Bright Eyes Poll

[ani]

My friends are rabidly obsessed with Conor Oberst aka Bright Eyes. I find him pretentious and untalented. What are your opinions?

 

[philN]

Pretentious? Perhaps. Untalented? No.

"I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning" is a pretty decent record and he has managed to create some legitimately good songs throughout his career.

 

[blackwasp]

I agree with Phil. I listen to quite a bit of Bright Eyes. Some songs I can't stand ("The City Has Sex"), but he also has some great material ("Bowl of Oranges", "Waste of Paint", "False Advertising", etc.). I think the good songs far outnumber the bad ones. Plus the line "I know what must change/**** my face, **** my name/they are brief and false advertisements" is one of my favorite lines of all time.

 

[cygnusx1]

the only 'bright eyes' I know is Art Garfunkles song ........ but I guess that's not it ..

 

[valorJ]

Due to lack of voting options you're not going to get a very accurate result. I think a few of his songs are ok, and some of them are so bad they make me want to kick myself in the face.

 

[funyun]

No matter what you think of his music or his singing style, you have to admit he's a fantastic lyricist. Probably one of the consistantly best ever in my opinion.

 

[nadroj1985]

No matter what you think of his music or his singing style, you have to admit he's a fantastic lyricist.

Not really, you don't

He can be a fantastic lyricist, but he can also be a pretty bad one, IMO. Same goes for the music. Conor is pretentious, which sometimes leads to very good music, and sometimes leads to embarassments. I like his good moments (False Advertising, Don't Know When..., Land Locked Blues) quite a bit, though.

 

[funyun]

He can be a fantastic lyricist, but he can also be a pretty bad one, IMO. Same goes for the music. Conor is pretentious, which sometimes leads to very good music, and sometimes leads to embarassments. I like his good moments (False Advertising, Don't Know When..., Land Locked Blues) quite a bit, though.

What are some of his bad moments, musically and lyrically in your opinion? I don't like everything he does, but I don't think I've heard any songs by him that I thought were downright bad. Dull, maybe, but not bad. I will admit that though soemtimes his voice can go right along with the music perfectly, other times it can be annoying.

 

[popslittlewonder]

I thought bright eyes was a Sherlie Temple Movie ?

 

[nadroj1985]

What are some of his bad moments, musically and lyrically in your opinion? I don't like everything he does, but I don't think I've heard any songs by him that I thought were downright bad. Dull, maybe, but not bad. I will admit that though soemtimes his voice can go right along with the music perfectly, other times it can be annoying.

Well, I tend to think almost all of "Digital Ash..." is poor musically (I can't say I listened to it enough to catch the lyrics).

Lyrically, hmmm.... what's a good example....

"Road to Joy" is a good one; it shows all sides of BE, really. Parts of it I like quite a bit; the morning image, the flowers sleeping in their beds, failures always sounded better, etc. But then there are parts like:

"I have my drugs, I have my woman
They keep away my loneliness
My parents have they have their religion
But sleep in separate houses."

It's just too obvious, too cliched, IMO. Pleasures to keep away loneliness, a quick comment about religion and divorce, all thrown in together with no real subtlety or artistry. In fact, the whole song is like that; a bunch of random polemics against religion, war, poverty, without a real connecting vision. You could make the argument, of course, that Conor is the "sun coming up with no conclusion," and that's why he's just throwing this stuff out there, but that's just an excuse, really. It's mostly just poor lyricism (IMHO, as always).

 

[funyun]

"I have my drugs, I have my woman
They keep away my loneliness
My parents have they have their religion
But sleep in separate houses."

Te worst part of it is the second line. I think the last line makes up for the verse with the exception of the second line.

But really, on second thought, it's not that bad taken as a whole. The last lines aren't really passing commentaries on religion or divorce at all, but about re-emphasizing the first two lines. He's saying he has his ways of dealing with loneliness, and his parents have their own, but still they're lonely anyway and cut off from others, sort of no matter what they do.

 

[JaelWasWickedCool]

Pretentious? Perhaps. Untalented? No.

"I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning" is a pretty decent record and he has managed to create some legitimately good songs throughout his career.

i agree, though i (based on one listen) thought "i'm wide awake, it's morning" a bit boring.

 

[Arnold_Philips]

I think you're required as an indie kid not to like Bright Eyes: I voted no.

 

[invisible trousers]

he definitely needs to lay off the coke

 

[blackwasp]

I think you're required as an indie kid not to like Bright Eyes: I voted no.

Should your tastes be defined by what you don't like? Out of curiosity, what is your argument for such a statement?


I think "No Lies, Just Love" is a pretty good song overall, but I can't stand the ending where he sings "I will be pure, like snow, like gold." The combination between the unsubtle lyrics and overly-high melody isn't very good, IMO. However, up until that part I think the lyrics are top-notch.

 

[Arnold_Philips]

^There are a couple songs I like, but I htink I genuinely dislike most of his work. I saw him live, and his fans were sorta annoying, so that turned me off too. The same thing happened with Drums & Tuba. Their fans were stinky Dead Heads.

 

[nadroj1985]

Te worst part of it is the second line. I think the last line makes up for the verse with the exception of the second line.

But really, on second thought, it's not that bad taken as a whole. The last lines aren't really passing commentaries on religion or divorce at all, but about re-emphasizing the first two lines. He's saying he has his ways of dealing with loneliness, and his parents have their own, but still they're lonely anyway and cut off from others, sort of no matter what they do.

Yeah, good point. The thing is that lyrics either hit you or they don't; what's cliched and obvious to one person will be moving to another. It doesn't really matter who's "right"; what does matter is finding music that moves you.

And, I do find Conor's major lyrical sin to be lack of subtlety. His lyrics are too forceful, too weighty. Nietzsche would say that he needs to teach his words to dance.

 

[philN]

And, I do find Conor's major lyrical sin to be lack of subtlety. His lyrics are too forceful, too weighty. Nietzsche would say that he needs to teach his words to dance.

I think that's a good way to put it. I have been trying to put my finger on what it is about Conor's lyrics that I sometimes find charming and at other times find repulsive, but I think you hit the nail on the head. I do love his directness in certain circumstances, but I don't think he always weaves in the directness and the more poetic lyrics together very well at times. Although, the times that he does manage to pull it off are pretty brilliant.

 

[nadroj1985]

Although, the times that he does manage to pull it off are pretty brilliant.

Yeah, that's the thing with that kind of lyricism. It goes for the fences with every line, and any fan of baseball will tell you that home run hitters have the most strikeouts (aside from Barry Bonds, but he's not human).

 

[blackwasp]

^There are a couple songs I like, but I htink I genuinely dislike most of his work. I saw him live, and his fans were sorta annoying, so that turned me off too. The same thing happened with Drums & Tuba. Their fans were stinky Dead Heads.

I see. Sometimes I feel like avoiding concerts because 95% of concertgoers are asses, no matter how good the band is.