I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning

I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning is one of two Bright Eyes albums (along with Digital Ash in a Digital Urn) released on January 25, 2005, by Saddle Creek Records.

This album is the 72nd release of Saddle Creek Records.

Songs

Like the two Bright Eyes albums before it, I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning opens with a long dialog, this time by Conor Oberst himself. The monologue is a bizarre short story about two strangers on an airplane that is about to fall into the ocean. One of the characters is manically cheerful in spite of the situation and begins singing the song, "At the Bottom of Everything," which kicks the album off. The simple, three-chord folk song is one of Oberst's trademark sarcastic social commentaries on American ideals, such as the pursuit of capitalistic success: "We must blend into the choir, singing static with the whole. We must memorize nine numbers and deny we have a soul. And in this race for property and privilege to be won, we must run, we must run, we must run." It made its television debut on the April 30, 2004 episode of Late Late Show, on which the short story was replaced with a dedication to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and President George W. Bush: "Two men I admire a lot," declared Oberst, "for their biceps and for their creepy, fascist agendas." A music video directed by Cat Solen was later made for the song, based on the story in its introduction, which remained intact. The music video starred Evan Rachel Wood and Terrence Stamp.

The single for "Lua" reached #1 on the U.S. charts.

The music video for "First Day of My Life" was directed by John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch).

Critical response

I'm Wide Awake It's Morning received overwhelmingly positive reviews from music critics around the country, and many considered the album to be the best Bright Eyes record yet. Here is a survey of how the album ranked in 2005:

Critc/Publication	Rank
Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks ^*	79
metacritic.com ^*	15
Rolling Stone ^*	9
Time ^*	10
Spin ^*	21
Blender ^*	4

Track listing

All songs by Conor Oberst.

"At the Bottom of Everything" – 4:32
"We Are Nowhere and It's Now" – 4:11
"Old Soul Song (For the New World Order)" – 4:29
"Lua" – 4:30
"Train Under Water" – 6:06 Listen
"First Day of My Life" – 3:08
"Another Travelin' Song" – 4:15
"Landlocked Blues" – 5:46
"Poison Oak" – 4:38
"Road to Joy" – 3:53

Personnel

Conor Oberst - Guitar, Voice
Mike Mogis - Mandolin, Pedal Steel Guitar, 12 String Guitar
Nick White - Piano, Organ, Rhodes, Vibraphone
Jesse Harris - Guitar
Tim Luntzel - Bass
Jason Boesel - Drums
Matt Maginn - Bass
Nate Walcott - Trumpet
Clark Baechle - Drums
Emmylou Harris - Voice
Alex McManus - Guitar
Maria Taylor - Voice
Jake Bellows - Harmonica, Voice
Jim James - Voice
Andy LeMaster - Voice

References

http://www.billboard.com/bb/daily/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000723891, Todd Martens, L.A.

External links