Bright Eyes

[fox69]

"A Spindle, A Darkness, A Fever, And A Necklace"

"A Spindle, A Darkness, A Fever, And A Necklace"


You turn on a spindle.
You're so much looser now but you're not explaining how you gained such new repose.
I touch the clasp of your locket, with its picture held,
Some secret you wouldn't tell but let it choke your neck.
So we imagine a darkness where all shapes divide,
Solids changing into light, with a burst of heat so bright.
Well fine, don't you do what I want you to.
Yeah, don't degrade yourself the way that I do
Cause you don't depend upon all the shit that I use to make my moods improve.
Near a sea of pianos, there were waves of chords
That crashed against the shore in one huge and useless roar.
And there were girls bringing water,
Like a dream they came to cure the fever of my brain,
And soothe my burning throat.
And they made me a necklace, hanging beads of sweat on a string of my regrets,
And placed it round my neck
And they were singing, don't you do what you've wanted to.
Yeah, don't destroy yourself like those cowards do
Maybe the sun keeps coming up cause it's gotten used to you
And your constant need for proof.

 

[fox69]

"Act Of Contrition"

"Act Of Contrition"


The air was all dust and not so untamed
The ground opened up and swallowed all of the rain
And it swallowed you too into distance unknown
As they sat down for dinner they waited for you to get home
Yeah, they set a place for you.

So don't believe everything you read in that diary of yours
And this nervousness, it isn't all your fault
Its just these shaking hands won't do what I want...them to
And I've tried to guess what it is that you thought about
That act act of contrition that rolled off out tongues as you left
What are you crying for?

Just dust my heart and you will find
There are no fingers printed there
Just the untouched place that lies inside
Of every lonely boy tonight.

And all of this open air has caused me to choke
On your new found hope for me.

 

[fox69]

"All Of The Truth"

"All Of The Truth"


It is not the past few days that have made me feel this way
And it is not the tiny marks of doubt that cover everything I see
It is just the way she looks at me with a love so complete
That I have never seen
And from this grows a strong, undying guilt
The feeling of regret for things I never felt
But oh, I wanted to change and become what she needs
I know what she needs, what I can never be

 

[fox69]

"Amy In The White Coat"

"Amy In The White Coat"


You take your clothes off
Right after school
The tea is on
The flame is blue
And you hope it won't take
All afternoon
The TV's waiting
To talk to you
It's your naked body
On white velour
But there's no feeling
Just weight on you
But you get nauseous now
As he speaks to you
Such proper language
For acts so cruel
He says "we all follow the rules
We can't very well go and break them now can we?
For you, for you, for you..

Your older sisters,
I had them too,
But you're my favorite
You know it's true.
You look like your mother
In that thin disguise
Your parting mouth,
Your shining eyes.
And the way that you hate me
And the length of your hair
It's the reason I make you
It's the bond that we share
Cos you were all trying to endure it
You could easily go and make your own life somewhere
Couldn't you? Couldn't you? Couldn't you, couldn't you, couldn't you, couldn't you, couldn't you?"

With the sun beams bright
You keep your eyes shut
Your alarm clock lies
Get to school on time
But you're a bag of warm fluid
You're the corpse in the class
You walk so near to your locker
You lay so low in the grass
Did you get that coat from the principal?
Did you get that bruise on the bus?
You should wash your hair more
You should look more like us.
But I saw you walking once
Under powder blue skies
You looked cold still
Your collar was high
And I tried to talk to you
But you walked right by
I don't know which I said then,
"Hello" or "Goodbye"
And yet we're all trying to be pure
But it isn't a very easy thing, now is it?
To do, To do, To do, To do, To do, To do
Isn't it, Isn't it, Isn't it, Isn't it, Isn't it, Isn't it, Isn't it, Isn't it?

 

[fox69]

"An Attempt To Tip The Scales"

"An Attempt To Tip The Scales"


Did you expect it all to stop at the wave of your hand?
Like the sun's just going to drop if it's night you demand.
Well, in the dark we're just air so the house might dissolve.
But once we are gone, who's gonna care if we were ever here at all?
Well, summer's going to come, it's gonna cloud our eyes again.
No need to focus when there's nothing that's worth seeing.
So we trade liquor for blood in an attempt to tip the scales.
I think you lost what you loved in that mess of details.
They seemed so important at the time
But now you can't even recall any of the names, faces, or lines.
It's more the feeling of it all.
Well, winter is going to end, I'm going to clean these veins again.
So close to dying that I finally can start living.

[There is a radio interview in the end of this track]

[Radio interviewer (impersonated by Matt Silcock of Lullaby for the Working Class) - R]
[Conor Oberst (impersonated by Todd Fink of The Faint) - C]

[Radio interviewer:] Hi, we're back, this is radio K[beep]x and we're here with Conor Oberst of the band Bright Eyes. How are you doing, Conor?
[Conor:] Fine, thanks, just a little wet.
[R:] Oh, it's still coming down out there?
[C:] Yeah, I sort of had to run from the car.
[R:] Well, we are glad you made it! Now, your new album, "Fevers and Mirrors"... Tell us a little about the title. I know there's a good deal of repeated imagery in the lyrics; fevers, mirrors, scales, clocks: Could you discuss some of this?
[C:] Sure. Let's see, the fever's...
[R:] First, First let me say that, this is a brilliant record, man, we're all really into it here at the station and we get lots of calls, it's really good stuff.
[C:] Thanks. Thanks a lot.
[R:] So talk about some of the symbolisms.
[C:] The fever?
[R:] Sure!
[C:] Well, the fever is basically, what ever ails you, or oppresses you... It could be anything, in my case it's my neurosis, my: depression... but I don't want it to be limited to that... it's certainly different for different people. It's whatever keeps you up at night.
[R:] I see.
[C:] And the, and the mirror's like, as you might have guessed, self-examination, or reflection, or whatever form. This could be vanity, or self loathing. I, I know I'm, I'm guilty of both.
[R:] That's interesting. How about the scale?
[C:] The scales are essentially our attempt to solve our problems quantitatively, through logic or rationalization. In my opinion it's often fruitless, but... always, no, not always... And the clocks and calendars it's uh... is just... time... our little measurements, it's like, it's always chasing after us.
[R:] It is. It is. Uh, How about this Arienette, how does she fit into all this?
[C:] Umm, I'd prefer not to talk about it, in case she's listening.
[R:] Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize she was a real person.
[C:] She's not. I made her up.
[R:] Oh, so she's not real?
[C:] Just as real as you or I.
[R:] I don't think I understand.
[C:] Neither do I, but after I grow up, I will. I mean a lot... A lot of things: are really unclear for me right now.
[R:] That's interesting. Ah, now you mentioned your depression...
[C:] ...No I didn't.
[R:] You're from Nebraska , right?
[C:] Yeah, so?
[R:] Now, let me now if I'm getting too personal, but there seem to be a pretty dark past back there somewhere. What was it like for you growing up?
[C:] Dark? Not really... uh... actually I had a great childhood, my parents were wonderful. I went to a Catholic school. They have... they had money, so... it... It was all... easy. Basically I had everything I wanted, handed to me.
[R:] Really? So some of the references, like babies in bathtubs, are not biographical?
[C:] Well I do have a brother who died in a bathtub. Drowned. Actually, I had five brothers who died that way.
[R: chuckles]
[C:] No, I'm serious. My mother drowned one every year for five consecutive years. They were all named Padraic, so, that's: They all got one song.
[R:] Hmm.
[C:] It's kinda like walking out the door to discover it's a window.
[R:] But your music is certainly very personal.
[C:] Of course, I put a lot of myself into what I do. But it's like, being an author you have to, free yourself to use symbolism and allegory to reach your goal and, and a part of that is, compassion, empathy for other people and their, and their situations. Some of what I sing comes from other people's experiences as well as my own. It:It shouldn't matter, the message is intended to be universal.
[R:] I see what you mean.
[C:] Can you make that sound stop please?
[R:] Yes! [a bell that has been softly ringing for the duration of the interview becomes silent] And your goal?
[C:] I don't know. Uh, create feelings, I guess. A song? It never ends up the way you planned it, though.
[R:] That's funny that you say that, do you think that...
[C:] Do you ever hear things that aren't really there?
[R:] I'm sorry, what?
[C:] Never mind. How long have you worked at this station?
[R:] Oh, just a few minutes. Uh, now you mentioned empathy for others. Would you say that that is what motivates you to make the music that you make?
[C:] No, not really. It's more a need for sympathy. I want people to feel sorry for me. I like the feel of the burn of the audience's eyes on me when I'm whispering all my darkest secrets into the microphone. When I was a kid, I used to carry this safety pin around with me, everywhere I went in my pocket. And when people weren't paying enough attention to me, I'd dig it into my arm until I started crying. Everyone would stop what they were doing and ask me what was the matter. I guess, I guess I kinda [unintelligible].
[R:] Really? You're telling me you're doing all this for attention?
[C:] No, I hate it when people look at me. I get nauseous. In fact, I could care less what people think, about me. Do you feel that? Wanna dance?
[R:] No, I'm feeling sick.
[C:] I really just wanna be warm yellow light that pours all over everyone I love.
[R:] So, uh, you're gonna play something for us now. Is this a new song?
[C:] Yeah, but I haven't written it yet. It's one I've been meaning to write, uh, called, "A Song To Pass The Time."
[R:] Oh, that's a nice title.
[C:] [mumbles] No, it isn't. You should write your own scripts.
[R:] Yeah, I know!

 

[fox69]

"Another Travelin' Song"

"Another Travelin' Song"


Well I'm changing all my strings
I'm gonna write another traveling song
About all the billion highways and the cities at the break of dawn
Well I guess the best that I can do now is pretend that I've done nothing wrong
And to dream about a train that's gonna take me back where I belong

Well now the ocean speaks and spits and I can hear it from the interstate
And I'm screaming at my brother on a cell phone he's far away
I'm saying nothing in the past or future ever will feel like today
Until we're parking in an alley
Just hoping that our shit is safe

So I go back and forth forever
All my thoughts they come in pairs
Oh I will, I won't, I doubt I don't
I'm not surprised but I never feel quite prepared

Now I'm hunched over a typewriter
I guess you call that painting in a cave
And there's a word I can't remember
And a feeling I cannot escape
And now my ashtray's overflowing
I'm still staring at a clean white page
Oh and morning's at my window
She is sending me to bed again

Well I dream of dark on the horizon
I dream a desert where the dead lay down
I dream a prostituted child touching an old man in a fast food crowd
Oh yeah, I dreamt a ship was sinking
There was people screaming all around
And I awoke to my alarm clock
It was a pop song, it was playing loud

So I will find my fears and face them
Or I will cower like a dog
I will kick and scream or kneel and plead
I'll fight like hell to hide that I've given up

 

[fox69]

"Approximate Sunlight"

"Approximate Sunlight"


Used to dream of time machines
Now it's been said we're post-everything
As a child, imagining
Neckties and coastlines
I've seen the show, man, what a sight
Drenched us in approximated sunlight
The crowd was small and mostly blind, but kind
You're too kind

Now you are how you were when you were real
Now you are how you were when you were real

There you go again, on that circular trip
Lick the solar plexus of some L.A. shaman
I'm out of breath, I better sit
Been living hard, living

All I do is follow, just follow this hollow you around

I wouldn't waste another thought
On what is fair and what is not
The Quinceañera dress she bought
Was unstitched with bullets

All the guests in the garden screamed
Women and tires squealing
Such opulence, such misery
Unwinding, unwinding

All I do is follow, just follow, just follow this hollow you around

Now you are how you were when you were real

 

[fox69]

"Arc Of Time (Time Code)"

"Arc Of Time (Time Code)"


You can make a plan
Carve it into stone
Like a feather falling
That is still unknown

Until the clock speaks up
Says it's time to go
You can choose the high
Or the lower road

You might clench your fist
You might fork your tongue
As you curse or praise
All the things you've done

And the faders move
And the music dies
As we pass over
On the arc of time

So you'll nurse your love
Like a wounded dove
In the covered cage of night
Every star is crossed
By phrenetic thoughts
They separate and then collide
And they twist like sheets
'til you fall asleep
And they finally unwind
It's a black balloon,
It's a dream you'll soon
Deny

I hear if you make friends
With Jesus Christ
You'll get right up
From that chalk outline

And then you'll get dolled up
And you'll dress in white
All to take your place
In his chorus line

And then in you'll come
With those marching drums
In a saintly compromise
No more whiskey slurs
No more blonde hair girls
For your whole eternal life
And you'll do the dance
That was choreographed
At the very dawn of time
Singing "I told you son,
The day would come,
You would die, you die, you die, you die..."

To the deepest part
Of the human heart
The fear of death expands
'til we crack the code,
We've always known
But could never understand
On a circuit board
We'll soon be born
Again, again, again, again...

 

[fox69]

"Arienette"

"Arienette"


The fragile keep secrets, gathered in pockets,
And they'll sell them for nothing a cheap watch or locket
That kind of gold washes off.
And the sad act like lepers, they stick to the shadows
And long to ring bells of warning to tell of their coming
So that the pure can shut their doors.
And the angry are animals senseless and savage.
They act without order in logical lapses,
They stain their mouths with blood.
So take my hand, this barren land is alive tonight.
The corn has grown stalks that form a wall too high.
But the wind carries sounds that I can't see from beyond that line.
Then the stalks begin to sway
Oh stay with me Arienette until the wolves are away.
Yeah
Well the wicked are vultures, and they bake in the canyons.
They circle in sunlight and wait for their victims
To collapse and call to them.
And the desperate are water. They will run down forever
As they soak into silence mend up together,
In a dark and distant, dark and distant place.
So don't leave me here with only mirrors watching me.
This house it holds nothing but the memories.
And the moon it leaves silver but never sleep.
And then the silver turns to gray
Oh stay with me Arienette until the wolves are away.

 

[fox69]

"At The Bottom Of Everything"

"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.
She was seated next to this man she had tried to start conversations,
but the only thing she had really heard him say was to order his Bloody Mary.
She was sitting there and she was reading this really arduous magazine article about a third world country
that she couldn't even pronounce the name of.
And she was feeling very bored and despondent.
And then suddenly there was this huge mechanical failure and one of the engines gave out,
and they started just falling thirty-thousand feet,
and the pilots on the microphone and he's saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, oh my god... I'm sorry" and apologizing.
And she looks at the man and says "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."
And then he starts humming this little tune, it kind of goes like this: 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4

We must talk in every telephone
Get eaten off the web
We must rip out all the epilogues in the books that we have read
And in the face of every criminal
Strapped firmly to a chair
We must stare, we must stare, we must stare

We must take all of the medicines too expensive now to sell
Set fire to the preacher who is promising us hell
And in the ear of every anarchist that sleeps but doesn't dream
We must sing, we must sing, we must sing

It'll go like this:

While my mother waters plants
My father loads his guns
He says death will give us back to God
Just like this setting sun is returned to this lonesome ocean

And then they splashed into the deep blue sea
It was a wonderful splash

We must blend into the choir
Sing as static with the whole
We must memorize nine numbers and deny we have a soul
And in this endless race for property and privilege to be won
We must run, we must run, we must run

We must hang up in the belfry
Where the bats and moonlight laugh
We must stare into a crystal ball and only see the past
And in the caverns of tomorrow
With just our flashlights and our love
We must plunge, we must plunge, we must plunge

And then we'll get down there, way down to the very bottom of everything
And then we'll see it, oh we'll see it, we'll see it, we'll see it

Oh my morning's coming back
The whole world's waking up
All the city buses swimming past
I'm happy just because
I found out I am really no one