Sunday, October 5, 2014

The Emotion Behind Music

So in class last week, we were talking about the emotions associated with music. It's obvious that music evokes emotion in listeners whether it is for good or for bad and we talked about this all in class. What came to my mind, and I mentioned this, was the band Bright Eyes. I remember hearing an interview where the lead singer talks about this horribly sad song he wrote about his brother drowning in a bath tub--and him talking about that he writes sad music for attention. Now when I was looking to find this interview I couldn't find it anywhere. Then I realized it's because it was actually a song on one of his records. After reading up a little bit more on it, I guess Conor Oberst, the lead singer, mocked this interview and put it on his record. I've been listening to Bright Eyes for a long time and my family is sort of "obsessed" with his music if that's what you'd even call it. But I found the whole interview hilarious just because I understand the type of person that he is.
I think that Conor understand the sort of emotion that he can bring out of people with his music. In the reading, Church references Adorno saying "pain is needed in popular music to liberate the listener from it's otherwise crippling malaise". Not only does Conor realize that, but he also knows that people like to feel sorry for others and themselves--this is what makes him such an amazing and successful artist.

Here is the song that is on his record. For the first about two minutes it's just one of his songs and then it turns into an interview. It isn't until about 6:45 that he starts talking about people feeling "sorry for him" so skip ahead if you'd like--but I recommend listening to the whole thing because it is definitely worth it.

I think it's really interesting that he put this on his record, I mean if we're being honest Conor Oberst is kind of a messed up guy. And you'll get that if you listen to the interview. But I also look at it as a reference to pop culture in itself. Almost mocking interviews--I guess it depends on how you look at it but I love his music and even if his songs are fictional they're still great to listen to.

Also, here is the song about his "brother" that he talks about. It's also great.



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