r/brighteyes

This piano cover is so relaxing. Really makes you appreciate the melody which at this point is iconic.

Anyone know of other good piano covers of bright eyes songs?

what's a line that has seared itself into your soul?

Apologies for any weird formatting.

Here’s what I’ve noticed so far as a big Bright Eyes/Pheebs enthusiast… any others I might have not noticed yet? The Lost Weekend album touches a lot on her processing her past with various “lost boy archetypes” including her own father. Edited for grammar.

#1. “Best dressed”

Sorry I was not ready
I was a kid in a sheet
I know I don't get to miss you
But that's what's happening
We were hopeless, but we had our moments. (BOCC- “Dylan Thomas”- “That ghost is just a kid in a sheet”)

#2. “As Above”

Omaha, Nebraska- Conor’s home
I thought about Air Force One
Flying over Omaha

#3. “Lost Weekend”

We were playing for no one on top of the world (BOCC during covid)

I've been using my friends and losing the plot (Easy lucky free- bright eyes: “Sometimes I worry that I've lost the plot”)

Surviving my gift until I get shot ( Moon song tie in as well as about John Lennon’s COD and documentary dubbed the “Lost Weekend- A Love Story” It chronicles the 18-month romantic relationship (1973–1975) between John Lennon and May Pang, his young personal assistant).

Lyin' awake, you were glow in the dark
Lying to me with your hand on my heart
It's all gonna be alright, we'll make it through… You know me, and I'll never forgive you for that (“Winters End” by Bright Eyes-Just take me there and say and lie to me and say
And lie to me and say
It's gonna be alright, It's gonna be alright, It's gonna be alright, It's gonna be alright)

#4. "Haunted"
It is not this house that's haunted
But I don't want it either way
I've been daydreaming about sleeping
But by the evening, I'm wide awake (Bright Eyes- album title “I’m wide awake, it’s morning”/also mentions in the song “Road to joy”)

I'm off to see an old friend
We're gonna get on the road again
I'll be waving from the plane
I'll see the sky in the ocean
(Bright Eyes- “At the bottom of everything”-“So there was this woman and she was on an airplane,
and she was flying to meet her fiance seaming high above the largest ocean on planet earth.”)

A couple ibuprofen
And I'm sleeping all the way
I have no secrets, only feelings
And I know those go away
(Reference to mending a broken heart with residual remnants)
There is a difference between lying
And deciding what not to say

So I'm putting on my makeup
While they're lighting the stage up
Just like candles in a cake
If you're gonna make a wish,
(At the bottom lyrics- “Where are we going?" and he looks at her and he says "We're going to a party.
It's a birthday party. It's your birthday party.
Happy birthday darling. We love you very, very, very, very, very, very, very much.")

then you better be specific
You're gonna have to live it every day
I'm gonna put myself together
You can go or you can stay
I'm gonna put myself together either way
(Reference to toxic relationship and moving on…)
Till then, I'm gonna listen to the song of the siren
No, I am not afraid
You won't have to open a heart that's broken
Water's gonna flow in either way
My heart is growing either way

i cannot stop listening to june on the west coast it’s so underrated and one of my favorite bright eyes songs. something about the lyrics is so raw and beautiful i just love that song. anyone agree?

Title says it all, what do you peeps think are some of the more underappreciated songs from the BE discography, even amongst us diehards?

I'd go with Going for the Gold. It's so poetic and yet equally wonderfully self aware, incredible for such a young artist at the time (insert Dylan comparison here).

The line: "I know a girl who cries when she practices violin. Cause each note sounds so pure, it just cuts into her, and then the melody comes pouring out her eyes. Now to me, everything else, it just sounds like a lie" is just fucking incredible to me, idk maybe misty eyes because I've loved it for so long.

What about all of you?

Mine has to he im wide awake its morning but it was a tough decision!

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! ❤️

Hey all. So, I'm pretty excited. I haven't seen a non-festival BE show since 2011 and then 2007 before that. I saw they announced the Metro show and couldnt pass it up. Anyone else going? I'm going solo, which is never a bad thing but always down to hang out!

I am in desperate search of a ticket 😭🙏 after the year I’ve had, my heart needs to see bright eyes.

Edited to add I’m aware of the resale tickets on AXS! I just can’t afford $150 per ticket so thought I’d ask the universe for some luck here