History YMMV / BrightEyes

* FaceOfTheBand: Oberst is by far its most-known member.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: ''Heavily'' apparent in his pre-''Lifted'' work, even lampshaded in ''Fevers and Mirrors'' with the mock-radio interview at the end of "An Attempt To Tip The Scales".
** Subverted in that critics tend to agree ''Lifted'' to be superior ''because'' it tones down the depressive/angsty themes.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLLSqpYyPD8 "Good Ship Lollipop" sequence]]: It was seen as fun and cute when the film was released. Time passed and society got much more sensitive about child molestation, so it's a ''little'' uncomfortable to see a six year-old wearing a short dress and being handled by a bunch of grown men, especially when she gets tired at the end and she almost sounds drugged.

** The [[[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLLSqpYyPD8 "Good Ship Lollipop" sequence]]: It was seen as fun and cute when the film was released. Time passed and society got much more sensitive about child molestation, so it's a ''little'' uncomfortable to see a six year-old wearing a short dress and being handled by a bunch of grown men, especially when she gets tired at the end and she almost sounds drugged.

* ValuesDissonance: The famous "Good Ship Lollipop" sequence was seen as fun and cute when the film was released. In this day and age, when we're much more sensitive about child molestation than we were back in the thirties, it's a little uncomfortable to see a six year-old wearing a short dress and being handled by a bunch of grown men, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLLSqpYyPD8 as most of the comments on the clip point out]].
** Especially when she gets tired at the end and she almost sounds drugged.

** The last shot of the film is of Joy getting smacked clear across the face by her mother. Bratty as she is, hitting a child that hard is generally frowned upon today.

* BrokenBase: fans tend to argue between the early, relentlessly miserable lo-fi indie rock era (''A Collection Of Songs...'' - ''Fevers and Mirrors''), stripped-bare honest, folk/americana period (''Lifted...'' - ''I'm Wide Awake...'') and the spiritual/science-fiction electronic/pop direction of their final work (''Digital Ash..." - "The People's Key...''). The sound and lyrical direction changes so dramatically it's almost like listening to three different bands.

* ValuesDissonance: The famous "Good Ship Lollipop" sequence was seen as fun and cute when the film was released. In this day and age, when we're much more sensitive about child molestation than we were back in the thirties, it's a little uncomfortable to see a six year-old wearing a short dress and being handled by a bunch of grown men, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLLSqpYyPD8 as most of the comments on the clip point out.]].

* The last shot of the film is of Joy getting smacked clear across the face by her mother. Bratty as she is, hitting a child that hard is generally frowned upon today.

* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: Oberst is not the only official member of Bright Eyes [[note]]though originally he was. Bright Eyes started as a continuation of his early solo recordings. ''A Collection of Songs'' and the Squadcar'96/Bill Hoover splits are entirely solo Bright Eyes releases, with Mike Mogis joining for ''Letting Off the Happiness'' as producer and various other artists contributing. The band then gradually evolved from a rotating lineup of artists with Oberst and Mogis front and center to the three-piece ensemble it's officially labelled as[[/note]]. In a subversion of the IAmTheBand tag the media gives Bright Eyes, Oberst often points out that Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott are official members of the band, too.

* {{Tearjerker}}: "It's Cool, We Can Still Be Friends", a very sad song about a former couple trying to be friends after a painful breakup but realizing their lingering feelings make it difficult.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotDidactic: One of the big reasons Bright Eyes fans are often seen as SnarkBait on the Internet at large is that the fanbase tends to look for meaning in every line.

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: The mock interview in "An Attempt to Tip the Scales", where Conor Oberst is hilariously impersonated by Todd Fink, lead singer of The Faint. It's meant to poke fun at the dark tone of the album and Oberst's persona.
--->'''Oberst:''' Well, I did have a brother who died in a bathtub... drowned. Actually, I had five brothers that died that way.\\
'''Interviewer:''' ''(laughs)''\\
'''Oberst:''' No, I'm serious. My mother drowned one every year for five consecutive years. They were all named Padraic, so, they all got one song. It's kind of like walking out the door to discover it's a window.
** The LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn moment in the same mock interview: The proper song part of "An Attempt To Tip The Scales" ends with a short ambient loop that keeps running in the background of the interview portion... Then "Conor" casually asks his interviewer "Can you make that sound stop, please?", and he does. It's particularly funny because at this point, the background droning had already been going on for so long that the listener may well have tuned it out and forgotten it was there entirely until it stopped.
* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: "First Day of My Life" and "One Foot in Front of the Other"
** The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwFS69nA-1w video for ''First Day of My Life'']] is this trope in spades.
** "Bowl of Oranges" from ''Lifted'', being about how offering emotional support for someone can make a difference.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: ''Heavily'' apparent in his pre-''Lifted'' work, even lampshaded in "Fevers and Mirrors" with the mock-radio interview at the end of ''An Attempt To Tip The Scales''.

* TheWoobie: Conor Oberst. Sort of ironic for someone whose last name means "colonel" in German.

* TheWoobie: Conor Oberst. Sort of ironic for someone whose last name means "colonel" in German.

* TheWoobie: Conor Oberst.

'''Oberst:''' No, I'm serious. My mother drowned one every year for five consecutive years. They were all named Padraic, so, they all got one song. It's kind of like walking out the door to discover it's a window.\\

* {{Tearjerker}}: "It's Cool We Can Still Be Friends", a very sad song about a former couple trying to be friends after a painful breakup but realizing their lingering feelings make it difficult.

* TheWoobie: Conor Oberst.