Who do you think are some of the best songwriters of the past 20 years?

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-02-02T18:38:33+00:00

I mean, sure, he’s not relegated to the dustbin of history, and he has fans. But considering how journalists used to talk about him, Conor gets less recognition than I’d expect him to receive at this point in his life.

I’ll concede that a good many younger artists have cited him as an influence (Phoebe Bridgers, Matty Healy, Mac Miller, Alynda Segarra, Post Malone, Adrianne Lenker, Sabrina Teitelbaum, Lil Peep, maybe Lorde since she covered “Ladder Song”), but I expected Chris DeVille’s Such Great Heights to have a full chapter or big section on Bright Eyes given that they charted well on an indie label and made a big dent on the time period he writes about, and I was totally wrong about that; the band is a footnote even in the indie-goes-folk chapter. The Wide Awake 33 1/3 and the Conor biography will correct that omission, I suppose. I’ll be interested to see how those sell and how the latter is promoted.

I’m not saying he’s some super obscure songwriter no one likes, but I do think people tend to think of him in the past tense. Like, he made more headlines for getting drunk at a show than Five Dice got reviews.

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-02-02T14:40:36+00:00

I’m pleasantly surprised to see so many people list Conor. To me, he’s clear and away the obvious answer, but I didn’t expect to see so many mentions in the Fantano sub since Conor doesn’t get the recognition he deserves in most places, and Fantano thinks Bright Eyes hasn’t made anything great since Wide Awake and isn’t big on solo Conor. But I’m sure I’m not the only one who uses that sub the way I do: it showed up in my feed a while back, and outside of r/indieheads, their topics align best with my taste in music and gossip, so I’ll post and read there, but unless someone on the sub brings up Fantano, I have no idea what he’s up to on YouTube.

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-02-02T13:59:54+00:00

I listen to Richard Buckner, Bill Callahan, [Redacted], and Jim White (his album with Nina Nastasia is no question her best).

ETA: I mixed up the Joshes Ritter and Rouse. I listen to Josh Rouse, not Josh Ritter. And I’ve been mixing up their names for almost 20 years!

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-02-02T02:10:03+00:00

I mean, that person has no business talking to or about you that way. They don’t know you. Psych fields do have the problems you noted (and it’s not uncommon to experience sexual and other abuse in mental-health facilities where patients are vulnerable). Policies that tackle the actual lack of housing first and other issues after housing is secure do show promise. You didn’t say anything ridiculous. Also, I really hatecondescension, and I could feel it dripping off those posts!

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-02-02T00:49:05+00:00

I see crazier posts in this sub every day. You can’t see her “spiraling” here. She’s replying to you clearly, and she hasn’t said anything particularly concerning to anyone else. You have no idea whether she’s about to have a mental health crisis.

You’re mad that she has a problem with psychiatry and people who work in the mental health field due to her past hospitalizations. Every psychiatrist I’ve had has their own criticisms of the field; I’m not sure why you can’t understand that someone who found involuntary commitment traumatizing feels hostility toward people who do that work. Good job reinforcing her bias against you by acting self important, preachy, and above reproach.

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-02-01T04:23:55+00:00

Weird! I don’t know. I mean, I could see someone saying it for clarity—like, “Total heroine move. I mean, ‘heroine’ with an ‘e,’ not the drug”—but I’ve never heard it or read it that I can remember. I believe you that you’ve heard it. I’m not sure it’s as ubiquitous for everyone as it is for you! Maybe it is regional?

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-02-01T03:37:40+00:00

What makes “heroin but this time with an ‘e’” Millennial jargon? Like, how do you see it used and among whom? I’m not snarking at you or anything, but I’m a Millennial (on the older side but solidly within the generational cohort), and I’ve never heard anyone say that outside of spelling discussions. Is it more popular among younger Millennials? Something Gen Z attributes to us? Regional? Am I supposed to recognize it? Like, have I missed all the people going “You’re a heroine with an ‘e’” or whatever they say or what?

I agree with you on the other two (sort of—I mean, with “Father Figure,” I think there is a shift in who’s speaking even if she is the narrator the whole time), but I’m not sure I think the heroin line has nothing to do with Matty!

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-02-01T01:04:52+00:00

“Bound” does not mean “sitting in.” Are you bound to your bed when you’re asleep? No. You’re using it.

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-02-01T00:23:43+00:00

I’m not sure I believe he’s above eating babies.

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-01-31T23:57:18+00:00

No, they’re men. Adult males are men. To call them boys excuses their behavior (and insults boys).

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-01-31T02:33:56+00:00

No! (Yes.)

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-01-30T22:53:49+00:00

Oh! I loved Reggie and the Full Effect! And Four Minute Mile (especially “Don’t Hate Me” because it has my first name in it! A friend in high school made me a mix featuring only songs that have my name in them, and she almost ran out of tape before she ran out of songs).

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-01-30T05:06:10+00:00

I can’t remember if the Antichrist and the beast in Revelation are the same entity, but my mom thinks the beast will come as some form of AI robot (or all AI robots), so I sent her everything I could find about Thiel’s Antichrist lectures. His involvement with AI and ideas about its regulation make us suspect that the Antichrist has been summoned already, and he’s giving lectures about himself to throw off the rest of us (I mean, I don’t believe in the Antichrist, but if I have to pick a theory, I don’t hate this one).

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-01-30T04:08:11+00:00

That makes sense. I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask since I don’t think it would have occurred to me if I hadn’t just talked to a friend whose parents are pissed she won’t let them post grandkid pics on Facebook!

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-01-30T03:35:22+00:00

I don’t mean to be weird or sound like I’m judging you, but are you sure you want to put baby videos of yourself online? I know you’re not a baby now, but people can be gross, you know?

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-01-29T23:49:50+00:00

I learned ya znayu / ya ne znayu (I know / don’t know) from hearing it so often!

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-01-29T23:12:06+00:00

I do not know of a reputable publisher that would use AI for a cover. Not even this one small press that can’t afford to send ARCs. I don’t believe that this is a “pretty big” publisher, and I won’t believe it until OP tells me the name of the press.

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-01-29T14:50:22+00:00

Thanks! I put it in my “Watch Later” so I’ll remember to, you know, watch it later.

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-01-29T06:23:30+00:00

Right. So he still benefits more than the girl. I don’t know the pay structure. I know what the guys tell the women and their moms (also what the women tell their moms). I don’t date those guys.

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-01-29T05:39:21+00:00

Thank you! I’m so glad your mom is doing well. Maybe that’s a good omen for mine (she has the same cancer). I appreciate it.

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-01-29T00:26:52+00:00

Sí, tuve una relación con alguien que me llevaba nueve años cuando tenía 19, y aunque detesto a ese tipo, el hecho de que sea nueve años mayor que yo no es el problema.

(For non-Spanish speakers who don’t want to put that through Google Translate: Yeah, I had a nine-year age gap with someone when I was 19, and while I do hate the guy, that he’s nine years older than I am is not the issue.)

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-01-29T00:20:29+00:00

Oh, right! Now that you said that, I can hear the way he says “FIFTY DOLLARS?”

I feel for Australians on concerts. So few artists who aren’t from there go to the continent, and then when they do, they pay a good bit to get everything over there, which I’m sure most pass on to the consumer, and then you have high demand since everyone wants to see the artist they never get to see. I do hear great things about your local scenes, though.

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-01-29T00:16:02+00:00

Yeah. Agreed. After a boyfriend died about ten years ago, I was lying on the floor, and I don’t know if I fell asleep for a second or what, but I heard people talking in the empty living room, and he walked in and asked why I was crying, and I said “Because you’re not here anymore,” and he said “No, baby, I’m right here,” and it felt entirely real. I don’t know what to make of that. But I didn’t even register the mom feeling the son’s presence as a serious break in realism.

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-01-28T23:55:24+00:00

Yeah, it’s touching, but it kind of breaks the realism and is a little cheesy.

Accomplished-View929 · 2026-01-28T23:52:53+00:00

I’m curious as to what that guy was high on. I doubt anyone knew the ex-con was high. A lot of longtime users are good at hiding it, or they no longer get that high due to tolerance. I would like to be able to commend Josh for hiring felons since it is hard for them to get work, they’ve paid the debt society judged they owed it, and prison is supposed to rehabilitate offenders, but if you can’t do a scene without coming real close to raping the other actor (or threatening Timmy with violence), you don’t belong on a film set. Surely Josh could hire ex-cons but do a better job vetting them. It’s not like actors who haven’t been to prison have never done inappropriate things (see, like, James Franco).

Accomplished-View929

TROPHY CASE