Matt's Track of the Week: "The Center of the World"

Song: The Center of the World

Artist: Bright Eyes

Album: Fevers & Mirrors

Year: 2000

There has been a lot of talk on Animal Noises and across the interwebs lately about Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band.  With all of the buzz surrounding their new record, I started to feel a bit nostalgic, and thought it would be nice to highlight an old favorite of mine from when Conor was recording exclusively as Bright Eyes.

In my opinion, as much as I consider myself a fan of everything Oberst has recorded in his lengthy career, there's no topping his releases from 2000-2005.  There's an intensity and emotion that was so apparent in his music from his own internal struggles and passions that simply has not been reached since.  And that's not to say I hold it against him either.  Every artist has to grow and mature.  But there's something about the almost bi-polar nature of a song like "The Center of the World" that just strikes a chord in me.  It's one of the many standouts on Fevers & Mirrors, and it hits hard and sticks with you with its closing lines: "Two pills just weren't enough.  The alarm clock's going off, but you're not waking up.  This isn't happening, happening, happening, happening, happening.  It is."  Check it out below.