How he remembers all his lyrics when he plays shows is beyond me, but I love him for it

"It's clear to see it's not them but me Who's lost my self-identity And I hide behind these books I read While scribbling my poetry Like art could save a wretch like me With some ideal ideology That no one could hope to achieve And I'm never real, it's just a sketch of me And everything I've made is trite and cheap And a waste Of paint, of tape, of time" Spoke to me in a way that a no song ever has before. Beautiful.

Coming across old songs like this, that were somewhat noticed, but not enough to be on the radio is what motivates me to keep looking... for that undiscovered feeling.

This song is still one of his best works. I can't stop listening to him.

Feels like a million years ago.

What amazes me more than the beautiful content and message of his songs is the fact that he has such profound wisdom and insight at such a young age. He is truly a tired old soul.

" no no i'm a student of medicine, the brother of a folk singer you don't understand" he changed it haha

so raw and beautiful

He holds nothing back. Genius.

One of the most beautiful songs ever written.

One of his greatest songs, not to mention one of the greatest songs I have EVER heard. I'll listen to this until I die.

I love that he changed it to "the brother of a folk singer" This is beyond awesome. Thanks for putting it up! Dave. =)

this is by far my favorite bright eyes song, and i doubt i'll ever find one that enthralls me more

"when someone receives the prize that was promised, by those fairytale's that drugged us" oh my god...word

This is my top song of the last decade.

I wouldnt go that far but he is one of the best songwriters of any generation!

This song is just breathtaking live. The lyrics are so incredable. I have just recently discoved Bright Eyes and I did so throught this very video. :)

gah i've seen this video so many times. every couple of months i find it again, and ever single time i do, i'm moved by it. it's a beautifully simple song, and he sings it with such feeling.. i just can't get over it. thank the stars for conor oberst.

One of my absolute favorite songs, It's simply amazing!

this is like the most fun song ever to play

This is the song that really caught my attention of his. His lyrics are so flowing and beautiful, I immediately bought everything of his that I could find. He's one of the most amazing songwriters that are out there today, I can see a lot of Dylan in him.

one of my favorites thanks for posting

reminds me of the first time I listened to Tangled Up in Blue. Funny because I heard this song months before listened to Tangled up in blue. I hear new things every time I hear Connor's masterpiece.

this song gives me chills.

Thank. You. So. Much. For uploading this. The quality is just amazing. Not to mention the performance is... amazing.

love the verse about the couple who fit together like a puzzle....it's brilliant.

This is way way way past amazing. I can't get over how much I love it. The lyrics are just so inspiring and the way he sings it with such enthusiasm you can really tell it comes from his heart.

best song ever written

Genius!!!

I love this song.

one of the best performances i have ever seen Conor do . Absoloutely amazing

it's so beautiful it makes me shake and i can't take all the emotion..

i love this song.

This is a song you smoke a cigarette to, while rubbing the back of your neck thinking of your mistakes

So much emotion.

how can anyone not like this?

this song gave me the chills the first time i heard it.

Wow. Phenomenal video, thanks a ton for posting it.

He is perfect..

my favorite song

its a song and a story a really nice story hes a genius

Conor isn't the new Dylan (although that's pretty high praise) he's the heir to Elliott's throne. There will never be another Elliott Smith, but Conor Oberst has certainly taken his torch and run with it! Thank you for that!!!

I've listened to this atleast 20 times in a row:)

he looks possesed by his music. absolutely astonishing.

I used to hate Bright Eyes. Then, I saw this video and now I quite enjoy them.

One detail I took note of is that his singing voice in this recording is the same as the recording on his CD...

no matter how much I try to tell myself that I love every Bright Eyes song equally... I just can't. This. is truly Conor's best piece of work. I love this so much.

It was my pleasure,glad you enjoy it =D

You know you're a good artist when you make a beautiful song that sums up are your work in like 5 verses creatively, and call it all shit in the same song.

I have a friend; he's mostly made of pain And he wakes up, drives to work and straight back home again He once cut one of my nightmares out of paper I thought it was beautiful, I put it on a record cover And I tried to tell him that he had a sense Of color and composition so magnificent And he said, "Thank you please, but your flattery It's truly not becoming me Your eyes are poor - you're blind, you see No beauty could have come from me I'm a waste of breath, of space, of time" I knew a woman; she was dignified and true And her love for her man was one of her many virtues Until one day she found out that he had lied And she decided the rest of her life from that point on would be a lie But she was grateful for everything that had happened And she was anxious for all that would come next But then she wept - what did you expect? In that big old house with the cars she kept And such is life she often said With one day leading to the next You get a little closer to your death Which was fine with her, she never got upset And with all the days she may have left She would never clean another mess Or fold his shirts or look her best She was free to waste away alone Last night my brother he got drunk and drove And this cop he pulled him off to the side of the road And he said, "Officer, officer, you got the wrong man No, no, I'm a student of medicine, the son of a banker, you don't understand!" The cop said, "No one got hurt; you should be thankful And your carelessness, it is something awful And no, I can't just let you go And though your father's name is known Your decisions now are yours alone You're nothing but a stepping-stone On a path to debt, to loss, to shame" Last few months I've been living with this couple Yeah, you know the kind who buy everything in doubles Oh, they fit together like a puzzle And I love their love and I am thankful That someone actually receives the prize that was promised By all those fairytales that drugged us And they still do me; I'm sick, lonely No laurel tree; just green envy Will my number come up eventually? Like love's some kind of lottery Where you scratch and see what's underneath It's sorry: just one cherry, play again, get lucky So I've been hanging out down by the train's depot No, I don't ride; I just sit and watch the people there And they remind me of windup cars in motion The way they spin and turn and jockey for positions And I wanna scream out that it all is nonsense All your life's one track - can't you see it's pointless? But just then my knees give under me My head feels weak and suddenly It's clear to see it's not them but me Who's lost my self-identity And I hide behind these books I read While scribbling my poetry Like art could save a wretch like me With some ideal ideology That no one could hope to achieve And I'm never real - it's just a sketch of me And everything I made is trite and cheap And a waste of paint, of tape, of time So now I park my car down by the cathedral Where the floodlights point up at the steeples Choir practice was filling up with people I could hear the sound escaping as an echo Sloping off the ceiling at an angle And when the voices blend they sound like angels I hope there's some room still in the middle But when I lift my voice up now to reach them The range is too high way up in heaven And so I hold my tongue, forget the song Tie my shoes, start walking off And try to just keep moving on With my broken heart and my absent god And I have no faith but it's all I want To be loved and believe in my soul, in my soul In my soul, in my soul

Anyone know any other folk song writers like Oberst? Probably my favorite contemporary artist.

so beautiful

they shouldn't be under comparison, they are both different and both incredible artists. they may carry similar tones or some similar lyrical ideals. but not everything can or should be placed in a box so simply.

I'm in love.

that song is a journey. lol

great... great performance, im so friggin jealous

Did anyone notice how you can hear the echo at 5:30 when he says "echo"? Ddddddddddddamn

You're nothing but a steping stone...On the path,to debt!

this song is soooo cool

number one

Like art could save a wretch like me... i love that line

I fourth that. I love this song. ^___^

the brother of a folk singer

Did you notice he said "Student of medicine/ brother of a folk singer" instead of "son of a banker"? pretty cool :) great video!!

(speechless)

Sad's not bad, though. His lyrics are so beautifully sad. (By the way, I like your screen name.)

haha didnt notice the lyric change until i read ur comment. hes awesome

How is he not more famous?

This is the first time I am hearing this song, and though I think the lyrics are beautiful and read like poetry, I am not a huge fan of the music composition. His voice has inflections of pain and is saturated with emotion, but it does not stand out for its musical component. It is all in the words, for me...

@Xxgirlover413xX Hm. I mean that he's not autotuned live-- or on his record. Some performers sound very different live vs on the CD. Oberst does not, because he's good, and doesn't need to be. He also does some impressive vocals which sound unnatural, yet he manages them naturally. Impressive.

@mkoscienski1 bright eyes is just a name, yeah? All I hope for is that he keeps on making music. I loved all his music under other names, ya know? :)

Thanx bud! Ditto for you.

so ive been listening to this song for a couple months now. i listen to it almost once a day but ive tried dipping into his other songs and most are too country for me any suggestions bright eyers?

he changed that lyric when i saw him live and everyone screamed, but i guess this audience is polite.

anyone know where I can find the rest of this show?

Eoic!

Dylan will stay Dylan...the best songwriter ever in my opinion. But in its on way, Conor Oberst is truly amazing. His album I'm Wide Awake It's Morning make me think of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. For me he's now one of the best songwriter in the world. A song like Four Winds is a masterpiece in terms of songwriting. He also did breathtaking protest songs like When The President Talks To God.

♥

fucking genius

I'm not categorizing him as country but some of his song def have a country sound.... not even dogging him but it's true (as my opinion) i'll call it folk and say it's awesome. any other recommendations for songs?

Enjoy the music, dont talk about it.

and bright eyes songs. bowl of oranges. haligh, haligh, a lie, haligh. the calender hung itself. hit the switch. i believe in symmetry. oh, you are the roots. lets not shit ourselves. (if you hate the government)

he is a geniussssss

it might of been "..medicine, son of a lawyer..." he says later "though your fathers name is kwn" ! hes so good!

@oak1236 i dunno the bright eyes stuff has always been it for me. i dont doubt any direction he goes will be anything less than amazing, just sayin the bright eyes stuff has a place in my heart like nothing else in the world.

never noticed this 2:23 ...im a student of medicine brother of a folk singer you dont understand. haha pretty cool

This is brilliant, where and when was this performed?

Good music begins with the lyrics.. this is excellent song writing, one of my favorite bright eyes songs.. too me a song that doesnt have anything to say ( 99% of the junk they play on the radio) is horrible regardless of how good the instruments are played..

yes.

@ALfaDuB101 yeah but ive noticed he tends to make up different lyrics sometimes lol. he skipped "my head feels weak" at 4:31

@in2ennui thats the thing, the music composition seems a bit off to me, i love this song, but like the way he squeezes syllables in idk it just doesnt seem to fit sometimes. i love the song regardless

mezmerizing

please dont kill bright eyes conor!

Beatles, Modest Mouse, Brand New

ha, angst

Sunrise, Sunset. Dont Know When but a Days going to come. The City has Sex. Make War. At the Bottom Of Everything. First Day of my Life. The calender hung itself. and Going For The Gold. They are all great Bright Eyes songs. Maybe try some from the Mystic Valley Band as well.

its a good song. Best song ever?? thats insane. It is too bad he ruins the end.

Will my number come up eventually? Like love's some kind of lottery Where you scratch and see what's underneath It's sorry, just one cherry I'll play again, get lucky Conor is genius

My big problem with people and music is when they say stuff is horrible. I feel that you can listen to something and not like it, but you can't call it horrible. I completely respect it when people say they don't like Oberst, but when they call his music awful it just annoys the hell outta me.