Also, it can't be a coincidence that Super Mario Galaxy came out a week before he snapped.

Ya i guess i get your point, hes from omaha and writes emotional lyrics; he must be responsible for the massacre of 9 people. Its also easy to blame him when you completely overlook the fact that his lyrics are political and are meant to open the eyes of idiots like yourself who think any lyric that involves expression of feeling should be considered emo. Ya then i guess i understand how you could think a man, who makes music a million times better than anything you could ever in your dreams wish to record, should be named monster of the week.

First of all, bright eyes is NOT emo. Emo is based on hardcore punk, stands for emotional hardcore. Saetia is emo- not Bright Eyes. It seems a little ridiculous, as a journalist myself, that you would write an article about something you obviously know nothing about. So do a little fucking research man.

Beyond that, this is a ridiculous claim and you should be ashamed of yourself for writing this piece of shit. First of all, you have NO evidence that the killer even listened to Bright Eyes. Second of all, NO bright eyes lyrics even point towards promoting homicide. So what you're saying is we should blame someone who is an amazing heartfelt musician for a massacre because they're lyrics actually are emotional? Have you even listened to the album you're quoting? I do not believe that Oberst's calling cars are "angst", he's a 27 year old man for christ's sake, whose last three albums have been about politics and the state of our country- not his latest break up. It seems to me that you've never even listened to the so-called murderer-conor oberst- at all.

But I guess you're right, we need to blame real musicians for a totally unrelated shooting. We should blame men who are involved in numerous good causes. We should blame people that voice political dissent when everyone else is too scared. We should blame men that have become popular completely on their own terms. We should blame songwriters that have written brilliant lyrics and made brilliant albums (despite what you think, Bright Eyes albums typically get amazing reviews- and no not just from 14 year old kids).

Let's not look at the real issue, like that this kid had been homeless for months and couldn't live with his parents. Or that according to sources he had gone through very hard times. Or that he had just gotten fired. Or that he probably had mental issues. Nope- let's just blame an anti-war folk singer. makes perfect sense.

you're an ignorant fucking piece of shit, are you kidding me with this bullshit? because that lyric definitely just screams "go shoot people in a mall". monster of the week? fuck you, you're the monster of the week.

Are you stupid? You obviously dont know what the lyrics truly mean? Maybe you should go replace your stupid useless brain for a more smarter one. You probably listen to bloody Britney Spears and the Pussycat dolls, all for their 'looks'.

Have you Journalists got nothing better to do than blame it on the innocent? Can't you cook up a REAL story? Or do you just have to sink to a very low level like this?

MAYBE YOUR THE EMO.
whinnying about all the little troubles in the world. Boo hoo. Have you ever thought you maybe publicizing the whole "Lets go shoot people, because I can" issue?

Dumbass.

Wow, this is such an incredibly disrespectful piece of "journalism". How on EARTH were these kind of bullshit accusations approved by an editor?

Find someone else to blame. It is seriously doubtful that Conor Oberst's music could convince anyone - even a troubled, "angsty" teenager - to commit a crime of this caliber.

Oh, and another thing, don't even get me started on screamo.

This article is so many different kinds of stupid I don't even know where to start. Your lack of understanding spans breathtaking range in an amazingly short space of time. From the pointlessness of labelling music, the brilliance and beauty of so much of Bright Eyes work, the effects of social alienation and mental illness, the fact that people snap because they CAN'T EXPRESS their feelings rather than because they HAVE feelings, all the way through to the fact that you should never ever ever compare Conor Oberst and Marilyn Manson in any way (though Manson made a good point in Bowling)...I could go on about the stuff you just don't seem to get, but its probably pointless.

I'm sure CO and the rest of his Bright Eyes crew are way too intelligent to take this piece of crap seriously, but I really hope he swings by and kicks you in the nuts anyway. Might just kick-start your brain.

For the record, it did occur to me that you might be trying to be funny, but I couldn't see how this could be considered remotely amusing in any way, so I gave you the benefit of the doubt. If this was intended as a joke, I apologise and suggest that in future you might want to leave the "jokes" to people with some talent for wit.

Conor Oberst killed my dog.

This is a pointless article, the kid was just a violent nerd. As a possibly serious criticism of Conor Oberst and his relation to this horrible tragedy, you're disrespectful and a fucking moron. As a piece of satire aimed at emo, you're sophomoric and still a fucking moron.

What a great work of satire.

*applauds*

"but i give myself three days to feel better
or else i swear i'll drive right off a fucking cliff"

clearly he condone suicide as well.

Okay.
Let me start off by saying it is going to be VERY hard for me not to cuss you out in a very extreme fashion, but I'm going to try not to.
This article has to be the most disrespectful joke I have ever seen attempt to pass itself off as journalism. Honestly, this sounds like the work of some whack-job conspiracy theorist. Who else would associate Conor Oberst, who writes FOLK SONGS about POLITICS, with a shooting? They live in the same general area, so CLEARLY they are connected. Where is the logic? How did your editor even approve this and put it on the website? This is practically laughable if it weren't to offensive. It's practically defamation of character, to accuse someone like Conor Oberst of inspiring a troubled young man to pick up a gun and stalk into a shopping mall. There are just so many things wrong with this article.

And what do you mean, "don't even get me started on screamo?" I beg your pardon? I listen to screamo, and let me tell you the only times I ever feel any inkling of muderous rage is when I hear ignorant jackasses like you are saying that it makes kids kill people.

People who listen to 'emo' music, be it Bright Eyes OR screamo, are not the threat. The music is not what drives them over the edge.

But hey, whatever. A homeless 19-year-old who can't live with his parents, just got fired, and has been having mental problems shot nine people. Clearly the real reason for this is that he lives in the same state as Conor Oberst.
It's all so simple. I can't believe you haven't been asked to appear on Larry King to discuss this theory.

Oh god, I'm actually just getting more and more disgusted the longer I sit here typing this. I'm done. Have fun being a pathetic excuse for a writer.

Conor Oberst filmed my reaction to "2 Girls 1 Cup" and put it on the internet.

Is you next piece blaming Bono for AIDS?

No. But I am looking into the link between Twin Cities power punk pioneers Husker Du and the Mississippi bridge collapse that happened recently in Minneapolis. I'm not ready to pull the trigger yet, but let's just say that Bob Mould, a man responsible for a song called "Dead Set on Destruction" and "She Floated Away," has blood on his hands. Come to think of it, he wrote "Guns at My School," too. I have to go make a call.

(Also, everyone knows Bruce Springsteen started AIDS.)

So, I just joined this little online shindig specifically in order to post a comment to this outrageous piece of shit article. I've never blogged, never done message boards, nothing. However, there are few things in this world that make me more angry than an ignorant writer, considering that it is my goal one day to become the exact opposite of that. This being said...

Your entire point makes absolutely no sense. Sure, this kid was "emo," but have you ever thought that maybe labeling someone like that in the first place could have been one of the problems in this young man's life? Have you ever thought that maybe it takes a LITTLE bit more than the music you listen to or the movies you watch or the video games you play to make you do the things you do? If you listen to The Clash, does that automatically make you a punk who has to be anti-government and therefore a danger to society? If you listen to Phish, does that make you a "hippie" who doesn't shower and walks around wearing tye die everyday? No. And IF this man listened to Bright Eyes in the first place, I'm pretty sure that the only effect it would have on his life would have been a comforting one.

Bright Eyes, as many people have probably mentioned, isn't emo. I'm not even sure that Bright Eyes can be labeled anymore in terms of music, and I'm not sure that it should be. It's music, and it reaches millions of people. The lyrics that you pointed to in your article, are possibly some of the most touching and ANTI violent lyrics that you could have chosen. As someone who has every Bright Eyes album ever made, I feel pretty confident in saying that. The entire album that you're quoting from is an anti-war and pro-peace album. So if this kid listened to it, he certainly wouldn't have gotten any of his homicidal ideals from it.

As someone who has thought of suicide, who has wanted to die, and who has gone through hard times like this young man has, I can confidently say that listening to Bright Eyes only made me feel better. Not like I wanted to go and kill anyone that ever made me hurt. Bright Eyes is some of the most peaceful, soulful, and insightful music that is being written nowadays. If you want to look to violent music, look anywhere else but here.

Just because Saddle Creek is based out of Omaha doesn't mean that Bright Eyes, the record label, or Conor Oberst had anything to do with this young man's terrible decision. As stated before, he probably had severe mental issues that were going untreated, coupled with the regular pain of being a teenager, coupled with a bad family life. If you want to blame anything, which I do not think is wise in the first place, blame those things. But most of all, blame his own selfishness. Not Conor Oberst or Mike Mogis' genius. But do you even know who Mike Mogis is? Probably not. Because you know nothing about Bright Eyes. If you wanted a monster of the week, you should have picked someone who is wholly responsible for their music, not someone who is in a BAND. Sure he's the lead singer, but there are others involved in the music-making process.

I'd like to end my rant and rave with some harsh, and probably un-intelligent sounding words. One of my teachers once told me that swearing is an excuse for not having a good vocabulary, but I think in this case, my profanities should be let go. You're a fucking douchebag and I hope you seriously understand that. Listen to the music, put it in context of the fucked up and crazy world that we're living in, and then try to tell anyone that it's negative and violent. I honestly think that you might be one of the dumbest people on planet earth if you really think Conor Oberst is a monster. So with that, fuck off. And have a great day.

ok.....lets follow this for a second.....take the quote you yourself used by conor: "Your class, your caste, your country, sect, your name or your tribe
There's people always dying trying to keep them alive
There are bodies decomposing in containers tonight
In an abandoned building".....okay, these lines are fundemental facts about humanity in current times and past times.....ie, there is always people fighting, dying, for countries/religions/leaders, etc....always, always, always, always!....the history of the human race is the history of war....SO....it doesnt really matter whether someone sings about them or not.....there will always be bodies decomposing in abandoned buildings.....always!.....im so amused when people get pissed about bright eyes lyrics....he's only speaking the truth, being angered about that, about hearing the truth, is a little pathetic.

now lets approach the hawkins issue much the same way.....things like this have always been happening....before this it was virginia tech, before that it was columbine, before that it was austin texas in the fifties, and a whole bunch of shit in between...some i know about and dont want to list, others ive probably never heard of....the point is though....blaming these incidents on music or anything implies that there could have been something done to prevent them.....and thats simply not true....what are we going to do, stop going to malls?....school?....arguing about why it happened and how to stop it the next time is pointless....thinking about it at all (besides thoughts of grief and remembrance for those who died) is pointless as well...you just cant be afraid of it when theres nothing to be done.......its a waste of....haha, how bout this...an emotion!

Charles Whitman told his psychiatrist in 1966 he wanted to climb the tower at the University of Texas with a deer rifle and start shooting people at random. The psychiatrist did her best. He was prescribed Valium, Dexedrine, given therapy, the usual drill. But Mr. Whitman would eventually do just what he said, leaving fourteen dead once he was gunned down by police. Do you wonder what music he listened to?

There is nothing you can do.

This is quite literally the biggest piece of bull I have ever read.
I'm not going into all of the reasons why... it's been done for me. So instead I will only name a gew.

Labelling someone 'emo', (which, by the way, marrissam is totally right about... you got the genre all wrong there love), is so disgustingly hypocritical. This kid must have been fucked up to do what he did. You know what fucks people up?
People like you.
Judgemental self-acclaimed 'intellectuals' who know nothing of what they're talking about.
So, before you go and claim that a totally innocent person is responsible for a mass murder simply because he writes incredible music that dares to mention 'hush' subjects such as suicide, (which you know, is what is wrong with society today - why should everyone keep quiet about the aspects of life that make your little world not perfect? free fucking speech), you should perhaps look closer to home in who to blame for situations like this.

Worst review I have ever read. It seems as if the writer is approaching the sabotaged word "emo" as emotional, a common mistake when really, if you know anything, it refers to emotive hard core. Oberst has never made an emo album. By nature humans look for patterns. They stand out more so than the facts and the things people don't want to see. This is pretty obvious here. Was there any proof that Hawkins ever listened to any of Oberst's work? And nice work quoting a new song...great evidence. You're just joining the crowd of people that bash on things a little different than the norm to make yourself feel more...powerful? Intelligent?
Thoroughly appalled any one could make such an ignorant and poorly thought out claim. Bad writing and symmetric judgment.
The world needs more Obersts that take the shit in the world and treat it as shit, accept it as shit, but find a way to make it beautiful. And take the truly beautiful things and remind us that they exist. That kid was fucked up. Oberst had nothing to do with that.

xoxo

I've never been a Bright Eyes fan. Quite frankly, I think he is overrated and overhyped.

But you are an idiot, and a disgrace to journalism. Congratulations, you've made your mark and gotten attention by being cynical and looking outside of convention for a scapegoat...what a cutting edge idea.

I see this article littered with Vodka advertisements-even a COMMENT had one slipped in. I'm going to go ahead and say that if anyone that has read this ever does anything stupid in their lives from this point on, it's you and your publications fault, because they got the idea to drink from here.

See, I can be overdramatic and point fingers for attention too!

Fuck you. You have no idea what the hell you're talking about you ignorant bastard.

ok.....lets follow this for a second.....take the quote you yourself used by conor: "Your class, your caste, your country, sect, your name or your tribe
There's people always dying trying to keep them alive
There are bodies decomposing in containers tonight
In an abandoned building".....okay, these lines are fundemental facts about humanity in current times and past times.....ie, there is always people fighting, dying, for countries/religions/leaders, etc....always, always, always, always!....the history of the human race is the history of war....SO....it doesnt really matter whether someone sings about them or not.....there will always be bodies decomposing in abandoned buildings.....always!.....im so amused when people get pissed about bright eyes lyrics....he's only speaking the truth, being angered about that, about hearing the truth, is a little pathetic.

now lets approach the hawkins issue much the same way.....things like this have always been happening....before this it was virginia tech, before that it was columbine, before that it was austin texas in the fifties, and a whole bunch of shit in between...some i know about and dont want to list, others ive probably never heard of....the point is though....blaming these incidents on music or anything implies that there could have been something done to prevent them.....and thats simply not true....what are we going to do, stop going to malls?....school?....arguing about why it happened and how to stop it the next time is pointless....thinking about it at all (besides thoughts of grief and remembrance for those who died) is pointless as well...you just cant be afraid of it when theres nothing to be done.......its a waste of....haha, how bout this...an emotion!

Charles Whitman told his psychiatrist in 1966 he wanted to climb the tower at the University of Texas with a deer rifle and start shooting people at random. The psychiatrist did her best. He was prescribed Valium, Dexedrine, given therapy, the usual drill. But Mr. Whitman would eventually do just what he said, leaving fourteen dead once he was gunned down by police. Do you wonder what music he listened to?

There is nothing you can do.

Wow... you have officially reached a new level of ignorance. I never thought it was possible after grading paper after paper of high school students and college students. This article has absolutely no backing or support to your thesis. You have basicaly only been able to write an entire article of worthless beliefs, opinions, and ideas. Also, you should actually listen to this so-called "emo". If you listen to his music then you will realize that it is a mix of so many different types of actual music, not random notes put together, but actual chord progressions and difficult rythms. Bright Eyes pulls from country, blue grass, jazz, classical, rock, and so many others. They have truly accomplished real music. I am a musician and I hate listening to "emo" with the three to four chord progressions repeated over and over again and the occassional key change; however, Conor Oberst has created music that is always interesting and changing. Bright Eyes is not "emo". Again I realize that these comments are exactly what you wanted probably, and you most likely really enjoy pissing people off or really get them going about something. Congratulations for you have succeeded in that, and I hope you have a good night. I enjoyed your opinion and I hope that later in your life you realize how immature and weak your statement was. Also, what are you saying about the MN bridge collapse being based on something, because I hope you realize that my parents were on that bridge when it collapsed. Music and people did not make that bridge fall, wow you actually are that dumb. Have a good life, and just remember "Karma's a bitch" and I will laugh when you come back in your next life as a depressed "emo" kid that kills themself, go cut your wrist.

Jenna Rock

... oh and by the way, fuck off!

Well Mr. Tyler Gray, I'm betting my vast fortune that, if you look hard enough, you can find a musician to blame EVERYTHING on, no matter how big or small the news story is nor where it is.

Somebody die in a car crash ?
Surely somebody wrote about the kind of car(s) involved.

Somebody die in a fire ?
Surely somebody wrote about spark, flame and smoke.

Somebody die of natural causes ?
Yep - that's gotta be covered, too.

'I'm leeeeaving, on a jet plane, (I) don't know if I'll be back again...'
Surely there was a plane crash soon after, right ?

PS - I'm in Omaha, and I've NEVER listened to any songs by Conor Oberst, so I guess if I was to go commit a random act of violence, surely you will find something out there you can attribute to me, right ?

Conor Oberst raped me.

The truth is, satire or not, this article is really insensitive seeing as this shooting just happened. I no longer believe that you actually think this claim is true, however, I still think that it's insensitive in every way and I don't really find it funny. As you remember, in the wake of Columbine the media crucified Marilyn Manson instead of looking at the real issues. It's scary because people jump on board with these things, blaming music and video games, and forget about the tragedy at hand.

Conor Oberst put cheese on my vegan tofu scramble.

Tyler: isn't Prince from Minneapolis as well? Is the bridge collapse what it sounds like when doves cry?

The MN bridge collapse sounded like hearts breaking and loved ones dying. Yes, let us all blame Prince for the collapse?!?

This is ludicrous. Not only is the writing truly terrible, but it lacks any connection within its hypothesis. Conor Oberst writes a song...a guy shoots up a mall....some dude with no college English credit writes a column on it. Did you even try to find out if this kid listens to this music? Did it ever occur to you that even if you found a link between the lyrics and the shooting, there's no one to blame except the person who did it? You know, just because they are both from Nebraska, doesn't mean they are connected. Learn how to research, learn how to make a point, and get back to us.

youre full of baloney tyler gay

First thing is first: Tyler Gary, you are a disgrace to journalism and to the world.

Secondly: You're a dumbass.
Honestly, how could you think that this was ultimate logic?! Hey fuckhead, it's not just the music and the violent video games that inspire kids to do shit like this.
They just aren't right in the head to begin with.
It's sad.

Don't fucking blame just Bright Eyes. You might as well blame all of music.
Oh, and I'm shocked you didn't include Elliott Smith.
We all know what the world has to say about him.
You're just stupid and don't like Bright Eyes.
You're a dumbass. If you don't like a band, just say you don't like them.
Dont' be a fuckhead and think that this was a really bright idea.

whoa.. how can u even think of criticizing Oberst's words after feeding us the fuckin shittiest piece of writing i've ever read.
everything wrong with your article has been sumned up in the 32 posts above, but i highly suggest you back up that piece of shit before you lose the last shards of dignity that you got remaining as a writer.

p.s: you're an ignorant dooshbag

k this is fucked up. you didn't even post all the lyrics to the song, you included the most emo-lyrics in that song that you could find. just because it deals with real emotions, which may not be something you can comprehend cause you're a dumbass, doesn't mean it's all depressing and emo and shit. usually, the reason that things are emo or depressing is because someone has actually had some fucked up experiences that they want to write about to get out some of their emotions. it's not like he's writing a song about crying over how his cell phone is so last-year, he's writing about bigger things, so you're completely retarded and don't deserve to be writing articles like this

First of all, i might be willing to see Tyler Gray's point of view if he had any genuine and well researched links between the shooting and Conor Oberst, but it seems that Mr Gray is in fact an 12 year old who just isn't really a fan of Bright Eyes, which is fair enough, but is this really the impression a journalist wants to give out?
This has got to be one of the worst written articles i have ever seen, thus i just can't take it seriously.
Playing the emo card as well? now that is a low Sir.
Anyway. what i really wanted to say is, Bright Eyes have been recording since before the millennium, and has always written, what could be considered by some people, pretty morbid and dark lyrics. But that is because he is true to his emotions, wither you like or dislike him/his music, thats beyond the point, the point is that's what he does, what he doesn't do, is encourage people to go out shooting everyone.
Personally, i am a massive fan of Bright Eyes and trying not to sound too over the top Conor's work has so far managed to get me though many a small crisis. In my humble opinion he is a little bit of a genius, if i want to scream, or cry, or just dance around or whatever! Conor always has an album i can put on and just do that to. He never makes me want to go and kill everyone at my college.
I suppose this all sounds rather bias, a Bright Eyes fan who isn't happy when Conor gets disgusting things said about him, well true.
But i am not a Marilyn Manson fan at all, but him being blamed for the Columbine massacre was just as ridiculous. Why are people constantly trying to pass the blame on to others?
The kid that did this was obviously fucked up and i'm guessed neglected, we live in a society in which people who are crying out for attention get ignored everyday and eventually they crack. If you really want to blame someone that isn't the kid itself, then blame society, blame everyone.
And if you really think it's Conor's fault then doesn't that mean his music should be banned before i go and gun everyone down i know?
Oh yeah, better ban Sonic Youth as well, fans are going to take 'kill yr idols' to heart and go another Lennon.
Oh, how could i forget the endless number of rappers who rap about drugs and guns, obviously all fans of hip-hop will now be having shoot outs whilst high.
Oh and Johnny Cash fans, well God help us from them, they'll hear 'once piece at a time' once then go and steal a car.
Whatever are we going to do?
oh i have an idea, lets not put the blames on musicians in an attempt to cause a bit of controversy.
Get off your high horse mate.
This is pitiful.

"Dead Set on Destruction" was written by Grant Hart.

Considering Tyler Gray's evident ignorance about music, it's not surprising he wouldn't know Husker Du had two songwriters.

It's pointless to expect anything like an intelligent exchange of ideas from a Web site with aspirations no higher than supermarket tabloids, except for being slightly more literate.

Ah... ah... I see......, so if I follow your logic of Conor Oberst = mass shootings, then censorship = cure to violence!

Dog gone it, sheer genius!

You have a mind like our president: use tragedy as an excuse to take away our civil liberties. Or to pick on somebody.

Ask the unlawful detainees in Guantanamo about it. and the Iraqis.

You people are all disgraces to thinking.

Perhaps we can all look at the obvious message of the article. Which I think is the opposite of what all of you think the message is.

ps: Don't EVER read anything by Bret Easton Ellis or read Swif'ts "A Modest Proposal." Your head might explode.

pps: "dooshbag"? Really?

ppps: Bono gave me AIDS. And the the detainees in Guantanamo took away my civil liberties.

Like comedy, good satire requires skill like good timing, which this sadly lacks.

LAME.

I think the author of this article is 17 years old.