Conor Oberst admits it’s “really hard” to write about life under “conman” Donald Trump’s rule
Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst has admitted that he’s finding it “really hard” to write political songs under Donald Trump’s rule.
While Oberst is no stranger to writing songs that attack regimes in the past, especially on 2005’s I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning, which contained tracks such as ‘Old Soul Song (for the New World Order)’.
However, in recent years, Oberst has stayed away from going after Trump in his lyrics, which he explained on the latest episode of the New York Times’ podcast, Popcast.
When asked if his attitude to protest songs was different in the Trump era compared to when George W Bush was in power, Oberst frankly admitted, “It’s really hard for me to even articulate the Trump era.”
After mentioning Bright Eyes’ ‘When The President Talks To God’, their most overtly political song, which lamented Bush, Oberst reflected, “It felt like it meant something… Now the bar has been lowered to such a degree, societally.”
He added, “If you can have just a person at that base level of moral decrepitude as Trump […] He’s a conman, [who] has done nothing but rob the country.”
The frontman then went on to describe the current political climate in his homeland as “absurd”, which is “almost impossible” to write about.
This is not the first time that Oberst has made his feelings about Trump known. Previously, in 2020, he explained to The Times, “Trump is a different animal from Bush.”
He elaborated, “Bush had an ideology and the move to war was easy to protest. But comedians say it’s hard to satirise Trump because he’s the most ridiculous version of himself to start with and I find the same with writing. How do you approach someone just so diabolical and insane?”
Meanwhile, in the same Popcast interview, Oberst also opened up about his personal struggles that caused Bright Eyes to cancel their tour dates in support of 2024 album, Five Dices, All Threes.
He shared, “I didn’t see the light or anything like that, but it was very real. I didn’t really feel happy or sad or anything like that. I actually had the meanest internal voice, being like, ‘Haven’t you wanted this your whole life, you fucking son of a bitch?’”
Oberst also admitted, “When I was really close to the edge, there was nothing good about it. I could keep doing what I’m doing and probably be dead really fast, or I could change up my style and try to stay around and make more things and don’t be in such a hurry. Life’s so short.”
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