saddle Creek label operation. But honestly, if you're really dying to know the deep lore, you can just go look it up on AllMusic or whatever—it's not like I'm keeping secrets here!
What’s truly wild about Bright Eyes is that they basically sound like a more intense, Americanized version of Neutral Milk Hotel—or like if Bob Dylan wrote songs as a depressed teenager who was actually trying his hardest to pull himself out of the gutter. You know what I mean? There isn't necessarily a ton of groundbreaking musical innovation happening there, and sure, you get some pretty production with acoustic guitars and nice backing vocals, but honestly, who cares about that? What really matters is everything happening inside those lyrics. Every single song feels like its own standalone painting because they sing them with such raw, gut-wrenching honesty. We're talking painful confessions, tiny snapshots of love, those late-night regrets mixed with this desperate hope that things might actually get better, songs about getting wasted with your buddies, all those little life insecurities... It's just pure high school energy, man. Pure and simple. 🙂 I’m not saying that stuff won't come back around later, but right then, you're just totally lost in your own little universe, you know?
So, basically, they’ve dropped three albums—if you aren't counting the Christmas one—plus a handful of EPs, and honestly, I think Lifted or The Story is in The Soil might actually be my absolute favorite, even if it’s a total beast to get through when you first start listening to it. There are just way too many tracks to even list out here without going on a massive tangent, but if I had to pick a few standouts? I'd say things like Oh, You are the roots..., Messenger Bird's song, WE ara Free Men, Loos Leaves, Bowl of Oranges, fra a Balance beam, Let's not shit Ourselves ( to Love and to be loved, and don't know When but a day is gonna Come... but seriously, there are just too many good ones to try and rank them all right now!

Look, it's not like they're some total unknowns that I'm suddenly unearthing as some hidden underground gem for the masses to discover, but honestly, wouldn't it be nice if someone actually gave them a shout-out every once in a while? 😁
Trivia: Who on this forum actually has Conor Oberst as their avatar? 😁
👋

Look, it’s not like they only have three albums and a couple of EPs floating around, okay? People seriously need to get their facts straight! They actually dropped two full albums simultaneously just this year, which is wild enough, but if you actually sit down and count, they’ve got seven studio albums plus five or six EPs under their belt—and that’s not even touching the splits with other bands or all those random collaborations they do! And honestly, if you want to be super technical and include that Christmas limited release, plus Conor's solo stuff, and then factor in Desaparecidos (you know, his whole second project), the discography is massive! How can anyone say otherwise? 🙂
Man, I was absolutely obsessed with him like two years ago—just listening on repeat constantly—and even though I don't spin his stuff quite as often lately, I still know the catalog inside and out, and honestly? Those last two albums are nothing short of genius.

Daniel Bailey7 said:Man, I definitely find him more attractive than Conor... 😁

But... just a little bit of nonsense regarding conoroljupce
🙄

"you're the older, and the much wiser conor. but you tend to be drunk for every show... you're really just an older version of young depressed pill taking conor. why so sad still?"

Hmm, that's pretty close to the mark... 🙂 though back then, he was at his peak aesthetic. Pure heroin chic. 🙂

ambercyclist9 said:Hey, hold on, it’s not like they only have three albums and a couple of EPs—it’s just that they dropped two albums at once this year. They actually have 7 full albums plus about five or six EPs if you aren't counting their splits with other bands or random collaborations, and that’s even before you factor in the Christmas limited release, Conor's solo stuff, and Desaparecidos (his other project).🙂

That post above is pretty old, which honestly makes me feel a little embarrassed 😁 because those last two albums hadn't even come out yet back then. But yeah, they've got the Christmas album, a bunch of unreleased tracks, and those songs Conor wrote when he was just a teenager, plus more EPs and splits with groups like Neva Dinova (which is seriously fantastic), and all that good stuff. You can find everything if you just type Bright Eyes into Spotify, AllMusic, or Google. 🙄

And people are out here spelling Desaparecidos like some kind of "gotcha" moment in this whole indie snob debate.

At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter if you know every single thing they've ever released; what matters is how much you connect with the music you actually listen to... 🙄

quote:Daniel Bailey7 says

Man, I definitely lean more towards Conor than he does...

Just some nonsense for the die-hard Conor fans...
........

I don't have time to check right now, but is there still that quiz about which Bright Eyes song you are? I took it years ago when I was playing the teenager role and ended up being When Winter Ends and a Perfect Sonnet😢 😢 😢

It honestly made me want to end it all... and I know plenty of others who would kill YOU over something like that😢

@ Karen Doyle2 🙂
Did you find any breakfast sandwiches?