i'm wide awake, it's morning / digital ash in a digital urn

Bright Eyes made it happen and killed off the pain following the arc of time on the road to joy and down the rabbit hole with these simultaneous statements of acoustic and electronic duality.  The critical and commercial breakthrough of 'Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground'  led to an invitation to join the Vote for Change tour in 2004 with Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., John Fogerty, and Neil Young.  It was around this time that the band coalesced into the trio of Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and Nate Walcott.  They recorded 'I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning' during February of 2004 at Presto! Recording Studios in Lincoln, Nebraska with Mike Mogis producing the sessions that featured Conor Oberst on guitar and vocals;   Mike Mogis on mandolin, pedal steel, and 12 string guitar;  Nate Walcott on trumpet;  Nick White on piano, organ, rhodes, and vibraphone;  Jesse Harris on guitar;  Alex McManus on guitar;  Tim Luntzel and Matt Maginn on bass;  Jason Boesel and Clark Baechle on drums;  Jim James, Emmylou Harris, Maria Taylor, and Andy LeMaster on vocals;  and Jake Bellows on harmonica and vocals.  

The sound of the album was primarily acoustic.  Oberst reveals:  "It was deliberate in that it was very much a reaction to “Lifted.” I mean, I’m really glad we did “Lifted,” but it became this grandiose project, and there just wasn’t a lot of space in it. It was layer upon layer of instruments built up. I wanted a Beach Boys’ ”Pet Sounds” or a Leonard Cohen’s “Death of a Ladies’ Man” feel—an immense orchestral wave. But, when that was over, I thought, There’s no space in this music; it’s too much. My immediate reaction to that was to want to do a record that was just guitar and my voice, with everything stripped down—taking what we were doing live a lot, and going for more of one of those seventies folk records that I like a lot. You know, Neil Young or Jackson Browne or Joni Mitchell...It’s weird. That’s just the way my voice is. It’s the most untrained voice you could think of. We came from the school where, you know, we’d play these shows where no one would care, so we’d sing as loud and aggressive as we could to get people to listen to it. It was exaggerated—we put everything we had out there, totally overdoing it every time and having no concept of subtlety ... We had recorded [three] songs and sent them to [Emmylou Harris].  A couple months passed and she got back to us and said she liked them. Mike and I flew to Nashville in April and spent a day in the studio recording the parts. She's just amazing...It was a little overwhelming, kind of disarming.  She goes out of the way to make you not feel intimidated. I was sitting on the couch listening to playback and she was talking to me, and then she started singing. Going through my head was that I was hearing her voice right from her mouth, singing my words. It was pretty overwhelming. I had to kind of excuse myself and take a breath."

At the same time, Bright Eyes were working on material that had a more dense, electronic sound.  Oberst says:   "We did the Wide Awake record first, in February. We'd been playing those songs live for the last couple years.  We didn't release it because Mike (Mogis) and I were more excited about working on this other batch of songs that were more rhythm based. We could have put out Wide Awake and not played any shows, but Robb Nansel and Saddle Creek weren't stoked on that idea. So we just held off...They are two very different records in my mind. The only thing they have in common is the musicians playing on them and that they're coming out on the same day...Music is still the main thing. I feel the best when I'm playing and recording. The rest of the world just kind of washes away, and I feel good and safe and happy. That's what I do it for. The rest of it… it gets crazy and sometimes unpleasant; exhilarating and sometimes terrifying. But that's what living is -- all that stuff at once, and you have to do the best you can with it."

'Digital Ash in a Digital Urn' was produced by Bright Eyes at Presto! Recording Studios in Lincoln, Nebraska and features Clark Baechle on drums;  Karen Becker on cello;  Jason Boesel on drums and percussion;  Donna Carnes on violin;  Digital Audio Engine on programming;  Sabrina Duim on harp;  Thomas Kluge on viola;  Jiha Lee on flute;  Clay Leverett on voice and drums;  Andy LeMaster on vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, and additional programming;  Mike Mogis on guitar, wurlitzer, keyboards, timpani, chimes, theremin, and baritone;  Stella Mogis on voice;  Conor Oberst on vocals, guitar, bass, piano, wurlitzer, keyboards, samples, and baritone;  Kim Salistean  on violin;  Jimmy Tamborello on programming;  Maria Taylor on vocals;  Nate Walcott on trumpet and string arrangement;  Nick White on keyboards;  and Nick Zinner on guitar on keyboards.  


In November of 2004 in the wake of the Vote For Change Tour, two singles (one from each of the upcoming albums) charted at the top two spots on Billboards singles chart.  Both albums were released on the same day in January of 2005.   'I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning' hit number ninety-three in Australia, twenty-three in the UK, and ten in the US; while 'Digital Ash in a Digital Urn'  went to number one hundred and thirty in Australia, forty-three in the UK, and fifteen in the US.  The first leg of the tour promoted the acoustic album and the second leg the electronic album.  In November, they released the live recordings of 'Motion Sickness'.  

http://www.conoroberst.com/

https://saddle-creek.com/brighteyes/







"Lua" reached number one on the US singles chart. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aZh261KZWI


I know that it is freezing, but I think we have to walk
I keep waving at the taxis, they keep turning their lights off
But Julie knows a party at some actor's West side loft
Supplies are endless in the evening by the morning they'll be gone

When everything is lonely I can be my own best friend
I'll get a coffee and the paper, have my own conversations
with the sidewalk and the pigeons and my window reflection
The mask I polish in the evening by the morning looks like shit

And I know you have a heavy heart, I can feel it when we kiss
So many men stronger than me have thrown their backs out trying to lift it
But me I'm not a gamble, you can count on me to split
The love I sell you in the evening by the morning won't exist

You're looking skinny like a model with your eyes all painted black
Just keep going to the bathroom, always say you'll be right back
Well, it takes one to know one, kid, I think you've got it bad
But what's so easy in the evening by the morning's such a drag

I got a flask inside my pocket, we can share it on the train
And if you promise to stay conscious I will try and do the same
We might die from medication, but we sure killed all the pain
But what was normal in the evening by the morning seems insane

And I'm not sure what the trouble was that started all of this
The reasons all have run away, but the feeling never did
It's not something I would recommend, but it is one way to live
Cause what is simple in the moonlight by the morning never is

It was so simple in the moonlight now it's so complicated
It was so simple in the moonlight, so simple in the moonlight
So simple in the moonlight...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YacSnjpGkk







"Take It Easy (Love Nothing)' went to number two on the US singles chart. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGsRK45Chp8


First with your hands and then with your mouth
A downpour of sweat, damp cotton clouds
I was a fool, you were my friend
We made it happen
You took off your clothes, left on the light
You stood there so brave
You used to be shy
Each feature improved, each movement refined and eyes like a showroom
Now they are spreading out the blankets on the beach
That weatherman is a liar
He said it would be raining but it's clear and blue as far as I can see

Left by the lamp, right next to the bed
On a cartoon cat pad she scratched with a pen
"Everything is as it's always been
This never happened
Don't take it too bad it is nothing you did
It's just once something dies you can't make it live
You're a beautiful boy
You're a sweet little kid but I am a woman."
So I laid back down and wrapped myself up in the sheet
And I must have looked like a ghost cause something frightened me
And since then I've been so good at vanishing

Now I do as I please and lie through my teeth
Someone might get hurt, but it won't be me
I should probably feel cheap but I just feel free...
And a little bit empty
No, it isn't so hard to get close to me
There will be no arguments
We will always agree
And I'll try and be kind when I ask you to leave
We'll both take it easy
But if you stay too long inside my memory
I will trap you in a song tied to a melody
And I will keep you there so you can't bother me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyR3CJ04pQU

'I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning'
full album:

https://myspace.com/brighteyes/music/album/i-m-wide-awake-it-s-morning-8512493

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL25797F63F3F5EDD3





All songs by Conor Oberst.

"At the Bottom of Everything" – 4:34
"We Are Nowhere and It's Now" – 4:12
"Old Soul Song (For the New World Order)" – 4:29
"Lua" – 4:31
"Train Under Water" – 6:05
"First Day of My Life" – 3:08
"Another Travelin' Song" – 4:16
"Land Locked Blues" – 5:47
"Poison Oak" – 4:39
"Road to Joy" – 3:54

'Digital Ash in a Digital Urn'
full album: 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3892C496471E911C




"Time Code" – 4:28
"Gold Mine Gutted" – 3:56
"Arc of Time (Time Code)" – 3:54
"Down in a Rabbit Hole" – 4:33
"Take It Easy (Love Nothing)" – 3:20
"Hit the Switch" – 4:47
"I Believe in Symmetry" – 5:24
"Devil in the Details" – 4:06
"Ship in a Bottle" – 3:27
"Light Pollution" – 3:16
"Theme from Pinata" – 3:18
"Easy/Lucky/Free" – 5:31

lifted or the story is in the soil, keep your ear to the ground

Bright Eyes expanded their lineup and their horizons with the lyrical folk angst of this ambitious and sprawling indie opus.  Conor Oberst had gradually developed the band from a solo songwriting project with a revolving cast of musical guest stars.  After a long tour with his other band, the Desaparecidos, Oberst reunited with his longtime collaborator and producer Mike Mogis to work out some new songs at Presto! Studios in Lincoln, Nebraska over two months to create 'Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground'.  Mogis also engineered the tracks with Andy LeMaster.  Oberst says: "There was no premeditation.  I just started writing songs and they weren't like the old ones. It's nothing I thought about ahead of time, it just ended up not being so dark. I still think there are some sad moments on the record...I try to use whatever tools possible to convey whatever you want to call the truth of the song.  I'm willing to draw from my own life, or craft something to achieve something that's real at the end of the song. That's just what writing is. Anyone who gets hung up on if a song applies to my life or is something I created has missed the point...It's the most enormous production I've worked on as far as arrangement and scope. I demoed the record twice. I recorded the songs once in Athens and then did a demo here and each time fleshed out the songs a little more and kind of came up with the parts I thought would be good. Both Andy and Mike took my ideas and ran with them."

The sessions included a huge cast of musical characters:  Oberst on guitar, piano, rhodes, organ, and vocals; Mogis on banjos, bells, hammered dulcimer, vibraphone, glockenspiel, mandolin, electric guitar, dobro, and pedal steel guitar; Andy LeMaster on electric guitar, keyboards, vocal harmonies; Matt Focht, Clint Schnase, and Mike Sweeney on drums; Todd Baechle, Jenny Lewis, and Blake Sennett on vocal harmonies; plus contributions from Clark Baechle on drums and clarinet; Clay Leverett on drums and vocal harmonies; Jiha Lee on flute and vocal harmonies; Chris Brooks on piano; Gretta Cohn on cello; Sean Cole on harmonica; Julee Dunekacke on French horn; Margaret Fish on bassoon; Orenda Fink on trumpet and vocal harmonies; Jason Flatowicz on trombone; Tiffany Kowalski on violin; Casey Scott and Matt Maginn on bass; Katie Muth on oboe; Ted Stevens on electric guitar; and Maria Taylor on piano, organ, and vocal harmonies. Three distinct choirs were involved:  Clark Baechle, Todd Baechle, Orenda Fink, Jiha Lee, Andy LeMaster, A,J. Mogis, and Maria Taylor in the first Choir; Rob Bass, Andy LeMaster, Mike Mogis, and Jeff Tafolla on the Country Choir, and "everyone that was drinking at Duffy's and O'Rourke's that night" on the Drunk Choir.  

Released on the independent label Saddle Creek Records that Oberst co-founded, 'Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground' only charted at one hundred and sixty-one in the US and one hundred and thirty-eight in the UK; but it received critical acclaim as one of the best albums of 2002, and eventually sold over two hundred and fifty thousand copies.  With all of the hoopla, Oberst took the show on the road:  "a 14-piece band, but there will be 20 of us total.  Something like 13 will be in a bus and the rest will ride in my van. This tour by far is an anomaly...We made this record enormous, and just once we wanted to present it as it should be."  











http://saddle-creek.com/brighteyes/



http://www.conoroberst.com/











'Spend An Evening With Saddle Creek' documentary:










"Method Acting" 


There's no beginning to the story
A bookshelf sinks into the sand
And a language learned and forgot in turn
Is studied once again
It's a shocking bit of footage
Viewed from a shitty TV screen
You can squint at it
Just snow and static
To make out the meaning
And keep on stretching the antenna
Hoping that it will come clear
We need some reception
A higher message
Just tell us what to fear
Because I don't know what tomorrow brings
It's alive with such possibilities
All I know is I feel better when I sing
Burdens are lifted from me
That's my voice rising




"False Advertising"


In a house by myself
I hear the ice start to melt
And I watched the rooftops weep for the sunlight
And I know what must change
Fuck my face, fuck my name
They are brief and false advertisements
For a soul, I don't have
Something true I have lacked
And spent my whole life trying to make up for
But I found, in a song
And in the people I love 
They will lift me up out of darkness





"Lover I Don't Have to Love" 


Now it's two o'clock
The club is closed and we are up the block
Your hands are on me
Pressing hard against your jeans
Your tongue in my mouth
Trying to keep the words from coming out
You didn't care to know
Who else may have been you before





"Bowl of Oranges" 


We'll keep working on the problem 
We know we'll never solve
Of love's uneven remainders
Our lives are fractions of a whole
But if the world could remain within a frame
Like a painting on a wall
Then I think we'd see the beauty then
And stand staring in awe
At our still lives posed
Like a bowl of oranges
Like a story told
By the fault lines and the soil





"Nothing Gets Crossed Out"


Well the future's got me worried 
Such awful thoughts
My head's a carousel of pictures
The spinning never stops
I just want someone to walk in front
And I'll follow the leader
Like when I fell under the weight 
Of a schoolboy crush
Started carrying her books 
And doing lots of drugs
I almost forgot who I was
But I came to my senses
Now I'm trying to be assertive
I'm making plans
Going to rise to the occasion, yeah
Meet all their demands
But all I do is just lay in bed
And hide under the covers
Yeah, I know I should be brave
But I'm just too afraid of all this change
And it's too hard to focus 
Through all this doubt
I keep making these to-do lists 
But nothing gets crossed out
Working on the record seems pointless now
When the world ends, who's gonna hear it?






"Make War" 


Once too often I've retreated 
Into the depths of my despair
I built a barricade to block you on the road
But standing there with all of my possessions 
Piled higher than a houseI felt closer to you
Than you ever would have known
So let's let all these tiny acts of charity
Become ground on which to build
A monument to commemorate our time
And though you say you've found another
Who will surely speed you on your way
Don't let the forest grow over
That path you came there by
But you will, so, so hurry up
And run to the one that you love
And blind him with your kindness
And he'll make war, oh, war,
On who you were before
And claim all that has spoiled in your heart





"Laura Laurent" 


Laura, you were the saddest song
In the shape of a woman
Yeah, I thought you were beautiful
But I wept with your movements
But I hope that you're laughing now 
From that place on the carpet
Where we shared a sleeping bag 
In your sister's apartment
Oh, how she would worry so
You know, I was just a stranger
But she asked me to care for you, yes she did
And I went and betrayed her





"Let's Not Shit Ourselves (To Love and to Be Loved)"


Well I awoke in relief, 
My sheets and tubes were all tangled
Weak from whiskey and pills in a Chicago hospital
And my father was there, in a chair by the window
Staring so far away
I tried talking, just whispered, 
"So sorry, so selfish"
He stopped me and said, 
"Child, I love you regardless
There's nothing you could do 
That would ever change this
I'm not angry, it happens
But you just can't do it again"
So now I try to keep up, 
I've been exchanging my currency
While a million objects pass through my periphery
Now I'm rubbing my eyes, 
'Cause they're starting to bother me
I've been staring too long at the screen
But where was it when I first heard 
That sweet sound of humility?
It came to my ears in the goddamn loveliest melody
How grateful I was then to be part of the mystery
To love and to be loved
Let's just hope that is enough





'Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground'
full album:




0:00 The Big Picture
7:12 Method Acting
10:54 False Advertising
16:46 You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will.
20:11 Lover I Don't Have To Love
24:11 Bowl of Oranges
28:59 Don't Know When But A Day Is Gonna Come
35:31 Nothing Gets Crossed Out
40:05 Make War
46:21 Waste of Paint
52:51 From A Balance Beam
56:31 Laura Laurent
1:01:27 Let's Not Shit Ourselves (To Love And Be Loved)