27 Albums That Shaped the First 27 Years of My Life, #17: Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning

As I quickly approach my 27th birthday (an age, coincidentally, that many musicians met their own mortality), I have been thinking about the role that music has played in my life. I have not played an instrument for nearly sixteen years and have never been in a band, but I would still consider myself an audiophile. The 26000 songs on my hard drive would agree with me as well.

Because of all those things, I thought it would be as good a time as any to compile my list of the 27 albums that most shaped these first 27 years of my life. Starting Friday January 31, I will be posting one album from the list every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until we reach #1 just before my birthday.

Let me make one thing abundantly clear: I am not saying that these are the 27 greatest albums of all time. I am not so arrogant to believe that my personal opinion is the definitive voice on music. I like what I like. Hopefully you will be able to unearth some gems from my list. If not, that is alright. These songs and albums are important to me regardless of anyone’s opinions of them.

#17: Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
Release Date: January 25, 2005
When I first heard the album: Summer 2010

Why I loved it then: Some of the most meaningful albums are the ones that connect to whatever it is that you are going through at the time that you hear the album. This album is no exception. Prior to 2013, 2010 was the worst year of the decade for me and quite possibly the worst year of my life to that point. I refer to the summer of 2010 as my “Summer of Sorrow”. Pretty much everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Things with Jannelle went south for the first time. My friends weren’t around. My sister and cousin weren’t even around. Despite doing my best to get noticed by schools, I did not even get an interview for a teaching job. Pop punk just doesn’t have the same effect when you’re going through things like that. Enter Bright Eyes. This album immediately connected. Landlocked Blues encapsulated pretty much everything I was feeling at the time and my desire to escape my current situation. The rest of the album was pretty perfect as well. Mellow but well written indie folk, it was the perfect mood music for that summer.

Why I still love it now: If you were born between 1980 and 1992, this album is going to resonate with you. I was born in 1987, and this album really hits with me. On more than one occasion I have heard Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst referred to as the Bob Dylan of this generation. Honestly, I do not think that assertion is too far off base. Like Dylan, Oberst is a songwriting virtuoso with a distinctive voice and vacillating religious views. This might be Oberst’s defining moment as an artist. This album is so fabulously composed and performed that it is nearly impossible to listen to it without getting something out of it.

Lingering Lyric: “If you walk away, I'll walk away/ First tell me which road you will take/ I don't want to risk our paths crossing some day/ So you walk that way, I'll walk this way”
Top Tracks: At the Bottom of Everything, Old Song (for the New World Order), First Day of My Life, Landlocked Blues

Previous Entries
27. Avalon - In a Different Light
26. The Dangerous Summer - Golden Record
25. Just Surrender - If These Streets Could Talk
24. The Lumineers - The Lumineers
23. Relient K - Two Lefts Don't Make a Right... But Three Do
22. Better Luck Next Time - Third Time's a Charm
21. Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight
20. ZOEgirl - Life
19. My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade
18. Anberlin - Blueprints for the Black Market