Conor Oberst Quotes

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Conor Oberst

Profession : Musician

Birth : February 15, 1980

I try to keep the idea that there's an audience in as little space in my mind as possible, but you can't erase it entirely, the idea that when you're sitting down to write a song, people are going to hear it.

Conor Oberst

If there's a criticism of 'Cassadaga' that I agreed with, it's that we left things in the oven too long, that songs were overstuffed, with too many ideas competing for space.

Conor Oberst

Life is always surprising to me. When you think it's going to get dull, it never really does.

Conor Oberst

I think that, with anything creative, you should have the freedom to experiment, and that experimentation means not feeling totally responsible for how other people perceive it.

Conor Oberst

Screaming is bad for the voice, but it's good for the heart.

Conor Oberst

Once you realize that everyone is in the same boat, that everyone is just as insecure and childlike as everyone else, that all these jokers in D.C. ruining our world are just greedy kids grabbing for marbles - I think that realization means you're an adult.

Conor Oberst

It's human nature to wonder.

Conor Oberst

Although Omaha is my birthplace and the place I grew up, I don't see myself spending extended amounts of time there. I feel almost more comfortable and more at peace in New York.

Conor Oberst

If there's a song that stops meaning anything to me, then I'll quit playing it.

Conor Oberst

My family is Catholic. I went to a Catholic school, that kind of thing, so that was my childhood for sure.

Conor Oberst

The one recurring theme in my writing, and in my life in general, is confusion. The fact that anytime you think you really know something, you're going to find out you're wrong - that is the rule. The moments where you think you have something figured out, those are the exceptions.

Conor Oberst

The way my life's structured, I don't stay in a place for more than a couple months.

Conor Oberst

I read the newspaper online. Mostly 'The New York Times.' I'll still buy papers if I'm getting on an airplane or the tour bus, though. I like physical things.

Conor Oberst

We must memorize nine numbers and deny we have a soul.

Conor Oberst

I have a car in Nebraska. When I bought it, they gave me a satellite radio, and there's an 'indie-rock' station. It's just nothing I'm interested in.

Conor Oberst

I like ideas, but I don't like being preached to.

Conor Oberst

Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of my all-time favorite writers. I feel spiritual when reading his words, even though they're translated. I wish desperately that I could read it in its original language. I already feel like I'm going to church when I read him; imagine if I could read it in the original.

Conor Oberst

When I started writing songs, I was doing it for myself and a small circle of friends. And gradually, over the years, an audience became involved.

Conor Oberst

People resist change; if they like something, then they want you to keep doing it over and over - but I think if you like what a particular band or artist does, then you should want to see what they're going to do next.

Conor Oberst

The worst thing you can do as an artist is to repeat yourself.

Conor Oberst