Artist: Bright Eyes
Song: I Must Belong Somewhere
Album: Cassadaga (2007)
Bright Eyes is the musical vehicle of Conor Oberst, a young singer/songwriter from Nebraska who first attracted the attention of the indie music world in 1994 -- when he was just 14 years old -- as the singer and guitarist for Commander Venus. more
On their sixth and most straightforwardly clean album, Nebraska's Bright Eyes once again integrate a revolving cast of players to the mix, including Portland tunesmith M. Ward and alt-country queen Gillian Welch. But the band remains at the helm of forever-wunderkind Conor Oberst, and the fruitful songwriter has one-upped 2005's I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning with a proficient and accessible ensemble of expansive pop orchestrations and ornate folk songs that chronicle his traverses across the American panorama. Oberst's voice quakes and wanders through South Dakota lore and Sunshine State chicanery, always the perfect vehicle for his threadbare lyrics. "Take the fruit from the tree/Break the skin with your teeth/Is it bitter or sweet/All depends on your timing," he forewarns in "Cleanse Song," a psychedelic merry-go-round of a soundtrack that joins the Scottish-tinged "Soul Singer in a Session Band" and singalong single "Four Winds" as Cassadaga's finest. The 13-song-record is certain to open more doors for a band whose recognition has soared with every release since Oberst was just 14. --Scott Holter
… This wandering spirit is crystalized in "I Must Belong Somewhere" a song which was already a staple of live shows by the end of the 2005. …
… Luckily, Bright Eyes romps us back into motion with "I Must Belong Somewhere." With heavy organ and mandolin, "Somewhere" is a knee-jumping limerick ode to Oberst finally beginning to realize where he belongs. …
… Cassadaga is a mesmerizing collection of intensely tranquil ballads, front porch shanties, and melodic lyricism.
"I Must Belong Somewhere" shifts yet again, going back to exuberant country honky tonk stylings, Oberst losing his warble for a straightforward singing manner that shuffles with upbeat enthusiasm.
I think Conor might be saying that people we traditionally view as "crazy" and lock away might have a sort of genius that we just can't understand.
Leave the bright blue door on the white-washed wall
Leave the death ledger under city hall
Leave the joyful air in that rubber ball today
Just leave the lilac print on the linen sheet
Leave the birds you killed at your father's feet
Let the sideways rain in the crooked street remain
Leave the whimpering dog in his cold kennel
Leave the dead starlet on her pedestal
Leave the acid kids in their green fishbowls today
Leave the sad guitar in its hard-shell case
Leave the worried look on your lover's face
Let the orange embers in the fireplace remain
Cause everything it must belong somewhere
Oh a train off in the distance, bicycle chained to the stairs
Everything it must belong somewhere
I know that now, that's why I'm staying here
Leave the ocean's roar in the turquoise shell
Leave the widower in his private hell
Leave the liberty in that broken bell today
Just leave the epic poem on its yellowed page
Leave the gray macaw in his covered cage
Let the traveling band on the interstate remain
Cause everything it must belong somewhere
Sound-stage in California, televisions in Times Square, yeah
Everything it must belong somewhere
I know that now, that's why I'm staying here
Well I know that now that's why I'm staying here
Leave the secret talks on the trundle bed
Leave the garden tools in the rusted shed
Leave those bad ideas in your troubled head today
Just leave the restless ghost in his old hotel
Leave the homeless man out in that cardboard cell
Let the painted horse on the carousel remain
Cause everything it must belong somewhere
Just like the gold around her finger or the silver in his hair
Yeah, everything it must belong somewhere
I know that now, that's why I'm staying here
Oh, I know that now, that's why I'm staying here
In truth, the forest hears each sound
Each blade of grass as it lies down
The world requires no audience
no witnesses, no witnesses
Leave the old town drunk on his wooden stool
Leave the autumn leaves in their swimming pool
Leave the poor black child in his crumbling school today
Leave the novelist in his daydream tomb
Leave the scientist in her rubic's cube
Let the true genius in the padded room remain
Leave the horse's hair on the slanted bow
Leave the slot machines on the riverboat
Leave the cauliflower in the casserole today
Just leave the hot, bright trash in the shopping malls
Leave the hawks of war in their capitals
Let the organ's moan in the cathedral remain
Cause everything it must belong somewhere
They locked the devil in the basement, threw God up into the air.
Yeah, everything must belong somewhere
You know it's true, I wish you'd leave me here
You know it's true, why don't you leave me here?
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