by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Politics sucked 20 years ago when George W. Bush was president. 

In his first term, Bush invaded Iraq as a reaction to 9/11. The Iraq War’s death toll ranged from 151,000 to over a million Iraqis, depending on which study you point to. The numbers are still disputed to this day.

Ultimately, the war helped propel Bush to a narrow victory over democrat John Kerry in November 2004. And I can say from personal experience, a lot of people were pretty bummed about the prospect of the next four years. 

Among them was Conor Oberst. Bright Eyes was about to reach the zenith of its popularity with the ambitious release of both I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn on Jan. 25, 2005. As part of the promotional tour for those albums, Bright Eyes appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on May 2, 2005 – a big deal for a band from Omaha. A year earlier, Bright Eyes had its network debut on Late Night With David Letterman, so national TV was nothing new, but this time, Oberst had something special up his sleeve. 

Leno apparently had seen the rehearsal. During the opening monologue, when introducing the night’s guests, including Bright Eyes, Leno turned to bandleader Kevin Eubanks and said: “You hear the song he’s doing Kevin? I haven’t heard a protest song like this… you know I grew up in the sixties. I used to do a Jesse Winchester, a Jerry Jeff Walker, and Kris Kristofferson doing these anti-Nixon… This is a song that’s right up there. This will galvanize the audience. You’ll go one way or the other but you will have an opinion when he’s done.”

The performance took place at the tail-end of the show. Out walked Oberst with his acoustic guitar, dressed like a country singer, complete with a black cowboy hat. What happened next was pure TV Gold. 

The song, “When the President Talks to God,” was released as a free iTunes download and was the B-side of a promotional 7-inch, with A-side “First Day of My Life.” It would go on to win Song of the Year at the 2006 PLUG Independent Music Awards and would help fuel the Dylan comparisons which Oberst never understood. 

We thought we had it bad back then; we had no idea how bad things could become. Maybe it’s time for Bright Eyes to record the sequel…

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Show-wise tonight, Oklahoma City band Husbands plays at Reverb with JW Francis. $20, 8 p.m.

Meanwhile, local rockers Cinema Stereo plays at The Sydney in Benson with Public Figure and the mighty Las Cruxes. $13, 9 p.m.

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2025 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.