Cartoon Blues - Bright Eyes

"Cartoon Blues" By Bright Eyes On The EP "Four Winds [EP]"

I listened to a lecture of nonsense until dawn
By a plagiary poet with dark glasses on
He said, "How did you ever dream up that song
The one where the baby dies?"

I said, "I'll tell you the secret, which one's your good ear?
Yeah, people are made up of water and fear
If there weren't women present we wouldn't be here
So let's make like we're friends"

And the pot turned to powder and soured the mood
And the people I'd come with were gone from the room
So I asked like a child, "May I be excused?"
And disobeyed them all

Into that late-night latrine, rain soaking through my shoes
I tried walking backwards to get less confused
Working off the theory I could never prove
That it was life itself to blame

And time ruined the world
Like a failed revolution
A tumor we could not remove
An old friend, a constant, the blues

Now my days are distractions, sit wringing my hands
Solitaire, crosswords and films on demand
When you turn from a cartoon back into a man
You start to smell that human smell

So I sleep with the fan on to drown out the street
And the noise rising up from the bar underneath
But for that inconvenience all my drinks are free
So I guess it's just as well

Why do I envy the ending right from the start
Just get it together to take it apart
Watching the horse as it follows the cart
I sweep up my broken spell

And I felt something changing the world
Like a new constitution
A thief I would have to pursue
At all times, at all costs, the truth

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Conor
• Oberst
• Bright
• Eyes
• Cartoon
• Blues
• Four
• Winds

[heyjude97]

why do i envy that necklace so much?

[Okami169]

its one of my favorites by them

[4thelulzonly]

need no saying, but the words to this song are EPIC

[freakostar13]

@mydollyrots what do you mean it shows sensitivity?

[sunhoney1]

This song smacks of the absurd. Read The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus. imho the final verses are essentially abt an existential crisis-Life itself is 2 blame in tht humanity demands meaning of it-yt ther is none 2B found bt wht enslaves us-Tht meaning is futile-emphemeral-in tht we R going 2 die-Ther's no absolute mening 2 life-X is responsible for this-X urges us consistently tord death. R goals decompose & R buried beneath the ashes of X-He realizes life's backward-illogical&he must adapt.

[alissewonder]

@PoisonOak321 I'm pretty sure it is. Specially cause ppl ask him all the time where did he got the inspiration for that song, since it's a really personal thing to write about, except it didn't happen to him. I think ''People are made up of water and fear'' means some themes (like guilt, fraternal love, fraternal jealousy) are universal, and anyone can use them as material.

[PoisonOak321]

Is "How did you ever dream up that song, the one where the baby dies?" a reference to Padriac My Prince? Either way, I love this song, just as much as anything else Bright Eyes will ever produce...ever. heh. <3

[ckraski]

stud

[mydollyrots]

I read about face reading...if you can see the whites of someones eyes under the colored part, it shows sensitivity

[KamaPaints]

@heyjude97 haha I envy all his jewellry