At some point or another, you've probably been told to "believe in yourself." It sounds so simple, right? Just believe in yourself! But it's not always easy — even when you have lots of evidence that says you should.
Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes has a ton of evidence pointing to the fact that he is a great songwriter: a lifetime of writing music, an enormous back catalogue, and fans who hang on his every word.
But, in today's session, you'll hear Oberst talk about how when he finishes a song, he's never really sure if he'll write another one again.
"After you finish a project, or a record, or a batch of songs, there is always that weird doom and gloom in your mind where you are, like, 'Oh, that can never happen again. There are no more songs,'" he says.
Oberst also talks about the things that do get him writing, like collaborating with people he admires. Plus, he talks about his new album with Bright Eyes, called Five Dice, All Threes.
The live performances you'll hear today were recorded at a warm-up show that Bright Eyes did back in September. Their tour was cancelled for the fall but has since restarted. We caught up with Oberst just before the band went back out on the road this winter.
Set list
- "Bells and Whistles"
- "First Day of My Life"
- "El Capitan"
This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Kimberly Junod. The web story was created by Miguel Perez. Our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.
Copyright 2025 XPN
