Home / Authors / Conor Oberst

Conor Oberst

Conor Oberst Quotes

Singer-songwriter

Conor Oberst, born on February 15, 1980, in Omaha, Nebraska, is a talented singer-songwriter known for his unique musical style and profound lyrics. He is a prominent figure in the independent music scene and has gained recognition for his contributions to the industry.

Filter quotes by topic

All Thinking People Ifs Song Ideas Knows Kind Feels World I Can Mean Writing Trying Want Way Wells Eye Band Believe Giving

Famous Conor Oberst Quotes

“For a song I was bought Now I lie when I talk With a careful eye on the cue card. Onto a stage I was pushed, With my sorrow well rehearsed. So give me all your pity and your money, now (all of it).”

Giving Wells Eye Lying Song Stage Sorrow Give Me Careful Pity Cards

Author:Conor Oberst

“Since the songs were written over a five-year period, I think these are little snapshots. Some people call it political or topical, but I think each song is self-contained. I think it fits together as a picture of the last half-decade of time.”

People Thinking Years Littles Self Together Lasts Political Song Half Five Written Periods Fit Decades Five Years Snapshots Self Contained

Author:Conor Oberst

“We're going to sing about things that matter to us. The balancing act is to present these ideas but also make the music exciting and sort of fun enough that even if you're not paying attention to the lyrics, you might still like the songs anyway. That's the idea.”

Ifs Stills Ideas Matter Enough Might Song Fun Attention Exciting Pay Attention Things That Matter Balancing Act

Author:Conor Oberst

“I think there's a weird self-affirmation thing that happens in popular music in general. It seems like every song I hear on the radio is like, "Listen to me roar!" or "This is my fight song!"”

Thinking Self Seems Happens Song Fighting Radio Affirmation Listen To Me Popular Music Self Affirmation

Author:Conor Oberst

“Each Desaparecidos's song has a seed that it came from. We're trying to take that and broaden it out and make it resonate with people.”

People Trying Song Seeds

Author:Conor Oberst

“I try not to think about the idea of reaching more and more people, because once you get in that mindset, I think you lose the point of why you're doing it in the first place. Still, the best feeling I ever get is when I finish a song, and it exists, and it didn't exist before, and now it's there, and it makes me feel a certain way.”

People Thinking Way Feels Trying Firsts Stills Ideas Feelings Certain Song Loses Mindset Reaching Before And Now

Author:Conor Oberst

“I understand why people get desensitized and roll their eyes when they hear a protest song, or even a politician making some flowery speech. It doesn't really change anything.”

People Eye Song Politician Speech Protest Protest Songs

Author:Conor Oberst

“I think different musical collaborators bring out different qualities in my songs and I like that.”

Thinking Different Song Quality Musical Collaborators Think Different

Author:Conor Oberst

“My dad, who plays guitar and piano and was in cover bands, along with my older brother, Matt, taught me guitar and stuff. I started writing acoustic songs and playing by myself in 7th grade.”

Writing Play Song Stuff Taught Brother Dad Band Guitar My Dad Piano Grades Acoustics Older Brother

Author:Conor Oberst

“I've never conceptualized much of what I write about. Maybe, once I'm onto something, I'll conceptualize a finished record. I want the songs to tie together and make sense together. I'm not like, "Oh, I want to explore this idea." That's just not how the creative process works for me. It's more like something strikes me, or finds me, and then I wrestle with it after that. I don't sit back in my armchair, like, "What kind of philosophy can I explore today?"”

Want Writing Kind Ideas Philosophy Today Together Song Process Creative Records Finished Strikes Make Sense Ties Creative Process Find Me Like Something Armchairs

Author:Conor Oberst

“I love story songs. It's just, for me, they're harder to write, and sometimes they sound too intended or something.”

Writing Sometimes Stories Song Sound Harder Love Story

Author:Conor Oberst

“All those experiences were a chance to learn more about music. Playing with the Valley band is like such a "live" band. I mean, really, in many ways Bright Eyes is really a studio project. We form bands to tour, but it really is - you know, we take the songs and we figure out how to decorate them and it's all in the studio, we build the songs that way. Whereas Mystic Valley Band was the exact opposite, where everybody knows what they are gonna be playing on the song and there's sort of a general stylistic approach, and then it's just plug in and play.”

Mean Eye Song Chance Mystic Bright Eyes

Author:Conor Oberst

“Pronouns really don't matter in a song - 'I' or 'he' or 'she' or even subscribing a lyric to an inanimate object.”

Matter Song Objects Inanimate Objects Pronouns

Author:Conor Oberst

“When you write a song, the goal is not to convey the details of your life. You should write a memoir or something if that's what you're going to do.”

Ifs Should Writing Song Goal Details Memoir

Author:Conor Oberst

“To me, a political song is also a personal song. Most political activism has been driven by empathy for other people and the desire for a world that's less divisive. Even if songs aren't overtly political, they can make a listener more empathetic.”

People Ifs World Has Beens Political Desire Song Empathy Driven Activism Listeners Empathetic Political Activism

Author:Conor Oberst

“To outsiders it probably seems like splitting hairs, but to me, Bright Eyes is a simply the collaboration between myself and Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott. What you hear is definitely the sum of all our ideas and represents all three of us. But I still write the songs myself.”

Writing Stills Ideas Seems Eye Song Three Hair Collaboration Outsiders Mike Splitting Bright Eyes

Author:Conor Oberst

“When I try to explain to people the big influences in my life, or at least when I first started, the most important ones were my friends who were also writing songs and were typically four or five years older than me.”

People Writing Trying Years Firsts Important Bigs Song Five Four Influence My Friends Five Years Writing Songs

Author:Conor Oberst

“Every time I finish a song... most of the time it's in my own head, like this sounds too much like a Townes Van Zandt song, or whoever. I realize there are so many melodies and chord progressions in pop and rock music that are so similar that you can kind of trace it back to other things. Most of the time it's just in your head.”

Writing Kind Song Sound Realizing My Own Too Much Rocks Pops Melody Songwriting Vans Chords Progression Rock Music

Author:Conor Oberst

“And your eyes must do some raining if you're ever gonna grow / When crying don't help, you can't compose yourself / It's best to compose a poem, an honest verse of longing / Or a simple song of hope.”

Ifs Helping Eye Song Grows Simple Honest Cry Rain Longing Verses

Author:Conor Oberst

About the Author

Born: February 15, 1980
Known for: Singer-songwriter
Quotes: 179

Related Topics

Thinking People Ifs Song Ideas Knows Kind Feels World I Can Mean Writing Trying Want Way Wells Eye Band Believe Giving

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

Similar Authors

Taylor SwiftBrowse related quotes
Dolly PartonBrowse related quotes
George SaundersBrowse related quotes
Bruce SpringsteenBrowse related quotes
Kristen StewartBrowse related quotes
Chuck KlostermanBrowse related quotes
Madonna CicconeBrowse related quotes
Zooey DeschanelBrowse related quotes
Ani DiFrancoBrowse related quotes
Nick CaveBrowse related quotes