| Bright Eyes – Neely O'Hara Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Here is a Conor Oberst quote from his 2005 concert in Paradiso, which can be found at www.fabchannel.com. This is said right before he goes into "Neely O'Hara:" "This is an old song. Do you guys know "The Valley of the Dolls?" Have you ever seen that movie or read that book? Watched that book or read that movie? That is kind of like the reference point to this jump-off. If you haven’t watched that book or read that movie then you might not know what we’re talking about. You’ll figure it out." Apparently he overestimated a lot of his listeners in assuming that they had the capacity to figure that out, as a lot of people still can not grasp this. Someone said, "I don't think it has anything to do with the book/movie 'Valley of the Dolls...'" According to the songwriter, they are incorrect. |
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| Bright Eyes – Solid Jackson Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Ladyfinger is a band on Saddle Creek (also the label of Bright Eyes). On their MySpace page, they have bios of the members in their band. Here is the first one (picked out because it relates to this song). "Pat Oakes. He plays what they call "skins," which is slang for drums in the industry. He's tall and attractive and well hung and he used to be in this band called Solid Jackson, which was maybe the loudest, most grating band ever, and about which Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) wrote a song called "Solid Jackson." Because they rocked his dick off." Evidently it was a band, and it seems as though they appear in this song, as the band that is playing. The kids off the street are probably there to hear Solid Jackson. |
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| Bright Eyes – An Interview with Conor Oberst Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Here's an excerpt of an interview between Conor Oberst and Kitty Magik. KM: I've always wanted to ask you: What is up with that weird radio interview thing near the end of Fevers and Mirrors? CO: I guess I wanted to be funny and I wanted a break between the second-to-last song and the very last song because it's a way different mood. KM: Is it a real interview? CO: No! I wrote the script and then Todd Baechle [singer for The Faint] played me and our friend Matt did the radio voice. KM: Whoa, you totally fooled me. But I guess it added to your whole tortured-poet mystique at the time. CO: It was a way to make fun of ourselves because the record is such a downer. I mean, that's one part of who I am but I also like laughing and fucking around. |
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| Sufjan Stevens – John Wayne Gacy, Jr. Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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I found an audio interview with Sufjan Stevens. Here are some moments that are pretty relevant to some of the discussions here: Interviewer: “I’m curious why you chose John Wayne Gacy as a subject for a song” Sufjan Stevens: “In my research I came across some crime novels and some biographies of serial murderers, and there’s such a prevalence of this kind of writing in the U.S., and I saw there was a real obsession with Americans with criminal behavior, and John Wayne Gacy was one of these guys. So, I kind of used him as an anti-hero…” Interviewer: “Am I wrong to detect a bit of empathy in that song though?” Sufjan Stevens: “No, I think I do. I think what I’m doing is empathizing with his nature, and I wanted to humanize John Wayne Gacy in the way that the crime novels, and the summaries, and the accounts never did. I won’t pretend to understand his behavior, or what he did. The more that I read, the more horrified I was. I’ll be the first to admit he’s a monster in some ways. But I thought that we have a habit of disassociating with criminals, and with criminal behavior. It’s our way of dehumanizing it, and pretending like it’s not human, that we’re unlike that, and that we don’t have the capacity for that kind of crime. And I see, generally, that as people we’re very selfish, we’re very arrogant, and manipulative, and in very small ways, we’re kind of capable of demonstrating this on other people. And I wanted to experiment with that idea and develop that in a song that was very particular about a living person who was also a living monster.” Interviewer: “Much has been made at the fact that you’re a Christian and there are religious themes in your music…Do you feel that you’ve been pigeonholed as a musician that way?” Sufjan Stevens: “Well, I think those terms do pigeonhole people, and I think it is a little irresponsible to apply religious terms to particular kinds of music that are kind of informed more broadly by all things, by greater things in the world. I think it is definitely a conviction of mine, and it forms a lot of my language, but I’m suspicious of the term ‘Christian’ as an adjective - as a modifier. I think it’s a little awkward. I think we do that as a way to categorize and in some ways to disassociate with that, so then we have a way of understanding that more objectively. But I wonder if that is a bit irresponsible, because I’m much more than just that. You could say that I’m also a regional writer, that I’m obsessed with geography, and that I use all sorts of allusions to tech outside of the Bible – I’m alluding to American Writers, English romantics, poets, speechwriters, So I think there’s so many other terms and modifiers you could use, and I think it is dangerous to use these labels sometimes.” Interviewer: “I agree, but I wonder if maybe people bring that up so often because a lot of people associate negative qualities with the current state of Christianity and not the liberal compassionism you seem to show in your lyrics and interviewers.” Sufjan Stevens: “That might be because what we perceive as Christian in this country is a bit of a bastardization of a church and of an institution. And I like to distinguish between Christianity and Christendom, and Christendom is the institution that is sort of established, the politics of a church. Christianity is the heart and core of a faith, and is really about service and love and generosity and the yielding of your will for other people, and the Christian Right is really a political organization, and I think we should stop associating it with the Church, because it’s reduced an entire philosophy and entire religious consciousness to a set of principles, and to me that is legalization and legality, and those ideas are pretty alien to fundamental Christianity.” I did my best to get it all out, there were a lot of unnecessary "ums" and stutters that I didn't bother to put in there, and there is innately some room for typos, and I apologize that I couldn't do more justice to the experience of hearing him converse. |
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| Sufjan Stevens – Casimir Pulaski Day Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Oh my goodness. I did mean "previous" as opposed to "precious" in the previous post. I never knew how similar the two were. Previous, precious, previous, precious, she was previously precious. | |
| Sufjan Stevens – Casimir Pulaski Day Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Soon after posting the precious post, I got out my album of Illinois on vinyl. There are two cardinals (and more if I have missed any) throughout the album's artwork. I would love to hear other comments on the profound symbolism of the cardinal, esp. it being prominent in the album's artwork. I believe the cardinal to represent the struggles of life, our inability to be in control, our flying and looking forward, yet being slammed with some of life's surprises, that we have no control over, because he takes and takes and takes. And all the while He is watching us from the other side of the window. Either that, or he sees the Lord's face as dawn "in the morning in the window". | |
| Sufjan Stevens – Casimir Pulaski Day Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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As others have posted, Casimir Pulaski Day is celebrated in Illinois during the first Monday March. In the song, Sufjan sings, "In the morning in the winter shade On the first of March, on the holiday I thought I saw you breathing." This implies that he thought he saw her breathing, after her death, on a Monday, March 1st, but does not limit the possibility of her dying on a Monday, March 1st, and his thinking she was breathing on that same day. According to previous calendars, the last Monday, March 1sts were in 2004, 1999, and 1993. According to Wikipedia, "Stevens spent the second half of 2004 researching and writing material for (Illinois)." This all means that the song, Casimir Pulaski Day, is about the girl dying near a March 1st, and in my mind, most likely in 2004. This explains the holiday reference, the title of the song, and provides some other possible background information on the song. I have read through the posts, and have not seen these conclusions elsewhere, and found them relevant to the song. |
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| Jenny Lewis – New Song (Untitled) Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| I tried. There were a couple of parts that could very well need correction. "there's just Opie and me", and when it says "I forgotten, too" were two problem areas. This song is unreleased, but I heard it done when she played Morning Becomes Eclectic on KCRW. If anyone knows a title, too, just speal up. Cool. | |
| Jenny Lewis – Handle with Care (Traveling Wilburys cover) Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| I feel like there is some tongue-in-cheek humor with Conor Oberst doing Dylan's part. He has condescended in interviews upon how the media set him up to be the newest Bob Dylan. And the lines seem fitting not only to his overall situation, but to his being compared to Dylan: "Oh, the sweet smell of success. Handle me with care", as if to put his being compared to Dylan in a small glass case, and laughing at its significance, or lack thereof, and how contrived it is. It seems as though he would be looking down on this because he realizes that he can not be Bob Dylan, merely Conor Oberst, and that once people realize this, they will be let down. This seems ot be one of the many reasons he needs to be handled with care, not only in the future, but even right now, as do we all. | |
| Bright Eyes – A Spindle, a Darkness, a Fever, and a Necklace Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Also, if you pay close attention, the version on Fevers and Mirrors says "one huge and useless roar", definitely not "pointless". | |
| Bright Eyes – At the Bottom of Everything Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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I do have some information. I bought this on vinyl, and it had an insert with the lyrics all over it, including punctuation. It shattered my idea of the ending, but there is a very important period that is detrimental to a lot of our views of the ending, as well as the lyrics posted here. It says: "I'm happy just because. I found out I am really no one." Both versions do make sense. Although this version is not saying that he is happy because he found out he is no one. It is saying that he is happy just because. Separately, unless you would like to still relate the two, he is saying that he found out that he is really no one. So, yes, I feel like this is significant enough to call for a change in the posted lyrics, and this comment was also to inform others, especially those who had commented saying that they appreciated the posted version, just for more information on the closing lines. Alright. |
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| Bright Eyes – An Interview with Conor Oberst Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| As for the possibility of Conor lying to this guy at a NYC concert, I do not see how this is impossible. 1) It is very clear that Conor is lying throughout this interview, and thus has no reservations about lying further about this interview. Also, Conor has lied about the song True Blue. There have been people who have heard conflicting stories about its origins. You can go to the True Blue section and see these in greater detail. But basically Conor announced in a concert at Ridglea Theatre in Texas that it was written for Sesame Street. There have also been reports that he announced it was written for his (nephew, I believe), which makes much more sense. So, why is it impossible for Conor to lie about himself or his music? | |
| Bright Eyes – An Interview with Conor Oberst Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| I don't know if any of you have heard Conor Oberst or Mike Mogis speak. You can hear his voice on the Saddle Creek DVD, as well as, I'm sure, many other ways. The interviewer sounds absolutely nothing like Mogis, and doesn't even sound close to Mike Mogis doing an impression of anyone else, or like anyone else doing an impression of Mike Mogis. The part that Conor is supposed to be speaking sounds a whole lot more like Mike Mogis than Conor Oberst. It sounds like either Mike Mogis or Todd Baechle doing an impression of Conor. After hearing Mike Mogis speak, I am sticking to it being Mike Mogis doing an impersonation of Conor. I hope that someone can figure out who the interviewer is, because it certainly does not sound like Conor or Mike Mogis, nor can I relate it to any of the other numerous "Saddle Creekers" that I have heard. Cool, thanks. | |
| Bright Eyes – Happy Birthday to Me (Feb. 15) Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| By the way, as I understand it, Neely Jenkins was a childhood sweetheart with Conor. Neely O'Hara is who he named the song "Neely O'Hara" after, and is a character in Valley of the Dolls. If you have read the book or seen the movie, then that reference makes sense. Also, Conor's birthday is definitely February 15th. This doesn't exclude that this could also be significant as the day after Valentine's Day, or the anniversary of a death, but does limit those possibilities greatly. | |
| Bright Eyes – A Spindle, a Darkness, a Fever, and a Necklace Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| I bought a copy of the Ready-To-Read book "Mitchell is Moving". It does, in fact, say "fifty" and "sixty", as opposed to fifteen and sixteen. If there are any other questions that can be cleared up with a copy of this book, just let me know. Alright, cool. | |
| Bright Eyes – Entry Way Song Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| I have a copy of this song from a live show in Seattle where he played before "Ben and the Death Cabbers". In it, before he plays the Entry Way Song he says, "It's, uh, on account of Father's Day being tomorrow, I'm going to play it." This leads me to believe that the song is about his father. I, too, originally assumed it was about a female. After he said that, I changed my perspective. I am pretty confident that this concert is from 2001. | |
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