Conor Oberst - Ruminations (October 14 2016) Album • Page 9

Scary to think it's literal too, he was diagnosed with a cyst in his brain and was in the hospital for a while

 

The "blood on the bamboo" lyric catches me. I don't get the reference there.

Is it relating to the saying, "speak softly but carry a big stick?"

 

no clue, that totally threw me too.

 

me three... sounds so good tho, and provides a nice contrast

 

I've seen a few people online relate that line to a method of torture, in which someone is tied down over newly growing bamboo, which then ends up growing through them due to the speed of its growth. I think this makes some sense, as many parts of that song refer to feeling trapped in a hospital, and liken it to torture (for instance "scream if you want, no one can hear you"). Obviously I don't know Conor's intention behind the line but it's a thought anyway.

(Edit: quotes added)

 

ty. funny how one word can create such tension/throw off a verse so well.

 

Anyone know who "you all loved him once is about"? My gf and I were thinking Jesus but idk

 

idk, it sounds like a lot of this album was written while he was going through the rape accusation scandal. as egotistical as it might be, i wouldn't be surprised if it's autobiographical. if you think about it, he went to bed one day an artist with a cult like following that worshipped him to near deity status. the next day he woke up accused of one of the most horrific acts of violence that can be done to someone, and it goes without saying that a lot of his fanbase turned on him. just sounds like a song about hero worship to me.

just kind of interesting for me to think of that song.. and a lot of the album as being written from that perspective.

i could be completely wrong, too.

 

During the NPR performance, he listed off a bunch of people, such as Jesus, Lennon, etc

I think this probably has some truth to it too

 

https://theringer.com/conor-oberst-deals-with-his-devils-cff42c423749#.jsmvdblsp

 

came in here to post that. coool stuff!

 

really good piece, gonna check this out today

 

yeah this is a very, very good record. his work with melody here is really something.

 

This is my favorite thing he's done in a while

 

something very dylanesque about this. feel like that comparison was made a lot re: bright eyes and it never felt earned, but there's a lot of blood on the tracks here

 

definitely. Particularly in the harmonica playing as well. I know harmonica has kind of become synonymous with "dylanesque" but the specific style of harmonica playing on this album truly evokes ol Robert Zimmerman to me

 

Loving this

 

This is a bit too minimal for my tastes, I prefer Conor's more musically diverse output

 

Well that sounds just about awful.

 

what a performance, man

 

Well I guess I need to listen to this then

 

this is a great album. those are great performances.

conor oberst is a great artist that i like.

 

i haven't cared about oberst/bright eyes since high school but i'm loving this album a lot. the minimalism realllllllllyyyyyyyyy suits him. color me surprised; 2016 really is kinda special.