![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Conor2.jpg\" "\\"Conor2\\"")
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Imagine our delight when Club Mercy fulfilled its hail-Mary prophecy of bringing Conor Oberst to a small venue in Santa Barbara.\u00a0\u00a0 Sure enough, coming to SoHo on September 30th is Conor Oberst, backed by openers, The Felice Brothers.<\/p>\n
Some of you may have lost track of Conor since Bright Eyes released “Cassadaga” and toured in 2007.\u00a0 To quote Oberst, “you know a lot can happen after everybody falls asleep.”<\/p>\n
Following Cassadaga, ever-prolific Oberst released new albums and toured in 2008 and 2009 as Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, and then followed that up with a record and tour as a part of supergroup Monsters of Folk (in case you missed the latter show at the Granada Theater, you missed arguably the show of the year in 2009).<\/p>\n
We also caught both of his shows in 2008 and 2009 with the Mystic Valley Band that came within striking distance of Santa Barbara (at the Henry Fonda and the Echo).\u00a0 As per the usual with this artist, each show was alternately poignant and incendiary.\u00a0 He leaves it all on the stage, and every song is delivered with last-day-on-earth passion.\u00a0 To sum up:\u00a0 cancel all other plans on September 30th.<\/p>\n
As for the post-Bright Eyes records, both the eponymously-titled first solo record and the second, “Outer South,” with MVB continued where Bright Eyes left off.\u00a0 Both records are filled with stunning songwriting and deliveries.\u00a0 Sure, there were the occasional clinkers on those records, but pound-for-pound Oberst has continued to show why he is amongst America’s best living songwriters and live performers.\u00a0 \u00a0 Set forth below is a sampler of some of our favored songs from his two “solo” records.<\/p>\n
First up from his first solo record is the great Get-Well-Cards<\/em>, with its Dylan-esque allure and well-wrought lyrics.\u00a0 Live, Oberst seethes and spits this song forth.\u00a0 We like the following stanzas in particular:<\/p>\n “I want to be your bootlegger “Now they drive the cars up and down the beach “I want to be your happiness Conor Oberst–Get-Well-Cards<\/em><\/p>\n[audio:https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/03-Get-Well-Cards.mp3|titles=03 Get – Well – Cards]\n Another gem off that same record is Lenders in the Temple,<\/em> with its poignant mix of love lost and greater love corrupted.\u00a0 We like the following lyrics in particular:<\/p>\n “There’s money lenders inside the temple “I’d give a fortune to your infomercial Conor Oberst–Lenders in the Temple<\/em><\/p>\n[audio:https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/04-Lenders-In-The-Temple.mp3|titles=04 Lenders In The Temple]\n We also tout Cape Canaveral, <\/em>with its motions and metaphors of life and the joy to be lost and found amongst the ephemeral.\u00a0 And more stellar stanzas:<\/p>\n “And watch the migrants smoke in the old orange grove I saw your face age backwards ….<\/p>\n “Like the citrus glow off the old orange grove I watched the stars get smaller Conor Oberst–Cape Canaveral<\/em><\/p>\n[audio:https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/01-Cape-Canaveral.mp3|titles=01 Cape Canaveral]\n And finally, off last year’s record, “Outer South,” we highly recommend I Gotta Reason, No. 2, <\/em>wherein Oberst again grapples with the temporal and the forever, while incorporating some stunning Band-esque flourishes.\u00a0 A new key to the kingdom?\u00a0 This we gotta see.<\/p>\n “You know a lot can happen after everybody falls asleep I want to belong to a reason In the last hard drive in the satellites that kick and spin They’re going to hold strong to a reason Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band–I Gotta Reason, No. 2<\/em><\/p>\n[audio:https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/15-Conor-and-Mystic-2nd-Track-15.mp3|titles=15 Conor and Mystic 2nd–Track 15]\n OK, we lied.\u00a0 Finally, below is a great duet with Gillian Welch (David Rawlings accompanying) of Oberst’s fine Lua, <\/em>one of the best songs written in this millennium, if not ever.<\/p>\n Bright Eyes–Lua<\/em><\/p>\n[audio:https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/16-Lua.mp3|titles=16 Lua]\n Imagine our delight when Club Mercy fulfilled its hail-Mary prophecy of bringing Conor Oberst to a small venue in Santa Barbara.\u00a0\u00a0 Sure enough, coming to SoHo on September 30th is Conor Oberst, backed by openers, The Felice Brothers. Some of you may have lost track of Conor since Bright Eyes released “Cassadaga” and toured in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1858\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWant to mix you up something strange
\nBraid your hair like a sister
\nName you like a hurricane”<\/p>\n
\nIt’s ridiculous and everybody knows
\nHear the Mustangs rev at the four way stop
\nYou get ghosted when the light says go”<\/p>\n
\nI want to be your common sense pain
\nWrap your head in a picket fence
\nRebuild after the hurricane.”<\/p>\n
\nThat circus tiger’s going to break your heart
\nSomething so wild turned into paper
\nIf I loved you, well that’s my fault”<\/p>\n
\nIf somebody would just take my call
\nTake my call”<\/p>\n
\nAnd the red rocket blaze over Cape Canaveral
\nYou’ve been a father to me, your 1960’s speak
\nGive me comatose joy like re-run TV
\nWhile the mountainside was shining
\nWild colors of my destiny<\/p>\n
\nChanging shape in my memory
\nYou taught me victory’s sweet
\nEven deep in the cheap seats”<\/p>\n
\nOr the red rocket blaze over Cape Canaveral
\nIt’s been a nightmare for me
\nSome 1980’s greed
\nGives me parachute dreams
\nLike old war movies
\nWhile the universe was drawn
\nPerfect circles form infinity<\/p>\n
\nTiny diamonds in my memory
\nI know that victory is sweet
\nEven deep in the cheap seats”<\/p>\n
\nAsk the forest fire, ask the cop walking on the beat
\nAnd do right by them, work a little in your dreams
\nDon’t let time rob you, hold onto your memories
\nIn the glass houses, in the pages of the Rolling Stone
\nI get a sick feeling, like I’m rocking in a little boat
\nHear the big church bell, it’s ringing like a mobile phone
\nSuch a long Sunday drive, and I’m taking it all alone<\/p>\n
\nAnd cut a new key to the kingdom
\nAnd if anybody asks me, say I want to belong
\nIf anybody asks me, say that it won’t take long
\nIf anybody asks me, say I’m going to get this done
\nIf anybody asks me, say I got a reason<\/p>\n
\nYou’ll find that old footage so everything can live again
\nPretty pink roses, the ostrich and the elephant
\nIt’s the last Noah’s ark, everything’s got to fit
\nIn the creased pages of a letter I’ve been trying to send
\nTo a young widow who is desperate for some kind of friend
\nYou’ll find a long list of eligible, handsome men
\nWho want to lay with her, upon the table of the elements<\/p>\n
\nAnd cut a new key to the kingdom
\nAnd if anybody asks them, say they’re going to belong
\nAnd if anybody asks them, say that it won’t take long now
\nAnd if anybody asks them, say they’re going to get this done
\nAnd if anybody asks them, say they’ve got a reason.”<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/080928_oberst-450x301.jpg\" "\\"080928_oberst\\"")
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