Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers once picked music’s most melancholic moments
Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers have mastered the art of melancholia. Both the artists use music as a coping mechanism to get through the struggles of life, which, in turn, has helped countless fans through their own difficult moments.
Bridgers has become ‘The Queen of Sadness’ over the last five years since releasing her debut album, Stranger In The Alps. Her canon of work is a comfort blanket for sad indie fans across the land, including her collaborative album with Oberst as Better Oblivion Community Center.
The duo began working together after Oberst handpicked Bridgers to support him across Europe in 2017. It all stemmed naturally from performing together on-stage across the tour, and their eponymous debut album naturally formed after fruitful songwriting sessions between the pair.
Ahead of the release of Better Oblivion Community Center in 2019, the duo popped into BBC 6 Music to speak about some of their favourite moments of melancholia in music history. They began by talking about their friendship and how they bonded over their shared taste in music.
The first question they were tasked with answering was the melancholic moment they both connected with. “We both didn’t really discuss this til we found this question out,” Oberst explained before Bridgers revealed their answer was Peter Paul & Mary’s ‘Puff The Magic Dragon’, and they then delivered an impromptu duet of the folk classic.
Bridgers then revealed the first melancholic song she ever learned to play on guitar was ‘Lovesick Blues’ by Hank Williams. For Oberst, it was ‘Here Comes The Regular’ by The Replacements that he learned when he was just ten years old that introduced him to the world of melancholia and the joy of using music to channel sad thoughts. “My brother showed it to me, it’s a pretty sad song to play when you’re ten years old,” he added.
Oberst then revealed his favourite piece of melancholia by Bridgers is her track ‘Funeral’ from her debut album, Stranger In The Alps and said, “there’s a part that gets me every single time. Just the ‘Jesus Christ, I’m so blue all the time’. I can relate to that one, Phoebs.” Bridgers then returned the favour and revealed her prized Oberst melancholic moment as ‘Mamah Borthwick’. She then sang a snippet from the track, and the Bright Eyes frontman confessed, “It’s better when she does it”.
Finally, the pair discussed upbeat songs that are actually melancholic at heart, with Bridgers suggesting ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fun’ by Cyndi Lauper as the most deceptively sad song. “If you listen to the verses, one, everybody is coming after Cyndi Lauper for wanting to have fun, and two, I think about all the women lost in the dust with that song and people who aren’t as fun as Cyndi Lauper like the girl whose boyfriend doesn’t want her to go out,” Bridgers explained.
Get the tissues out and watch the clip below.
