Part Two of My 285 Series: Better Know Your Bright Eyes

Today the almighty iTunes has randomly chosen for me to review...."Going For The Gold" off of Oh Holy Fools - The Music of Son, Ambulance and Bright Eyes.

The first Bright Eyes track off of this 2001 split with Son, Ambulance, "Going For The Gold" starts off with some subdued finger-picking which is eventually joined by a majestic flute part. After the flute dies away Conor's voice enters and offers up another sad song. The first verse makes it seem as if the narrator has broken a heart (with the help of one of Conor's oft mentioned vices, alcohol). The narrator's lies have caused him to jump the next plane to get away from a "sentencing" of his realized guilt in the situation.

The second verse splays nicely as a group of people watch a deeply affecting drama and then go about there normal routine. This part of the song illustrates the contrast between the entertainment we enjoy and the doldrums of our daily lives, as the people in the theater watch a hero die and then go back to the office. Some of the people, inevitably, stop into a coffee shop where our focus switches to the artists dispensing their "wisdom" (i.e. sadness, pain) as if its "some kind of contest."

At this point Conor launches into what can only be seen as self-parody (and like-wise a poke at all sad songs) as he declares he is winning this contest and will be winning the gold medal, making him the deserving "champion of idiots." If the song ended here it would seem that Conor had completely renounced his shoe-gazing ways and declared songs about pain irrelevant. But, alas, the song goes on to tell the tale of a girl who cries whenever practicing violin because of the purity of the notes. When the narrator hears this "everything else just seems like a lie."

The musical structure of this songs consists mostly of the aforementioned finger-picking, but at various points the mood is accentuated with flutes, keyboards, some light electric guitar, and even a mellow horn part. All in all, it is a beautiful and meaningful song about the fact that, though our pain may sometimes seem trivial or even forced, it is important to recognize it and realize that it is a beautiful means to growth. Or at least that's what I got.

I give this song a five out of five. Put it on your "Classic Bright Eyes" playlist.

Part One Of My 285 Part Series: Better Know Your Bright Eyes

For part one of my ambitious 285 part series iTunes has randomly chosen "The Invisible Gardner" from A Collection of Songs...for me to interview.

The song opens with some dissonant, bass-heavy synth noise, then after a quick false start Conor starts up a rare Bright Eyes instrumental tune. His repetitive acoustic strums lay a nice rhythm track when coupled with the light (and equally repetitive) drumming. The melody is carried by a sole chirpy synth part. One can easily imagine Conor's voice commanding this song with quite the same melody. Another synth part can be heard somewhere in the background laying down a nice texture for the improvised melody line.

This song accomplishes two rare feats (1) it is a rare instrumental Bright Eyes tune (the only one if my memory serves me correctly) and (2) it is an instrumental that can actually hold the listener's attention. That said, I have to give this song four stars out of five, just because of the bouncy, fun mood (a Bright Eyes rarity in itself) and the melody line that snakes its way into your subconscious for hours. Put this one on your "Walk Through The Park" playlist.