I've loved this song for forever but I never knew what to write about it. It's like everything in the song is articulated so perfectly that nothing I say could possibly add to its greatness; it could only make it worse.
So I won't try to do that. I'll just write what I think it means.
The song is, essentially, part of the ongoing theme of the search for truth in bright eyes songs (False Advertising, No Lies Just Love, and yeah, this one too).
As an "independent" artist Conor probably feels that music should convey a certain feeling or say a certain thing, and should always have truth found within it. Music is just one of those things you shouldn't lie to, its too pure and will know instantly if you're being dishonest. Since Bright Eyes, rightly or not, has been accused of being an "emo" band, its understandable that Conor feels as though he's fabricating things or lying within (or to) his music. Basically, he's saying that music, when interwoven with people's different emotions and beliefs, can come off as lies, and so it is a "risky" thing to do.
I think it also goes back to the whole "can you put a price on music/art?" thing. Like Conor could be considered a lier or con artist (not actually saying that he is...) because he makes people pay for his music, when some would argue if he truly loved music, he would not need money as motivation to make it.
Anyway i feel like i've barely scratched at the surface of this song...there's just so much feeling in it...its impossible to listen to it and not feel something. Like everyone, I love the part at the end;
"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"
I wish I could be capable of feeling something so deeply.
I've loved this song for forever but I never knew what to write about it. It's like everything in the song is articulated so perfectly that nothing I say could possibly add to its greatness; it could only make it worse.
So I won't try to do that. I'll just write what I think it means.
The song is, essentially, part of the ongoing theme of the search for truth in bright eyes songs (False Advertising, No Lies Just Love, and yeah, this one too).
As an "independent" artist Conor probably feels that music should convey a certain feeling or say a certain thing, and should always have truth found within it. Music is just one of those things you shouldn't lie to, its too pure and will know instantly if you're being dishonest. Since Bright Eyes, rightly or not, has been accused of being an "emo" band, its understandable that Conor feels as though he's fabricating things or lying within (or to) his music. Basically, he's saying that music, when interwoven with people's different emotions and beliefs, can come off as lies, and so it is a "risky" thing to do.
I think it also goes back to the whole "can you put a price on music/art?" thing. Like Conor could be considered a lier or con artist (not actually saying that he is...) because he makes people pay for his music, when some would argue if he truly loved music, he would not need money as motivation to make it.
Anyway i feel like i've barely scratched at the surface of this song...there's just so much feeling in it...its impossible to listen to it and not feel something. Like everyone, I love the part at the end; "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"
I wish I could be capable of feeling something so deeply.