Added: 4 years ago
From: delta214
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  • It bothers me how everybody is so stuck on the abortion part of this song. If most people had the brains to look at any of the interviews he did for the album he says that the first verse is about an abortion a friend had. He gets most of his song ideas from the people around him. The whole song isnt about abortion. It's like most people just like the song bc they believe its all about such a taboo subject. People ruin shit by over analyzing. Its a beautiful song regardless of the meaning.

  • when i hear beautiful music its not from another time its from bright eyes

  • Both pregnancy and abortion are the products of unchecked passion, and often unwanted products thereof. I think the singer of this song feels pain and guilt: to a certain extent, he is responsible for the thing which has destroyed his beloved, and neither of them is able to move past the pain of abortion to a place where they could be together again.

  • From a medieval love poem by Walther von der Vogelweide: "Under the Tilia tree on the open field, where we two had our bed, you still can see lovely both broken flowers and grass." (TIlia = lime tree.)

    In much romantic medieval literature, there's a theme of love as being a tool of destruction, even to the beloved. In "the Romance of the Rose," the protagonist tears apart the rose that he desires through his indelicate zealousness to know it and possess it...

  • the high distorted guitar in the background at 2:13 gives me goosebumps.

  • fuuuuuuuuck it makes me cry everytime.

  • Its actually about a miscarriage, not an abortion, abortion requires choice. Regardless it an still be applied to abortion.

  • @Ryushihotshot I think you're in denial. It's definitely about abortion.

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  • If you've ever had an abortion, there is no debate about what this is about. It's beautiful in the saddest way possible.

  • Conor is so crafty that he can make a single song about a thousand things.

    Its about whatever you make it.

  • a thousand times sadder than anything on sea change

  • It's generally agreed that it's about the aftermath of an abortion.

  • @Tengent oh my god.......... it makes so much more sense now...

    FUUUUUUUUUUU D':

  • I freaking LOVE THIS VIDEO!!!! It's so perfect for this song!

  • I think its about a woman that lost her baby (a miscarriage)

  • @RiverPhoenix1993 abortion

  • Knowing that Bright Eyes only has one more album coming out, and then they're retiring absolutely breaks my heart. They've been a huge part of the past 6 years of my life, and even though their music is always going to be there, it feels like they're dying.

  • this song has described my life for the past 4 years. i hope i will have a new song sometime :(

  • this explains how i feel 

  • there was a girl who covered this song about 17 or so years old that sung it so beautifully i listened to it constantly and now her video disappeared, can anybody help me out with finding her videos?

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  • @tomtomthurman1 Really? It sounds like someone who loves music thats before their time.

  • This song means so much more after watching this video. I already loved the song enough, but now I feel like they've opened a whole new meaning to this song through this video. It's too beautiful. One of the MANY amazing songs from Connor. Too bad Bright Eyes is about to be no more. :(

  • thats what makes him such an amazing song writer. an ability to document events that allow multiple stories to relate. the wider the scope in interpretation, the more in truth it appears... possible?

  • @bbsupermee

    i was being serious, its in an interview somewhere but i dunno where it is.

    he used to get coffee there when he live in nyc, its in the eat village a couple blocks away from life cafe i jut need to get there.

  • This song defiantly has major references to MDMA or ecstasy.

    Coming down, refers to the end of your 'trip'.

    Don't be so amazing, and felt something that I had never touched can refer to the inflated feeling of affection and overjoy. Also with thinking about the friends you had and don't see anymore, when you're on it, it's literally impossible to not think positive of everything.

    Examining the fruit could refer to your interest in everything and no better time like the present.

  • I'm pretty sure this song is about ecstasy. If you listen to the lyrics some of them sound a lot like it.

  • I definatly agree.

  • i think the lime tree is also symbolic of th e fruits of life.. for example one is known by the fruits of their labor. The fruits could be what he has to show for his life

  • As far as the video is concerned, I think it's beautiful. I don't totally understand it, but if I DID I probably wouldn't like it as much =) Well done.

  • Abortion IS a sad, tragic event. Many women suffer depression after an abortion. Not to mention the unnecessary conception and death of a human. I'm all for women's rights and I believe that women should definitely have the option (though I think adoption is a better way to deal with such a situation), but there is no denying the tragedy of abortion.

    Unless your a sado-masochist.

  • its a heart transplant---NOT AN ABORTION--the vid and song are about loss of love/breaking up __BOT ABORTION

  • everything minus the "since the operation" bit could be applied to love/breaking up.

    but there is some serious love/breaking up with some abortions, no? depression that can follow ect ect, and if the video reflects the meaning in the song, which not every video does, the "heart transplant" could be just coming out of depression, into a healthier mental state.

    all that business with skulls and drawing on hands confuses the hell out of me, however.

  • have a negative emotion, or even a painful experience with something and articulating it into your craft, has nothing to do that persons ideas on civil liberty. One can support freedom of speech, then hate what people are allowed to say.

  • Maybe its his sadness too?

  • What is going on in this video?  I'm so confused!

  • There is so much to this song that you'd be missing if you spend the whole time trying to shape the lyrics around it being about an abortion (or any 1 thing).

    Think about the themes of the album, our spiritual positioning within the cosmos (see: Campbell's "The Power of Myth")

    "Everything gets smaller now the further that I go

    Towards the mouth and the reunion of the Known and the Unknown..."

    and our struggle with perpetual duality...

    "It comes to me in fragments, even those still split in two

  • which is not to say that this video isn't AMAZING! just the comments seem silly. seriously, delta214 thank you for the video, it really does work perfectly and you made me think of things visually in a way that I hadn't before, and now always will when I hear this song.

    it's really hard to make something so original to something as intimate as this song, and you nailed it!

  • im pretty sure it was about an abortion.

  • to each their own opinion.. but the song is indeed about abortion, there are other notes in there clearly..but the under lying "story" i suppose is. From the obvious line " you've been breathing just for one"... to the comparisons with fruit...... but again.. that's the beauty of music and art itself.. its objective..people are free to hear ,feel, see etc, what they want :))

  • ok i dont see the abortion or miscarriage in the song.

    yeah the video might give you that image, but i think that song has nothing to do with it.

    yes the first few lines mention a surgery, but it doesnt specify what kind of surgery.

    nor is there any inference relating to dead babies.

  • it says since the operation youve been breathing just for one..

  • There is a ton of symbolism in it, for example when he actually talks about the Lime Tree he mentions the fruit, and how he's nauseous with the truth after looking at them. Fruit are the children of Trees, and he's never gonna have a chance to see if his fruit is ripe or rotten - queue nausea. As a BA in Literature I feel that Abortion is a prevalent theme in this - also the break up that comes with Abortion. But, it IS art, and is about as many things are there are listeners

  • LIME TREE IS A DELI! In NEW YORK CITY!

  • -_-

  • its a very true thing, he used to go and get coffee there in the morning!n_n

  • @PaulineScene Yes, and this whole song is about a sandwich, so you are all wrong.

  • @bbsupermee anddd you don't have to be an asshole:D

  • @PaulineScene

    Wow, You're pretty dumb if you took that offensively. It was a joke. Everyone was arguing about what the song was about. So, I jokingly said that it was about a sandwhich since you said that Lime Tree was the name of a Deli. I wasn't being an asshole then, but I just chose to do so. I don't even understand how that could have been seen as mean.

  • @Talonplz no need to mention your BA.

  • Humility is my strong suit.

  • since the operation, i heard youre breathing just for one.

    that has abortion written all over it.

  • you might want to listen a little closer.

  • it says you are breathing just for one. and left a message that its done. sounds like one to me.

  • this song is perfect.

    and i think this amazng video makes it even better.

  • :( This song makes me so depressed.

  • this makes me abosolutely sure that i could never get an abortion

    it would hurt too much and id hate myself

  • i wonder what a lime tree has to do with an abortion

  • One of my favs because the lyrics are somehow literal, yet vague. I've taken the meaning of the song to represent the confusion a person goes through during life -- that feeling that you've come to a realization yet, are facing the ever consistent unknown. The song is about existing in the present, in its unique blend of confusion and clarity.

  • this video does not give the song justice....its just trying too hard to be artsy and relevant. besides its NOT an offical video, so. there ya go.

  • "Don't be so amazing or I'll miss you too much." I get tears at this.

  • I was thinking of this line the other day.

  • That is so sad and so moving, especially

    "So pleased with a daydream that now living is no good. I took off my shoes and walked into the woods; I felt so lost and found with every step I took"

  • It's about an abortion.

    I don't see how anyone could doubt that...

  • this has to be my favovite song of all time.

    i tear up everytime he sings the "i cant sleep next to a stranger when im comin down" line

  • I fuckin' hate sequins.

    But I love this song.

  • u just got 10 cool points. lol

  • WwowowowW

  • "Don't be so amazing, or I'll miss you too much."

    Beautiful.

  • @MasterOuiukiske That is my favourite line

  • The imagery in this music video is beautiful. So creatively artistic. Bright Eyes never fails to be original.

  • My favorite songs;

    A Line Allows Progress, A Circle Does Not

    Amy In The White Coat

    Milk Thistle

    I Must Belong Somewhere

    Four Winds

    Ship In a Bottle

    Sunrise, Sunset

    Pardaic My Prince

    The Center Of the World

  • I just realized that the pink door is deaths door. and that the hand is knocking on deaths door is oddly symbolic.

  • yeah it is but i dont get it

    this is going to be like everything else conor does

    it needs disection!!!

  • I Believe in Symmetry

    Easy/Lucky/Free

    Poison Oak

    Landlocked Blues

    Four Winds

    Hot Knives

    Cleanse Song

  • this song is so amazingly beautiful.

  • I like this song, I just wish I like it more because the lyrics are amazing

    But the girl...i don't know, just bugs me :/

  • How does the girl bug you? ha.

    It's artistic in my opinion.

  • *smiles*

  • Is this song really about abortion? I did not pick up on that until I saw this video

  • wow, same here. Wow

  • its almot more than that

    and it seems to be more like a miscarage wen u watch the video

  • even though everyone says this;

    this is by far O'berst's best song in both lyrics & vocals, and sheer emotion.

    that's just my opinion...

    oh, I'm also not too familiar with much of C.Oberst's material...

    can someone recommend to me songs more on the lines of songs like "when the president talks to god" and "road to joy" ?

    I really love those two alot, so basicly please recommend more of his more noisey-guitar angry stuff, please!

  • If you like the angrier guitar noisy stuff...

    With Bright Eyes -

    The Calendar Hung Itself

    Lover I Don't Have to Love

    At the Bottom of Everything

    With the Mystic Valley Band -

    NYC - Gone, Gone

    I Don't Want To Die (In a Hospital)

    Roosevelt Room

    I'd recommend listening to all of his stuff though. He's a genius.

  • You should listen to the band Desaparecidos (i'm not sure if I spelt that right) which Conor Obsert is in. it's very edgy.

    OHHH listen to "sunrise, sunset" by Bright Eyes. YESSS

    and Let's not shit ourselves!!

  • well here are some of my favs 1.take it easy(love noting) 2. smoke signals ( conor oberst and the mystic valley band) 3. the city has sex 4. burn rubber 5. going for the gold 6 you will 7. weather reports those arnt really political but really good check out lets not shit ourselves
  • Don't Know When But a Day's Going to Come Sunrise, Sunset False Advertising Nothing Gets Crossed Out Going For The Gold I've been Eating (For you) The Calender Hung Itself A Perfect Sonnet And then, of course, The Mystic Valley Band: NYC-Gone,gone I don't want to Die in a Hospital Roosevelt Room And Ten Women, just because it's so damn good.
  • "let's not shit ourselves" is probably conor's most blatantly political song. it's definitely "noisy-guitar angry stuff."

  • what you call "noisy-guitar angry stuff" changed my life.

  • bully for you!

    but i wasn't trying to be offensive. it's a great song, and by great i mean utterly mind-blowing.

  • haha good! i was about to cry because "let's not shit ourselves" really opened my eyes to a ton of shit going on in the world

    he is amazing

  • this video is beautiful

  • i love this song but this video has nothing to do with the meaning

  • Then you aren't looking at it right...you seem to not have a sense of understanding....George Bush >_>

  • And It doesn't have to. It's the persons interpretation of the song, not necessarily the general meaning.

  • I could try to describe how this particular song makes me feel, but that would be blatantly counterintuitive!

  • I love this song...like...so much..o.o..

  • this song is so awesome. Sometimes the guitar will hit some blues progressions and then the ballad strings come in. so unique.

  • I know! Dropping the major third to the minor in the G is amazing...and then the D7...

    I really wonder if he intended it to be like this; he attributes the arrangements on this song in particular to Nate Walcott, and with the blues guitar progression, I wonder what the initial drafts sounded like :D

    one of the my favourite sad songs, almost rivals I'm so lonesome I could cry

  • I felt something that I had never touched

  • yeah....felt something but never got to touch it....

  • Does anyone know when they're going on tour?? Or if their going on tour at all this year?

  • Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band are going on tour soon you should check on ticketmaster to see wherever you live.

  • i've always heard he wrote this about an abortion.

    this video is beautiful, and seeing him sing this song live is just as beautiful.

  • yeah but from who?

    Other youtube/forum speculators.

    I'd leave it open to interpretation there is a lot of imagery going on in this song (original sin etc.), furthermore alluding to abortion could in itself just be an allusion to an additional metaphor.

    The song to be goes against the notably more hopeful tone of cassadaga; as if though he has cleansed he looks around and remembers why he needed to get dirty in the first place; and thus steps into the wood and wilderness of chaos.

  • good understanding. i mean the lin "since the operation, you're breathing just for one" says it all. of course there are always many themes to conor's writing but abortion is a good part of this one.

  • seems more like a miscarage to me

  • "The operation was a success" "Its done"

    Sounds more like an abortion

  • yeah, "and since the operation I heard you're breathing just for one" or something, that's definately an abortion. Great lyrics as usual

  • this song floors me every time.

  • I feel the same way friend

  • WHOOAA!

    Holy hell Conor used vebrato! (Is that how you spell it?)

  • no. vibrato.

  • This is beautiful. No joke, this song makes me feel teary eyed and warmfuzzy.

    Precious, no lies.

  • such a sad song

  • such a beautiful song! really reminds me of damien rice though, not that that's a bad thing! x

  • Thank you bsb. If Romeo or Juliet were alive today I would want to change history...

  • Such a beautiful video. Im so glad Connor chose Alex Turvey to direct this video. They compliment each other amazingly.

  • Somewhat of a small explanation for the meaning of Lime Tree is on a Spin interview...

    "But when he thinks about a friend's abortion on "Lime Tree," noting that he's in his own prime years to have children, these wide-lens issues point Oberst to a personal question: Is his chance to settle down passing him by?"

  • explaining the meanings behind lyrics is something greenday does. its gay.

  • such an incredible video

  • pretty bad ass my friend. beautiful stuff.

  • why would you want to know the meaning of the words, make your own story, hear what you want to hear.

  • bright eye is encredible to the highest exstent of the word

  • to bad cause encredible isn't a word

  • Lmfao. Good lad.

  • lolol

  • I'm understanding the mystery jon wesley. Sometimes I have to wonder/worry about the boy in pain. THAT's my issue.

  • Is this the orginal video? Or is it a homemde one?

  • Does Conner Ever explain his songs? If ever, does anyone know where?

  • An intelligent songwriter doesn't take the mystery out of his music and rob us of our own fond interpretations. That's why Miles Davis was so successful.

  • I looked up Miles Davis Jon Wesley and I understand your statement, kind of. I will still make mine---Where does THIS boy, Connor, find this painful, lonesome,questioning, understanding? I have three sons of my own, one of them introduced Connor's music. However you interpret the song/lyrics, don't you wonder WHY they were written and the state of the SOUL, the inside, of the person who wrote them? He's not glib, he's real. Sensitive to a point I want to know more...

  • It is not in the nature of the individual to outlast his work, because individuals are common. If a piece of art is going to last, it tends to outlast what we remember about the person who created it. When you think of Shakespeare, the overarching themes or messages of his plays/sonnets are what affect you the longest. I do not neccessarily want to know why he wrote what he wrote because then it is an experience unique to him- instead of property of the world, to whom he gave it.

  • oops songmeanings,net

    with an S

  • I agree.

  • Serious? I have never heard this before. I have only heard of the wonder boy from Nebraska...Makes me feel sad, sorry, and IGNORANT..This would explain the 'soul in suffering/understanding' a person picks up from his lyrics. Thank you wfw for updating me. I can imagine everyone else already knew this...

  • That's not true.

  • I don't think that's true. I've never heard of that.

  • where did you here that from lol ... you have to be thinking of someone else cause this did not happen to conor oberst

  • ohmylord:/

    i did not know that..

    wow that is horrible:,(

  • wow its amazing that that happend yet his brother plays in the band sorry about dresden...

    and his other brother is a teacher

    look up your facts fuckface

  • heyhey, calm down and enjoy the music. talk about the song not the people. and they said they are unsure if it is correct, so just be chill and enjoy. (:

    Kay sunshine?

  • in one of connor's songs on the fevers and mirrors album, he has kind of like a mock radio interview.

    he says his mother drowned like 4 or 5 of her babies in a bathtub. idk if its true or not.. but i think thats where this guy is getting part of his info from. ive never heard anything about his mother committing suicide though.

    on another note, i love connor oberst :) i still listen to the albums i bought 2 or 3 years ago and i still love them just as much, if not more. <3

  • That wasnt real. It was just to lighten the mood of the album and kind of poke fun at themselves. Conor wasnt even the one talking.. he was the guy you hear in the background towards the end after that other music gets turned off.

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  • O.o

    Trippy.

  • strings go so well. beautiful

  • The lyrics in this are almost like a story. I don't pay attention to the deep meaning in this song =)) I just like to enjoy the words, the melody, and everything else.

  • this makes me miss old bright eyes new bright eyes is aight i stll like it but cassadaga just lost its feeling. but the new self titled album its all coming back now. i get to see him october 18 tucson az baby!

  • I love this song and the video along with it(:

  • this video is ultra weird

  • Beautiful

  • i like

  • there's lots of biblical references to this song which you can relate to an abortion.

  • "It comes to me in fragments, even those still split in two" Adam and Eve, God took Adams rib, splitting him into two, to make Eve

    "Under the leaves of that old lime tree I stood examining the fruit

    Some were ripe and some were rotten, I felt naseous with the truth" Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge, giving them the truth."

    Just to continue the pattern, i think the "tidal wave" may have something to do with the flood in Genesis when Noah built his ark.

  • this songs about an abortion..and the girl that had it

  • the emotion is still there.

    It's just a better recording.

  • hmm yeah but not like in

    its cool we can still be friends

    where his voice shakes

    i love that it

    gives me goose bumps

    every time i hear his

    songs like that

  • "So pleased with a daydream that now living is no good" is so amazing.

    conors writing is absolute perfection.

  • That's my favorite line on the song.

  • this song depresses me, but I love it anyways

  • ahhhh, so sad

  • I'm pretty sure its about an abortion,

    ''since the operation i've been breathing just for one''

    from two to one, something was lost in an operation, a child.

    I mean, its wayyy open to interpretation but thats what I think its about