Month: October 2007

From Oh Holy Fools (2001)

Honestly, I’m not in love with the sound of this song. I find the harmonies to be mostly off-putting. It’s still musical, don’t get me wrong, but it’s an uncomfortable series of chords for me. Then he lifts it off when he sings the “refrains”, which I can appreciate. It feels a little like Bach. However, I had to include this song for the notable lyric, which is one of my favorites. You have to hear him sing it, though.

Notable lyric: I know a girl who cries when she practices violin / Because each note sounds so pure it just cuts into her / And then the melody comes pouring out her eyes

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From A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995-1997 (1997)

This is a simple song, musically, that has a simple concept, lyrically. It’s all about lights. There’s one for this, and there’s one for that, and that’s basically the song. Observe more lights, repeat. Yet, there is still a meloncholy draped over this song. Bright Eyes proves that even a song about light (cheerful, warming, brightening light) can make you feel depressed. Yet, we’re unsure how to feel. The song ends talking about a lighthouse (we assume) that watches over the ships, and it feels little optimistic.

Notable lyric: There’s one that waits for closing time / And there’s one that gets left on all night / And there’s one that marks the western sky / And it shines down on the quiet street

From Fevers and Mirrors (2000)

Any self-respecting (or should it be self-loathing?) Bright Eyes fan knows the name Arienette. But who is she? She seems to feature in a number of Bright Eyes song, and rarely as a positive figure. We get the sense from his lyrical imagery that she’s broken his heart at least once. Is she an altar ego? Is she an oasis? Is she a jackal? Did she make him escape to New York? Is she even real or is she a simple, but effective, dramatic device?

Notable lyric: And the moon, it leaves silver but never sleeps / And then the silver turns to gray / Oh stay with me, Arienette / Until the wolves are away

From Noise Floor: Rarities 1998-2005 (2006)

The Noise Floor compilation helped sew up a lot of empty pockets in my Bright Eyes collection. One of those missing songs, a song I’d heard years ago courtesy of Jeff Gabhart, but which I’d lost track of, was this one. It includes the Conor yell-line-repeat-line-yell-line approach to ending a song. Pick a phrase, and say it over and over, sometimes modifying it a little bit. For some artists, I find that lazy. For Bright Eyes, I find that poignant. But, I am biased.

Notable lyric: I’m sorry about the phone call / and waking you / I know that it is late / but thank you for talking / cause I needed to / yeah, somethings just can’t wait

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From Lifted Or the Story Is In the Soil, Keep Your Ear to The Ground (2002)

I love how this one starts off. You hear a tape recorder. It plays a short clip, in which a female voice is heard. She says, “It goes on forever and ever and ever”, then it stops, rewinds, and plays “-ever and ever”, then it stops, rewinds, and plays, “-goes on forever and ever…” Meanwhile, a sound, a building sound, is growing behind the tape recorder. Then it bursts into life.

Notable lyric: So I wait for the day when I’ll hear the key / as it turns in the lock / and the guard will say to me, / “Oh my patient prisoner you have waited for this day and finally / you are free! / You are free! / You are freezing!”

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From I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning (2005)

While 2005 saw the release of a “techno” Bright Eyes album, it also saw the opposite. Land Locked Blues, and the other songs on this album, were of a stripped-down, folky (bleeding slightly into country and western), and generally warm manner. This song mosies, as one would say, with clever turns of phrase and brilliant song-writing.

Notable lyric: If you walk away, I’ll walk away / First tell me which road you will take / I don’t want to risk our paths crossing someday / So you walk that way, I’ll walk this way

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Digital Ash In a Digital Urn (2005)

2005 was a big year for Bright Eyes. Conor had recently moved to New York and was working on two simultaneous albums. One album produced this song, a percussive exploration of all of life and all of time. Quite a heady topic for an indie (pop?) song, but one that makes for a jaunty sing-song when you feel the need.

Notable lyric: Singing “I told you son, / The day will come, / You would die, you die, you die, you die…”

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From Oh Holy Fools (2001)

This song comes from a split EP with the band Son, Ambulance. Unfortunately, I don’t own this album. I say “unfortunately” because it has some of my favorite Bright Eyes tracks on it, especially this one. With a tangible ache, lyrics hinting at suicide attempts and life reconstructions, this song takes you to a dark brink, walks you back, and gives you a hug.

Notable lyric: So I’d like to make some changes / Before you arrive / So when your new eyes meet mine / They won’t see no lies / Just love.

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From Letting Off The Happiness (1998)

An early experiment with synthesizers, this song stands out on this sophomore effort by Conor. It shows that he certainly had learned a lot of lessons from the previous album. However, that doesn’t mean he gave up any of his old style. This has just as much of the scrape-sound as his acoustic endeavors.

Notable lyric: and there is nothing more i want / than just one night / that’s free of doubt and sadness

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