Conor Oberst has opened up about being “really close to the edge” as he faces personal struggles, while saying it’s “almost impossible” to write music about the era of Donald Trump.
During an interview on the New York Times‘ Popcast, the Bright Eyes frontman and soloist was asked about the “near-death experience” he’d spoken about in a conversation with the LA Times earlier this year.
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“I didn’t see the light or anything like that, but it was very real,” he responded in the new conversation, but did not share any specifics of what happened (via Stereogum). “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 continued: “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…”
He went on to say that “people need me around”, adding: “My family need me around, my friends. It’s one of those things that I think people find different reasons to live for and all that sort of thing.”
Oberst’s previous frank discussion with the LA Times saw him address concerns for his wellbeing after Bright Eyes cancelled some live shows in 2024 due to the singer losing his voice. However, fans speculated at the time that Oberst was experiencing other issues.
“I was not in good shape to sing,” he told the publication, saying that his problems at the time were “private business”. Oberst said he was “doing so much better” after making “some lifestyle changes”.
“I’m not gonna say I’m sober because I’m not,” he went on. “But I gave up the worst of it. I’m trying to go on with life and not dwell on it. But any kind of near-death experience, it does completely change your outlook on the world.”
He also told the LA Times that there was “a temptation to cancel everything the next year too”, referring to Bright Eyes’ 2025 UK and European tour and shows in North America. “I begged everyone: ‘I have to go on tour – I need motivation’,” he recalled.
“I mean, I have a psychiatrist. She’s actually really helped me. The struggle is never-ending – being human is hard. I’m feeling gratitude for the fact that I have a huge support system, which is probably why I’m still here.”
Elsewhere in the new Popcast chat, Oberst was asked how his attitude towards folk and protest songs differed under President Trump from under the last Republican POTUS, George W. Bush.
“It’s really hard for me to even articulate the Trump era,” he replied. “Maybe at some point I’ll be able to do it. You can’t satirise or whatever what is already like a parody, and a disgusting, gross cartoon, you know?
He went on to mention Bright Eyes’ song about Bush, 2005’s ‘When The President Talks To God’, explaining: “It felt like it meant something… Now the bar has been lowered to such a degree, societally. 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.”
Oberst labelled the US’ current political landscape as “absurd”, saying that writing about it is “almost impossible”.
Speaking to NME in 2024 around the release of Bright Eyes’ latest album, ‘Five Dice, All Threes’, Oberst discussed writing about politicians swearing their oaths of office on the song ‘Hate’.
“I mean, the hypocrisy of all that stuff is so palpable. I think 95 per cent of politicians are full of shit,” he told us. “I didn’t have to get a PhD to come up with that conclusion. I just happen to have read the newspaper for most of my life.”
When asked about the 2024 US election – which was coming up at the time, and ultimately saw Trump return to office – Oberst responded: “I mean, knock on wood, but I think that Vice President Harris would make a great president. She’s incredibly smart. She seems empathetic and very, very qualified. I don’t want to say that it’s a done deal, people need to show up, and there are some hurdles as far as being the first woman of colour [to run for president].
“For progressive leaning friends of mine it felt that when Biden was still in the race, it was like everyone had resigned to the fact that he was probably going to lose, and that it was gonna be horrible. Now it feels like we might actually be able to pull this thing off, if everyone gets together and agrees that, sadly, we have a binary option, and given the two options, one is clearly much better than the other. I hope that carries us across the finish line.”
In other news, one of Bright Eyes’ 21st anniversary shows in New York had to be evacuated due to extreme weather last month. The tour kicked off at Red Rocks in Colorado, where they played 2005’s ‘I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning’ and ‘Digital Ash In A Digital Urn’ in full.
Bright Eyes will take to the stage at Maha Festival next month before heading to Riot Fest in September, ahead of some more US dates in the autumn.
