sort form Submissions:
submissions
Bright Eyes – Devil in the Details Lyrics 21 years ago
I agree with past past present. But I think it is the relationships that he forms with other people in an attempt to forget someone else... He can't tell if in forming these relationships he knew he was lying to himself the entire time or if he simply just did without realizing it... Examples as follows:

'Now you have your cake. Don't hesitate. Come on and just do it. '
Now is his opportunity to make a new relationship. There is possibly the chance to love here that he is waiting for, but he's hesitating because he's not sure if his heart is really into it. He's got to psyche himself up to give it a try.

'But know there's no backing out. This is gonna be reality. You can never dream it down. '
After getting in, he can't just decide if it was wrong. He's trying his hardest to make love happen, to make falling in love become a reality. With the lines "I have no way of telling the two apart" he is explaining that he can't tell whether it is true feelings that he has (reality) or just wishful thinking/trying too hard (dreams)

In the next verse where he says "Well I made amends in the general sense but the devil's in the details. And I know the cost, and I wanna stop"
The relationship worked, but now that it's over and he's apologized for it all to her and perhaps himself, he realizes underneath he was only lying to himself and his partner and it is eating him from inside. He wants to stop from doing it again, but he just can't seem to. He had MEANT for there to be love... which is in the next few lines. But he doesn't know, after it is all over, if the whole thing was an accident, or if he should've truly believed in the love that he felt. As time goes, the two feelings are getting mixed up.

Without pasting the rest of the song, which it would really need all of it for me to pick apart to find the meaning, I will just explain:
At the end of the song, he is trying to bury away what has happened. He's going to try to change his habits of lying to himself to be happy. But he just continues to keep dreaming of what would be, and to do so, he has to lie to himself. Once he's done this, he can go on without doubting his feelings.

submissions
Bright Eyes – A Scale, a Mirror, and Those Indifferent Clocks Lyrics 21 years ago
A big attraction for Bright Eyes' songs for me is the atheism. What he has written, I have thought before. I'd imagine that could be true for a lot of people. An uncompromising atheist, Conor is the backup I look for when I am debating the pointlessness of it all.

submissions
Bright Eyes – Waste of Paint Lyrics 21 years ago
It is entirely possible for a person to have gone to Catholic School and not believe in the religion. If you listen to a lot of his songs, a big majority of them encompass the theme of doubting the existence of God. I don't think he was ever "abandoned by God" nor does he feel that he's sad because "God has not come to him".. He simply does not believe in God and that makes him grieve because it leaves an emptiness in him because he doesn't have the same unwavering faith that the people who do believe seem to have... it makes him wonder 'Well, if I can't bring myself to believe in God, then I have to find my OWN reason for living.' And it's hard to do. It's the people that DO believe in God that have found an easy happiness, a way out that he can't seem to fit in to.. I doubt he wants to believe in God. He just wants to feel that same faith.. the kind that doesn't falter. I mean, come on, he is an intelligent guy. They couldn't fool him with religious brainwash at Catholic School. It is tough to rely on faith of your soul alone... If you read ANY of his lyrics, it is obvious he does not believe in 'god'. The last verse of this song is about that.

Overall, this is not the song for a first-time listener. It is about lyrics solely. The melody and guitar are too persistent and repetitive to be of primary appreciation. I believe this song is a question that Conor brings up about battling with not being up to par.

* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.