Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes
Bookish or not, Conor Oberst (a.k.a. Bright Eyes) has a story to tell.
The Story:
It might seem like a no-brainer to many of you to proclaim Conor Oberst (a.k.a., Bright Eyes) one of the best young lyricists recording today. However, when we write "Holding Dylan's Hat", we try to dig deeper into why people feel the way they do about a good songwriter. In the case of Bright Eyes, we did not have to look any further than to his 2002 album Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil Keep Your Ear To The Ground. I could have mined his latest LP, I'm Wide Awake It's Morning, for equally astute lyrics about life, love and loss, but Lifted seems to have more of a theme. I immediately welcomed the intricate production and orchestration to tell the tale of the education and opinions of a man who finds himself lost and confused, in love and in trouble at a young age.
Lifted is a collection of short stories that seem to have a common thread of exploration to how seemingly insignificant or helpless Oberst's narrator is in the grand scheme of things. He is plagued by indecision ("Nothing Gets Crossed Out"), a lack of confidence ("Waste of Paint"), unsure how to compartmentalize joy and beauty ("Bowl Of Oranges"). Ultimately, Oberst's hero in Lifted experiences the hard realization that life can be good although not always fair or just ("Let's Not Shit Ourselves").
The Artist's Take:
Many of Conor Oberst's detractors point to his thin, nasally voice as the reason they cannot enjoy his music. Being one that usually looks to lyrics first, I was struck by Oberst's skill with the written word and had a hard time understanding how someone so young (Oberst was 22 at the time of Lifted's release) could communicate such weighty and complex topics about man, his weaknesses and how a scared kid figures out his place in this day and age.
An ambitious project, mostly because of the vagueness of "being" and gaining an understanding in existential beliefs, Oberst still cuts through the bullshit to explain to the listener his fears of growing up and does an excellent job at including us in his struggle. Some Bright Eyes detractors have considered Lifted to be pretentious, self-absorbed or solipsistic. This album speaks to me because it's about one man taking stock of himself and the world around him. For anyone who has doubted his/her existence among others or what exactly we should do with our future, Oberst will be speaking to you. Most importantly, let's not forget that this column is about storytellers. Conor Oberst most definitely tells wild tales in this opus.
The Songs:
Through many of Oberst's diatribes on Lifted, he does learn through his music. He loses his innocence and becomes more jaded as the album unfolds, but he seems to find solace in singing truthfully. That is refreshing to me. It's almost as if Oberst isn't sure what his lyrics will be when he begins, but by the end of many of his songs, he has drawn conclusions about whatever (or whoever) is bothering him. There are a few themes that appear throughout the album:
Distrust (especially in the music industry):
"False Advertising"
- I am drawn to the Conor Oberst's honesty on Lifted and "False Advertising" is his way of calling musicians out - including himself - that their music is much more important than their persona. Many artists live up to an image that fans buy into; most likely that image is a crock of shit.
Lyric: "Up to the stage I was pushed, with my sorrow well rehearsed / So give me all your pity, and your money...all of it."
- The last lines - and the subsequent contradiction - to "False Advertising" are the most creative (and ironic) part of the song.
Lyric: "And now my door, it stands open. I'm inviting everybody in / We're gonna laugh, we're gonna drink until the morning comes. / That's what we're gonna do, come on!"
That we hear him walk away after delivering this line, away from the party and the people heard in the background, says volumes about the doubts or insecurities of many musicians. We hear him close the door on everyone else and quietly sing his next song alone.
Love Songs:
"You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will."
* Conor Oberst does a good job throughout the album at changing moods, neither getting too mired in negativity nor rising too high for a "sing-songy" happiness. Like any good storyteller, he also adopts others' voices. In "You Will...", he describes a difficult relationship his narrator cannot escape. As poor a match as they may be, he's reluctant to do anything about it. Lyric: "And if by morning I've forgotten you, no big deal I'll be alright / 'Cause you're the reoccurring kind...you never really leave my mind."
- Described as the love of his lifetime, Oberst is clearly conflicted. His lover knows it and even permits him to see other women. She seems to have the upper hand in the relationship when she delivers a line in a letter to the pining narrator.
Lyric: "You said 'Go explore those other women, the geography of their bodies. / But there's just one map you'll need, / You're a boomerang, you'll see. / You will return to me.'"
Skeptical Hope:
"Bowl of Oranges", "Nothing Gets Crossed Out", "Let's Not Shit Ourselves"
- "Bowl Of Oranges" is one of my favorite songs on the album because its lyrics are so easy to visualize and it's so extremely positive, especially how kindness among men can truly make the world better. And Oberst pulls it off without coming across sappy.
Lyric: "And I came upon a doctor, who appeared in quite poor health. / I said, 'There's nothing that I can do for you, you can't do for yourself.' / He said, 'Oh yes you can, just hold my hand, I think that that would help.' / So I sat with him awhile and I asked him how he felt. / He said, 'I think I'm cured, in fact I'm sure of it. / Thank you stranger, for your therapeutic smile.'"
- Oberst confesses most of his fears in "Nothing Gets Crossed Out." He lowers his inhibitions and bares all, mostly about a fear of failure. When listening to the lyrics, I found it refreshing that he let his guard down to identify with his listeners, longing for younger days when there was less to worry about.
Lyric: "And it's too hard to focus through all this doubt, I keep making these to-do lists, but nothing gets crossed out."
- "Let's Not Shit Ourselves" is probably the most complex song on the album, but also the most fun and the one hardest to explain. Conor runs the gamut from anger to regret, from skepticism to forgiveness. Go listen for yourself on this one. If you like lyricists, this song will make your head spin with its twisting emotions and powerful socio-political positions.
Lyric: "As they take eye for an eye, until no one can see, we must stumble blindly forth, repeating history. / I guess we all fit into your slums, and on the fast-food marquee. / Red-blooded, white-skinned, oh and the blues. And the blues, I got the blues, that's me!"
Despair:
"Waste Of Paint"
- Masked under up-tempo acoustic chords, this stripped down, yet lyrically full song tells the stories of different people and their foibles. Oberst takes their experiences to then look inward and realize that he's more shallow and useless than the rest of them. They each describe their problems and weaknesses, what angers them or is eating slowly away at them and how - for the most part - they don't really see many good times coming their way. It sounds something like this:
Lyric: "But just then my knees give under me, my head feels weak and suddenly / it's clear to see it's not them but me, who's lost my self-identity, / as I hide behind these books I read, while scribbling my poetry, / like art could save a wretch like me, with some ideal ideology, / that no one could hope to achieve, and I'm never real it's just a sketch in me. / And everything I've made, is trite and cheap and a waste / of paint, of tape, of time."
The Denouement:
Everything about Lifted is intriguing to me, right down to the full title. With The Story Is In the Soil, Keep Your Ear To the Ground, my mind thinks of the lost souls who are trying so hard to figure out the complexities of their lives. They're listening intently for anything - whether it be from the earth, the sun or the stars - to help elevate or lift them to a better state of mind or body. It's quite an ambitious subject and Oberst pulls it off with aplomb. After I bought the album, I stayed up one night and listened to Lifted over and over again, always finding something new in the stories Oberst presents. From the day I discovered the album, I find it a complete comfort. I'm still like a child forcing his dad to read the same bedtime story night after night. I know the outcome of each story, but I never tire of it.
