THEORY: Are Poison Oak and Make War about the same person?
I’ve been listening to Poison Oak recently, and noticed a lot of the language and narrative matches or aligns with Make War.
I know the background behind Poison Oak, and don’t want to disrespect Conor, his family, or anyone involved; but this is makes enough sense to me to share publicly for feedback.
POISON OAK
“In Polaroids you were dressed in women's clothes
Were you made ashamed, why'd you lock them in the drawer?
Well I don't think that I ever loved you more”
MAKE WAR
“…exchanging our affections through a drawer.”
—-
POISON OAK
“Then when you turned away
When you slammed the door
When you stole the car drove towards Mexico”
MAKE WAR
“Our love is dead but without limit,
like the surface of the moon
or the land between here and the mountains.”
Mexico famously has 3 mountain ranges, and many high summits.
—-
MAKE WAR
“Once too often, I have retreated into the depths of my despair
I built a barricade to block you on the road”
I searched the Bright Eyes Setlist.FM for tour dates in Mexico. They toured internationally across many countries, but didn’t perform their first show in Mexico until 2007, post-Cassadaga.
—-
POISON OAK
“I was young enough, I still believed in war”
Make War was released on Lifted a few years before Poison Oak.
—-
MAKE WAR
“Because the truth is that gossip's
as good as gospel in this town.”
POISON OAK
“But me I'm a single cell on a serpents tongue”
I take it initially that Conor was bitter, and holding that against his cousin in Make War.
After coming to terms with his feelings, he realizes he’s the only one left who genuinely cares enough to support them.
His retaliation was only a projection of the love he had.
—-
POISON OAK
“And I'm glad you got away
But I'm still stuck out here”
MAKE WAR
“cause it is too hard to belong to someone who is gone. My compass spins. The wilderness remains.”
—-
Make War is sort-of tongue in cheek, yet endearing for what it can’t say. There are many double entendres in the song that reference change, identity, and self-reflection:
“You should count your change before you're even out the door”
“Return, return to the person that you were.”
“And he'll make war, old war, on who you were before.”
“You can save face but you won't ever save your soul.”
“And tie him up in your likeness”
[Bridge]
“Alright, help me out, boys!
Alright, now”
(On its own seems innocent. Paired with the subtext, I wonder if he’s saying that passive aggressively)
—-
I don’t intend my theory/evidence to open old wounds, or be disrespectful to any community or individual. I’ve listened to Bright Eyes, and Conor for nearly a decade, and he’s my favorite artist of all time. I just made the realization, and looked further into it. He was clearly hurt, and the contrast between songs displays his growth and maturity over that period.
Considering he recorded his 2008 self-titled album in Mexico at a mountain villa, and the spiritual nature of his music during that period; It appears he embraced a landscape that once haunted him.
I understand the implication of these observations suggest something much deeper than what has ever been publicly stated. I’ve noticed some parallels between this story/theory connect to older songs his catalogue, but I’ll hold onto it just in case this all sounds delusional.
Let me know what you think! ❤️