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Bright Eyes |
| Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground |
| Saddle Creek | 2002 | Album |
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Genius is a word thrown around much too often. So when I read this in the title of Rolling Stones review for Bright Eyes singer Conor Oberst I was a bit apprehensive before I listened to the album. Anytime I hear the word genius I expect the worst. It makes me lull in a vertiginous state similar to how I feel when my wife’s People magazine announces the “Sexiest Man Alive.” But, the album was not a gratuitous meandering of pretensions, in fact Oberst made me feel alive. Oberst’s songwriting is poignant and very human. He has been able to bring out himself, whether real or fictional, into the open with a series of songs that connect like a series of novellas.
From what I understand this album has moved away from Oberst’s angry outbursts, which remind me of someone who suffers from manic depression. Lifted, or The Story is in the Soil Keep Your Ear to the Ground, integrates Obert’s songwriting with a melodic background supported by an orchestra and choral support . However, for the die hard Oberst fans you can still get a taste of the Beat ravings in songs like the “Big Picture”, and “Let’s not Shit Ourselves,” so please don’t despair.
Being an aesthetic at heart I prefer the songs “False Advertising” and “Lover I Don’t Have to Love.” False advertising invokes an examination of our humanness and freedom. Oberst questions the identity of himself stating, “Fuck my face. Fuck my name. They are brief and false advertisements for a soul I don’t have;” is he questioning our brevity, his depth, his soul? I don’t know and can’t even guess, but it made me question myself and enter a dream state of wonderment, and that is where I find the value of a true poet. In Lover I Don’t Have to Love Oberst presents a melodic rendition of the perfect relationship. Or at least an empty rendition of a relationship, a fun encounter with no meaning. “Bring on the kid with the chemicals.” In the end these two songs present a brilliant contrast of the need for love.
Don’t miss the brilliant songs “Waste of Paint” and “Don’t Know When But A Day is Gonna Come”. They remind me of my first reading of Howl, way before I could understand the meaning, but young enough to fully understand the essence – “Well, I’m not a child. No I am much younger than that.” In a day of wasted values and the errant consumption of time, Bright Eyes brings refreshing intellect to the world. Oberst’s songwriting is brilliant, and the melodies are refreshing, there are hints of vintage works from the Beatles to old Cowboy tunes to encompass the listener and force attention to the words. I wouldn’t throw this on for background music since Oberst’s cacophony is often intrusive, but Lifted offers the “intellectual listener” a brief sense of meaning.
This album is not for the casual listener though. If you want to ease yourself into this grab a couple albums from Beck first. The imagery alone is worth the hour. I recommend listening to the album while typing out your fears and dreams furiously - Kerouac style.
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| J. Banks |
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