Day 13: How Many Lights Do You See?

From A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995-1997 (1997)

This is a simple song, musically, that has a simple concept, lyrically. It’s all about lights. There’s one for this, and there’s one for that, and that’s basically the song. Observe more lights, repeat. Yet, there is still a meloncholy draped over this song. Bright Eyes proves that even a song about light (cheerful, warming, brightening light) can make you feel depressed. Yet, we’re unsure how to feel. The song ends talking about a lighthouse (we assume) that watches over the ships, and it feels little optimistic.

Notable lyric: There’s one that waits for closing time / And there’s one that gets left on all night / And there’s one that marks the western sky / And it shines down on the quiet street