‘Here Comes a Regular’: how The Replacements shaped Conor Oberst
Conor Oberst may be best known for his work with his main band, Bright Eyes. However, he has also consistently released music under his own name, with various other groups and as part of the super-duo Better Oblivion Community Center with Phoebe Bridgers since his 1998 debut.
After bursting onto the scene at the end of the millennium, Bright Eyes quickly became a focal point of the music world. Following a string of strong albums, it became almost inevitable that comparisons to “The New Dylan” would surface, thanks to Oberst’s poetic songwriting, folky acoustic sound, and distinct Midwestern voice.
While those connections with Dylan informed much of the writing about Oberst in his early career years, a different set of inspirations shaped his music. Talking to Sam Sodomsky for Pitchfork in 2020, Oberst ran through a list of eight artists whose music had meant a lot to him at various times in his life.
Kicking off with Cyndi Lauper’s 1983 classic, ‘Time After Time’, Oberst recalled hearing the song on the radio as a child and loving it, as well as watching Lauper’s appearances with the World Wrestling Federation and at Wrestlemania.
Perhaps the most meaningful entry in his list came next in the form of The Replacements’ 1985 song ‘Here Comes a Regular’. Oberst explained the selection by saying, “I had two older brothers: Matty, who’s no longer with us, and Justin. Matty was six and a half years older than me, and all his friends were fanatics about music. I’d sneak up to his room and steal his cassette tapes. All that came from him.”
He added: “The Replacements were his favourite band of all time, but that song in particular was special. It’s a really simple song, so when I was learning guitar, he showed me how to play it; it seems like a crazy song for a 10-year-old to play, but it’s just three chords. When he passed away in 2016, I sang it at the first show I played afterwards at this church in LA. It felt like the right thing to do.”
Two years after learning how to play the guitar along to ‘Here Comes a Regular’, Oberst began writing his own songs. Thanks to the support of his brothers and some neighbours, he began making home recordings of these and selling tapes at local shows when he played, as well as at his local record store whenever possible.
And it was at that record shop where he was introduced to the music from the next entry in his Pitchfork list. “I think everybody is a combination of their influences, but Townes is the deep, dark part that I carry around”, Oberst said of the influential but underrated Townes Van Zandt.
Rounding out Oberst’s picks were ‘Black-Wave Arcade’ by The Faint, Nas’ ‘Doo Rags’, The Felice Brothers’ ‘Wonderful Life’, the Erik Satie classical piece for piano ‘Gymnopédie No. 1’ and the entirety of Phoebe Bridgers’ excellent 2020 album Punisher.
While The Replacements’ music had a profound impact on Oberst’s own, he felt similarly about the impact that Bridgers has left on his life, too. “I don’t think there’s any limit to her talent”, he said, concluding, “She’s just so fucking real and such a hard worker. People can’t really fuck with her. She’s gonna do her thing, and it’s gonna be awesome to witness. I just love her so much. There are very few people you meet in life that change you: I remember my life before I met her and after.”
