I have a car in Nebraska. When I bought it, they gave me a satellite radio, and there's an 'indie-rock' station. It's just nothing I'm interested in.
— Conor Oberst
To outsiders it probably seems like splitting hairs, but to me, Bright Eyes is a simply the collaboration between myself and Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott. What you hear is definitely the sum of all our ideas and represents all three of us. But I still write the songs myself.
They say it's better to bury your sadness in a graveyard or garden that waits for the spring to wake from its sleep and burst into green.
I really just want to be warm yellow light that pours over everyone I love.
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. Now, to me, everything else just sounds like a lie.
There's all body types, but there's just one size.
Why are you scared to dream of god when it's salvation that you want?
There's a small amount of super-wealthy people that want to maintain their billions and billions of dollars. Those are the people who are really making the decisions.
To me, a political song is also a personal song. Most political activism has been driven by empathy for other people and the desire for a world that's less divisive. Even if songs aren't overtly political, they can make a listener more empathetic.
I've cried, and you'd think I'd be better for it, but the sadness just sleeps, and it stays in my spine the rest of my life.
No lies, just love.
If the world could remain within a frame like a painting on the wall, I think we'd see the beauty then and stand staring in awe.
Love's an excuse to get hurt.
Screaming is bad for the voice, but it's good for the heart.
I prefer career artists that have spent time honing their craft, as opposed to, 'I won a karaoke contest on a reality show and now I have a record.' That's such a drag. The music that comes out of it is so poor.
We must memorize nine numbers and deny we have a soul.
Let the poets cry themselves to sleep, and all their tearful words will turn back into steam.
When everything is lonely I can be my best friend.
Now I believe that lovers should be draped in flowers and laid entwined together on a bed of clover and left there to sleep, left there to dream of their happiness.
I like to feel the burn of the audience's eyes when I'm whispering all my darkest secrets into the microphone.
