After the last rites, my first thought: "Time is an ocean of endless tears".

1) Bright Eyes, "If the Brakeman Turns My Way". The only way I can judge rock poetry is how easily the lines resonate with me; invariably, many lines from many writers do, and I decree those the talented ones. This is necessarily then the only explanation that's needed as to why I find myself liking Oberst's work, even though there is a massive rebellion against him, one that I was once part of. In this particular song, even discounting the ever capable sense of  melody and delivery, just analyzing the words when the music stops unearths their inherent craftiness: friends and sedatives, dreams playing spoilsport, et cetera. After the third or so line that requests a smile, I put my hands up and admit that the man has impressed me again.