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A Silent Film – You Will Leave A Mark Lyrics 14 years ago
This song has such few lyrics but from what i can tell it's about white guilt.
Western Europeans are responsible for some of the worst crimes against humanity thanks to their imperialism among other atrocities.(the British in particular) I think he is saying that has left a mark on them. Some shame they have to live with even if they were not directly involved with the actions of their ancestors or even just countrymen(of no relation) that have long since passed. Perhaps this song is saying the blame or guilt is undeserved or wanting to change the attitude.
I feel...
Countries and whole societies are still recovering from the aftermath of the Western European imperialism. If they still have to live with this stain why shouldn't the descendants of the imperialists feel some small token in return, guilt?

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Conor Oberst – Ten Women Lyrics 15 years ago
I think this song, like so many about his ex, are kinda harsh.

I think he is saying he had this relationship with a woman some years ago. He has had 10 (or possibly 10 means MANY!) relationships inbetween.
I love the part where he says "I miss you the same"
doesn't matter how many girls have come and gone, his feeling of missing that 1 special girl never changes.

the 2 faces part is harsh. He is basically now blaming her for why they can't be together. She has 2 faces and he is going to wait for her, like wine in a cellar, to become a true person.

The witness verse seems just him wanting to explain the heartbreak of their relationship.
I hate when he says "One witness to mourn for our love" seems he is saying the hope of their love coming back is dead!

But then the final verse seems to reconcile. He is saying those 10 women can all be forgotten. It can be he and her again! He still has hope!!

WOW
i think this is about Neely. I think no matter how old he gets and whatever cruel or loving words he writes about her he cannot let it go. She will always be that special person in his life. I think he cops out of being with her again by blaming her so-called "two-faces". I think there are many more reasons why they chose not to be together. Perhaps it easier to cling to memories than actually confirm you are not meant to be.
That would officially mark the time for mourning.

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Bright Eyes – Classic Cars Lyrics 15 years ago
Neely!! you know this song is about you! ~At least the first verse is about you. I believe certain parts could be about other girls but you're the girl he was kissin :D

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Bright Eyes – Classic Cars Lyrics 15 years ago
it's about Neely Jenkins, more like 6 years older than him. She was a college student and he was still in High School.

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Bright Eyes – Classic Cars Lyrics 15 years ago
Actually a few years ago (when he was still with Maria Taylor) he said he had never been with a younger woman. Because he was a child prodigy type.. he always hung around older kids/people so all the girls he had even been with were older. This song is about an older girlfriend he had when he was a teenager, Neely Jenkins. She was his first love and singer of the band, that also happen to be on his record label, Tilly and the Wall.

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Bright Eyes – The Biggest Lie (Elliott Smith cover) Lyrics 17 years ago
I agree that the Elliott Smith original version of this song is far better than the cover but with all due respect to Conor this was a pretty informal cover.

Even though I think most Bright Eyes fans should at the very least have an appreciation for Elliott Smith's music even if he is not their favorite musician and visa versa I can't agree that Elliott far surpassed Conor as a song writer. Elliott had some very touching songs and perhaps his lyrics were more authentic and candid but Conor writes each of his songs like an intricate story or poem. You can find themes in albums and songs that bind them together like a puzzle. I think he's really a unique artist in that way. Elliott's lyrics are more simplistic and even though there is beauty in simplicity when it came to skills in craftmanship Conor has him beat!

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Morrissey – Irish Blood, English Heart Lyrics 17 years ago
I think he just mentions having an English heart so then he can proceed to rip England a new one in the song. It's like say-"I'm part black but I hate *n words*" haha. I find it hilarious though.

The song is about being an Englishman but voicing his apprehension to feel proud of that as a man of Irish descent. He wants to be proud of his birth nation but the things that were done to the people he shares a bloodline with in the name of the people he shares a nationality won't let him. Even more so is that the legacy that persists to this day. Until England can unanimously denounce these acts and change the culture that hangs onto these values until the present he will always have shame for being an Englishman in the name if his Irish heritage.

I think if this song were completely candid he could have more solidarity with his Irish roots.
I hate England. People bitch about American imperialism but American imperialism is merely an extension of the English imperialism that was handed to us. England should pay reparations for all the suffering they have inflicted on so many regions of the world for so long! FUCK ENGLAND!

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New Order – Blue Monday Lyrics 17 years ago
I do think it's partly about the war, at least the surface meaning seems to refer to a war or invasion of some sort. But I think truthfully this song is about Ian Curtis. This song came out a couple years before I was born. So it wasn't til I was older and had heard the song many times that I learned the history of the band. Then the song made so much sense to me.

And I still find it so hard
To say what I need to say
But I'm quite sure that you'll tell me
Just how I should feel today

I think these lines are about the anger and resentment they felt for Ian after he took his life.

Now I stand here waiting...
I thought I told you to leave me
While I walked down to the beach
Tell me how does it feel
When your heart grows cold

I think the line 'leave me' talks about abandonment or wish for distance from people.
and the heart growing cold is about death.

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Juanes – A Dios Le Pido Lyrics 17 years ago
This song is beautiful! I almost feel like a song this beautiful would be hard to write in english... at least one that said the same things... my favorite lines of the whole song are

"a dios le pido
que si me muero sea de amor
y si me enamoro sea de vos"

When this song came out I felt this way... I ask of God, that if I die it's out of love and if I love its with you!
gives me chills!
I love the flow of the song.. How each thought flows to the next but each line could stand on its own! Juanes is a great song writer!

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Bright Eyes – Take It Easy (Love Nothing) Lyrics 18 years ago
This song is about Neely Jenkins-- Basically this is what i think went down!

"First with your hands, then with your mouth
A downpour of sweat, damp cotton clouds
I was a fool, you were my friend
We made it happen

You took off your clothes, left on the light
You stood there so brave, you used to be shy
Each feature improved, each movement refined
And eyes like a showroom"

Ok self explanatory! He's getting it on with his friend- perhaps it was a careless decision but they gave into temptation and did it!


"Now they're spreading out the blankets on the beach
That weatherman's a liar, he said it'd be raining
But it's clear and blue as far as I can see"

They expected it to go worse- For there to be some backlash that would cause them to nip the relationship in the bud right away- But that never happened so they kept on with the relationship!


"Left by the lamp, right next to the bed
On a cartoon cat pad, she scratched with a pen:
"Everything as it's always been, this never happened
Don't take it too bad, it's nothing you did
Just once something dies, you can't make it live
You're a beautiful boy, you're a sweet little kid
But I am a woman""

She left him a note basically saying she wants to end it before this gets out of hand. She's a woman (22 or 23) He's just a kid (16 or 17) and their relation is unideal for her(or ILLEGAL!)


"So I laid back down, wrapped myself up in the sheets
And I must have looked like a ghost
Because something frightened me
And since then I've been so good at vanishing"

So he was soooooo traumatized by these feelings-- of loving someone and losing them so abruptly that he not only looks as white as a ghost but he nearly disappears like one! And he's been doing so ever since to escape this inevitable hurt from every happening again!!


"Now I do as I please, and I lie through my teeth
Someone might get hurt, but it won't be me
Should probably feel cheap, but I just feel free
And a little bit empty"

So now, he's damaged goods. He can screw whoever, whenever- He can lie to get into her pants and thats fine because, he learned now he's the one who's gotta leave first so he'll never be hurt again... The girl might feel terrible but he's feels fine and that's what matters. Hurt or be hurt!


"No, it isn't so hard to get close to me
There'll be no arguments, we'll always agree
And I'll try to be kind when I ask you to leave
We'll both take it easy"

Basically he's still a "nice guy". And even when he's dumping the girl after he's used her for the night he'll be nice about it cuz of course he's the victim here--- He's still a nice guy- believe him when he asks you to call for a cab, he's just trying to save himself from t3h hurt!! OH GAWD THE HURT!!! It's better for everyone this way! If Conor's conscience and ego win then doesn't everyone really?


"If you stay to long inside my memory
I will trap you in a song tied to a melody
And I'll keep you there so that you can't bother me"

Every once in a while a girl might come along- And she means more to him than just a cheap night of sex. So instead of ever talking to her again he'll write a song about her so it makes him feel better about keeping her little more than a fading memory. And yet again- EVERYONE WINS!!

so yeah this song is about Conor's evolution into a MANWHORE and of course- It's all NEELY'S FAULT! She stole his innocence and now he has an excuse to use people!

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Bright Eyes – Haligh, Haligh, a Lie, Haligh Lyrics 18 years ago
this song is about his break up with Neely Jenkins... His high school sweet heart and singer for Tilly and the Wall. She's the love of his life and inspiration for 90% of bright eyes songs (pre 2005). He even bought a house in Omaha right next door to hers AND started his team love record label just to sign her band (since no one else would)
she's the girl with the "bright eyes" that he named the band after. Conor had it bad.

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Bright Eyes – Landlocked Blues Lyrics 21 years ago
Dont get me wrong i loved the original version. But once i heard this version it put the song in a whole new light! For anyone that has appreciation for less produced bare bones folk music... you should really enjoy this version! It gives me a new appreciation for the lyrics and emmylou harris adds an awesome dynamic to the song. This version is ALOT better than the first imho.

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Bright Eyes – The Vanishing Act Lyrics 21 years ago
This is my favorite bright eyes songs. I listen to it over and over and over. I agree that it is haunting. I relate to this song more than any other bright eyes song (except for the wine part). I love how he says "once that something is gone it might never
reappear." Sometimes i just feel like disappearing for good, but i already have! also the line "now it all seems so familiar like pages turned on calendars we get the same twelve months to fuck things up-year after year" is what i quote every new years.

The song should have more comments!!! Anyone who hasnt heard it, download it now! It's AMAZING!!!

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Bright Eyes – Messenger Bird's Song Lyrics 21 years ago
He is referencing the same girl he write a good majority of his songs about. This song has proof of that in the lyrics :
"I always returned with some new little song
Some sad story to tell of a brief love affair with a girl I compared to you and she failed" I think songs where he compared girls to her were "June on the west coast" and "The calendar hung itself" When he talks about a girl with bright eyes its usually about her, even the band's name is a reference to this girl. In this song i basically think he's talking about how she is the one great thing in his life when all other things may go bad she's like his rock. And whatever bad things may have happened. (cheating on him and sleeping around) He has forgiven her for it. But if now is not the time or she's not ready to take him back again he'll just travel around some more.... like a messenger bird. Singing songs about her in every city across the country and world and writing more to sing for her when he once again returns :)

Edited by mellow_harsher on July 1 2006, at 05:32PM


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Bright Eyes – First Day of My Life Lyrics 21 years ago
whoa i cant believe conor says that. What about that girl he writes all the songs for? If you write that many songs about one person... Its gotta be love or something dang close... Sound a bit bitter to me. Proof: "I know i'm lazy with the little things, i mean i never held a door. But i still loved you more than anyone since or before"

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Bright Eyes – I've Been Eating (For You) Lyrics 21 years ago
I think he's talking about how he put this girl on a pedestal. And she disappointed him. And the whole basketball part, about the girl he loves sleeping around and with a friend of his.
Conor may have an eating disorder but that's not necissarily(sp) what the song is talking about. He is saying, that when he gets upset he loses his appetite. He gets upset quite often and that why he says "It's been gone half my life." But what he wants her to know is that she won't be the reason for him to lose hit appetite today. Because he's not gonna let this effect him or hurt him anymore. So he's gonna eat just to prove that!

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Bright Eyes – You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will. Lyrics 22 years ago
the way how the beginning and the ending tie eachother together give me chills... goes with the story theme of the album as well... this song is so simple and sounds so cheery but yet is sooo incredibly deep... this song used to make me cry for hours... i will write more later because I love this song so much. I think its my favorite bright eyes song

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Bright Eyes – Messenger Bird's Song Lyrics 22 years ago
i love conors voice. it fits his lyrics... a GOD!! i love what this song is about. Many of Conor's songs have the same theme. He loves this girl so much and everywhere he goes, no matter what girl he is with he always thinks about her. She owns his heart and therefore he will always return to her and with a song. my favorite lyric is "with a girl I compared to you and she failed" no girl no matter how great, can ever replace his true love. "I know all about those things we cannot speak, and just so you know they don't bother me" *cries*

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The Good Life – Your Birthday Present Lyrics 22 years ago
I love this song. It reminds me of things so personal. Like someone that you cared alot about (a past love) You think about that person all the time.... and how you want to tell them what you feel. The only excuse you have to really talk to that person is on their birthday when you simply wish them a happy birthday... but its really so much more. All of your feelings and emotions that you can't express in that simple birthday greeting. Regrets and questions, thoughts and feelings are all chopped down to 2 words. I think that's what this song is about. I love how he says "well, happy birthday anyway."

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The Good Life – Your Birthday Present Lyrics 22 years ago
I love this song. It reminds me of things so personal. Like someone that you cared alot about (a past love) You think about that person all the time.... and how you want to tell them what you feel. The only excuse you have to really talk to that person is on their birthday when you simply wish them a happy birthday... but its really so much more. All of your feelings and emotions that you can't express in that simple birthday greeting. Regrets and questions, thoughts and feelings are all chopped down to 2 words. I think that's what this song is about. I love how he says "well, happy birthday anyway."

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