Saddle Creek also released Letting Off the Happiness in November 1998, a ten-track record that boasted a much more focused and clear sound than the previous album. According to the Saddle Creek press release, it features members of Lullaby for the Working Class, Neutral Milk Hotel, and Of Montreal. It was predominantly recorded in the Oberst family basement in Omaha on an analog eight track reel to reel; with some work also done at keyboardist Andy Lemaster's Athens, GA studio. Although almost all of the tracks feature a full band, June on the West Coast is performed with only acoustic guitar and vocals. Padraic My Prince gives a dramatic fictional account of the death of Oberst's imagined baby brother.
In 2000 Bright Eyes released Fevers and Mirrors, a demonstration of the immense improvement in production quality and musical vision of the band. New instruments such as flute, piano, and accordion were introduced into the song arrangements. After An Attempt to Tip the Scales, a mock radio interview takes place. The mock radio interview features Todd Fink of The Faint doing an impression of Conor Oberst while reading a script that Oberst wrote. The man interviewing is Matt Silcock, a former member of Lullaby for the Working Class. In this interview, the fake Oberst intentionally presents a strange, contradictory explanation of his attitude towards his music. The interview acknowledges criticisms of his lyrics as overblown and insincere, which had begun to appear as the popularity of the band increased, but responds by stating that the lyrics are meant for personal interpretation. In a 'real' interview with KittyMagik.com, Oberst stated about the mock one: "It was a way to make fun of ourselves because the record is such a downer. I mean, that's one part of who I am, but I also like laughing and fucking around."
2002 saw the release of Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground, and since then Oberst has released an almost constant stream of new material on collaborative EPs, split singles, tribute albums, and charity records. He ventured into the studio with Nebraska folk-pop outfit Tilly And The Wall, co-producing their debut album Wild Like Children and released it on his newly established record label, Team Love.
January 2005 saw the release of two albums: I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning, which is a country-tinged mélange of Conor’s finest acoustic songs, featuring guest vocal appearances from Emmylou Harris and Jim James of My Morning Jacket; and Digital Ash In A Digital Urn, which is a more produced, electronic album featuring cameo appearances by Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
One single from each album, Take It Easy (Love Nothing) from Digital Ash and Lua from I'm Wide Awake took the top two slots on Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart, the first time for any artist since 1997.
As had become expected of Bright Eyes recordings, the albums feature an array of talented comrades including members of Rilo Kiley, Tilly And The Wall, Cursive, Now Its Overhead, The Good Life, Azure Ray, The Faint, The Bruces, Neva Dinova, The Postal Service and Audrye Sessions.
In October 2006, Bright Eyes released a compilation of rare tracks called Noise Floor: Rarities 1998-2005.
Bright Eyes released their sixth studio album called Cassadaga on April 9, 2007, preceded by an EP entitled Four Winds on March 6, 2007.
A further 25-30 tracks have been recorded in Portland, Oregon and New York City, with another session planned in Omaha, Nebraska. Some of these tracks had already been performed at live shows.
On February 15, 2011, the band released their seventh studio album, The People's Key.
On June 22, 2020, they released Down In The Weeds Where The World Once Was, their first album on Dead Oceans after a long history with Saddle Creek.
Jetsabel Removes The Undesirables
Bright Eyes Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He assigns every number a name
He believes that they add up to certainty
And he's upset with the fractions that remain
So I examine these maps with my eyes
And at best, I can trace with my finger all the way
To that town where she went an attempt to forget
So Jetsabel cleaned out the closets for me
And she piled the boxes in the hall
Tomorrow when she wakes she'll come take them away
And they will never haunt me again
But it is still hard to sleep with the moon's heavy beams
I run barefoot to the backyard
Just to freeze in my place by the wrought iron gate
Too afraid and ashamed to advance
Today I walked through the snow
And found a field of headstones
They were in rows like the weeks on calendars
Where each box is a day that you can ever escape
Without pills for your poisonous sleep
These memories leak from these faucets that weep
Hot tears splash against the shower floor
And I stand in the steam as if inside a dream
I can see her again by the sink
From behind the bathroom mirror she pulls a thermometer
And placed it underneath my tongue
She said, ?You are as pale as a sheet, you look awful my sweet
Lay down and wait for the sun?
So I stayed in that bed, she brought me water
And read each night from a volume out loud
She whispered soft poetry
Her favorite was 'Annabel Lee'
And those words, like these drugs, comforted me
But the clocks kept waving their hands
And she could not understand
Why my temperature would never drop
And although she promised with tears
That she would always be here
I heard truth like the sounding sea
I said, ?My Arienette, oh, how soon you forget
This house will never be your home
And you will leave in the fall when the trees become graves
And their colors lie dead in the grass?
Gold and green torture me like the lies I believe so easily
Oh my Jetsabel, look at this hell that I have made
If you want maybe drop by sometime
Put some flowers on my grave
So that I will look beautiful in my silent sepulcher
Yeah, that's fine, throw those dresses away
I don't want anything of hers
For the moon never shines and the stars never rise
Without bringing me dreams
Haunted by the ghosts of those bright eyes
The song "Jetsabel Removes The Undesirables" by Bright Eyes is a haunting and emotional meditation on loss and grief. The lyrics are filled with vivid and poignant imagery that captures the feeling of being trapped in the past and unable to move on. The song is a tribute to a lost love, and the singer's attempts to come to terms with the pain of that loss.
The song begins with a description of the singer's brother, who finds comfort in numbers and certainty. The singer, on the other hand, is unable to find any sense of certainty in the world. He is haunted by memories of the past, and the pain of loss is overwhelming. The lines "So Jetsabel cleaned out the closets for me / And she piled the boxes in the hall" suggest that the singer is trying to move on, but is unable to let go of the past. The idea of removing the "undesirables" implies that the singer is trying to rid himself of everything that reminds him of his lost love, but he knows that this is impossible.
As the song progresses, the imagery becomes more intense and surreal. The line "Without pills for your poisonous sleep / These memories leak from these faucets that weep / Hot tears splash against the shower floor / And I stand in the steam as if inside a dream" is a powerful metaphor for the overwhelming feeling of grief. The singer is trapped in a cycle of pain and loss, unable to escape the memories that haunt him.
Line by Line Meaning
My brother finds comfort in calculators
My brother is so obsessed with numbers that he has assigned each of them a name, and he finds certainty in the calculations that he performs.
He believes that they add up to certainty
He thinks that by performing complex mathematical computations, he can predict the future with complete accuracy.
And he's upset with the fractions that remain
He is frustrated by the fact that there are some things in life that cannot be explained or predicted with numbers alone.
So I examine these maps with my eyes
I try to find my way back to the town where someone I loved went to forget the pain and sorrow caused by my face.
And at best, I can trace with my finger all the way
I can only follow the path she took with my finger on the map, but I cannot actually be there with her.
To that town where she went an attempt to forget
She went to that town in an attempt to forget me and the lines on my face that caused her pain.
The cracks and the lines of my face
My face is lined with the wrinkles of a life full of sorrow, desperation and hopelessness, causing her to want to forget me entirely.
So Jetsabel cleaned out the closets for me
Jetsabel sorted through my belongings and cleared out the closets, relieving me of the burden of memories tied to them.
And she piled the boxes in the hall
She gathered all of my possessions and put them in boxes, ready to be taken away and erased from my life.
Tomorrow when she wakes she'll come take them away
She will return in the morning to take those boxes of possessions away with her, freeing me from the burden of them.
And they will never haunt me again
I will be free from the painful memories and associations brought to me by those objects, finally letting me move on.
But it is still hard to sleep with the moon's heavy beams
Even though I have rid myself of these belongings, the memories and pain they represent still linger with me and make it hard to sleep.
I run barefoot to the backyard
I seek refuge from my troubled thoughts and memories by running barefoot to the backyard.
Just to freeze in my place by the wrought iron gate
I am paralyzed, unsure of where to go or what to do next, and simply stand there staring at the gate.
Too afraid and ashamed to advance
I am too scared and ashamed to move on from my painful past and confront the future.
Today I walked through the snow
I took a walk through the snow, trying to escape my own thoughts and find solace in nature.
And found a field of headstones
I stumbled upon a cemetery filled with graves, each one representing a life lost to the passage of time.
They were in rows like the weeks on calendars
The graves were lined up in neat rows, reminiscent of the days and weeks on a calendar, as if each person's life could be contained in a box.
Where each box is a day that you can ever escape
Each grave represents a life that is over, and there is no escaping the inevitability of time and death.
Without pills for your poisonous sleep
Without medication to help me sleep, my memories and emotions are overpowering and cause me pain.
These memories leak from these faucets that weep
The memories that haunt me are like a leaky faucet, constantly dripping and causing me pain and sadness.
Hot tears splash against the shower floor
I cry uncontrollably while in the shower, where my tears mix with the hot water and flow down the drain.
And I stand in the steam as if inside a dream
The steam from the shower envelops me like a dream where everything is hazy and uncertain, but the pain and sadness are still very real.
I can see her again by the sink
I have a vivid memory of her washing her hands at the sink, and it feels like she is almost there with me.
From behind the bathroom mirror she pulls a thermometer
She takes a thermometer out from behind the bathroom mirror, as if to check my temperature.
And placed it underneath my tongue
She puts the thermometer inside my mouth to take my temperature.
She said, ?You are as pale as a sheet, you look awful my sweet
She comments on my appearance, concerned for my well-being, and tries to comfort me.
Lay down and wait for the sun?
She tells me to lay down and wait for the sun to rise, reassuring me that things will be better in the morning.
So I stayed in that bed, she brought me water
I followed her advice and stayed in bed, and she took care of me by bringing me water to drink.
And read each night from a volume out loud
She would read aloud to me from a book, trying to distract me from my troubles and soothe me to sleep.
She whispered soft poetry
She spoke in a gentle, soothing tone, reciting poetry to try to comfort me.
Her favorite was 'Annabel Lee'
Of all the poems she read, her favorite was 'Annabel Lee', a poem about lost love and memory.
And those words, like these drugs, comforted me
The words she spoke and the poetry she read were like a drug, providing temporary relief from the pain of my memories and emotions.
But the clocks kept waving their hands
Time continued to pass, and the clock kept ticking, even as I tried to escape my troubles and pain.
And she could not understand
Even though she tried her best to comfort and care for me, she could not fully understand the depth of my pain and sadness.
Why my temperature would never drop
Despite her efforts, my physical and emotional state never seemed to improve, and it was unclear how to fix the deeper issues that were causing me pain.
And although she promised with tears
Even though she made promises to always be there for me, she was brought to tears by the difficulty of the situation.
That she would always be here
She vowed to always stay by my side and be there for me no matter what.
I heard truth like the sounding sea
Despite her well-meaning promises, the reality of the situation felt overwhelming and deep like the sounds of the sea.
I said, ?My Arienette, oh, how soon you forget
I remind her that she will not always be by my side, and that she is already forgetting the depths of my pain and sadness.
This house will never be your home
I tell her that she will never truly understand or feel at home in this house, which is filled with painful and overwhelming memories for me.
And you will leave in the fall when the trees become graves
I predict that she will leave me in the fall, when the natural world begins to die and become like a grave, and that this house will no longer hold any meaning for either of us.
And their colors lie dead in the grass?
The vibrant colors of fall will give way to a dead, gray landscape, mirroring the emptiness of our relationship and the pain of my memories.
Gold and green torture me like the lies I believe so easily
The colors of fall, representing life, growth and renewal, only serve to remind me of the lies I have believed and the pain those lies have caused me.
Oh my Jetsabel, look at this hell that I have made
I acknowledge that I have caused my own pain and suffering, and that she is powerless to help me escape it.
If you want maybe drop by sometime
I offer her an invitation to come visit me, but it is clear that our relationship is broken and that it will not provide any relief from my pain.
Put some flowers on my grave
I suggest that she come to my grave and pay her respects after I am gone, acknowledging that my pain and suffering will not last forever.
So that I will look beautiful in my silent sepulcher
I express a desire to be remembered after I am gone, and hope that she will come to my grave and remember me fondly.
Yeah, that's fine, throw those dresses away
I encourage her to get rid of all of my belongings, including the dresses that belonged to someone I loved, as they only serve to remind me of painful memories.
I don't want anything of hers
I do not want to be reminded of the love and loss that I have experienced, and would rather sever all ties with my past.
For the moon never shines and the stars never rise
My pain is so all-consuming that I cannot even find solace in the natural world and the beauty of the stars and moon at night.
Without bringing me dreams
The only relief I can find from my pain is in dreams, where I can temporarily escape from reality and let go of my pain and sadness.
Haunted by the ghosts of those bright eyes
I am constantly haunted by the memories of a lost love, represented by the bright and beautiful eyes of someone I once cared for deeply.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
4nthony
It is just ridiculous how good of a songwriter Conor Oberst is.
kg
Dude was a prodigy
Shane Shank
This song contains all the theme s that make Fevers and Mirrors a modern classic. Amazing!
Stefan B.
That this track wasn't included in the US/EU release of "Fevers & Mirrors" was a grave oversight. And thirteen years after first hearing it I still have no idea how to pronounce Jetsabel. Is it a Spanish name and pronounced Hetsabel? Conor pronounces it Catsabel.
Lucas 愛
@deathislife I just explained the correct pronunciation of the latinized fenician name
deathislife
@Lucas 愛 That's not how Conor pronounces it in the song though. He pronounces it with a 'k' for some reason.
Lucas 愛
Jet as in jet (the aircraft)
sabel as in "Isabel"
J. Lang
It's like he took this song and turned it into a whole album.
Marcus Dunning
They dont want bam margera to get hos papis baclava
breigha j.
he wrote this when he was so young yet it sounds like he's experienced a lifetime of pain. now THAT'S what's I call songwriting.