Octoberst is still happenin'. A lot of times, when I ask my fellow music lovers if they're Bright Eyes fans, they've either never heard of them or have some aversion to Conor. I've heard everything from "because he was into drugs that one time and drinks alcohol" to "he's a whining baby". All are a stab in the gut.I remember when I didn't like his voice; I thought it was whiny and annoying. That's only because I didn't understand. He's one of those artists that if you don't truly listen, you don't get the full effect, and you're unable to process the gravity of his words.
It's the same mentality, the same thing with many other music artists that are more focused on emotion that how good their voice sounds, or how much they filter and edit and streamline their sound. Bon Iver, Blue October, even Joyce Manor and Balance and Composure. It's an acquired taste, really.
I can't even imagine what I'd be like if I'd never discovered Bright Eyes. I can honestly say I wouldn't be who I am today. It's cliche when people say "music changed my life" because it seems so trivial and so obvious, but it truly did. I will never forget the very first time I put in my headphones, played "Poison Oak". I got chills- real, physical, tangible goosebumps and a shiver up my spine. The same happened with "Easy/Lucky/Free". And it happened over and over again with all of his songs. Each song holds a memory, a specific emotion, a single second frozen in time. No other musician has ever done this for me. No other musician has actually changed who I am so drastically and in such an incredibly positive way. I can barely hold in my excitement talking about this- in retrospect, it's the one musical discovery I've made that I know I will never not listen to. I will be an Oberst fan, always and forever.
Bright Eyes didn't change my life, Bright Eyes saved it.