I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning

I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning is the sixth studio album by American band Bright Eyes, released on January 25, 2005 by Saddle Creek Records (the same day as their seventh album, Digital Ash in a Digital Urn).

The album was reissued by Dead Oceans alongside a six-track companion EP on November 11, 2022.

Songs
The music video for "First Day of My Life" was directed by John Cameron Mitchell.

This was the first Bright Eyes album to feature Nate Walcott, who is now a permanent member of the band.

"Road to Joy" contains an interpolation of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy". The title of the album is taken from a lyric in this song.

Bright Eyes achieved success on the US charts when the singles "Lua" and "Take It Easy (Love Nothing)" (the latter from Digital Ash) took the top two positions on the Billboard Hot Singles Sales chart in 2004. In 2005, the band set off on a two-part world tour to promote the album along with Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, with the first half of the tour centring on the folk-influenced first album, and the latter half featuring the more electronic second album. Both records made it into the top 20 of the Billboard albums charts, with I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning peaking at number 10 on the Billboard 200 and at number 2 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart. The tour was captured on the album Motion Sickness, released later in the year.

Critical reception
I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning received widespread acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, the album received an average score of 85 out of 100, based on 33 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". Los Angeles Times describes it as "An album with the simmering glow of a masterpiece." Drowned in Sound critic Sean Adams called the album a "thing of awe", praising the lyrics and "calculated attention to detail". Pitchfork's Chris Dahlen gave the album 8.7 out of 10 and states "I'm Wide Awake weaves the personal and the political more fluidly than most singers even care to try, and the consummate tunefulness just strengthens those moments where he pinches a nerve."

In a less positive review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic criticized Oberst's "heavy-handed pretension in the words and [...] affectedness in his delivery", calling the album proof that "instead of reaching musical maturity, he's wallowing in a perpetual adolescence."

Up to 2014, the album had sold 522,000 copies in US. In 2007 it was awarded a gold certification from the Independent Music Companies Association, which indicated sales of at least 100,000 copies throughout Europe.

Year-end rankings
The album was ranked on several lists for best albums released during the year 2005.

It was also ranked at number 50 on Rolling Stone list of "Top 100 Albums of the Decade" and at number 31 on NME's "Top 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade".

Personnel

 * Conor Oberst – guitar, vocals
 * Mike Mogis – mandolin (tracks 1, 2), pedal steel (tracks 3, 5, 7, 9), 12 string guitar (track 10)
 * Nate Walcott – trumpet (tracks 2, 3, 8, 10)
 * Nick White – piano (tracks 2, 8), organ (tracks 3, 7, 9, 10), Rhodes (track 5), vibraphone (track 8)
 * Jesse Harris – guitar (tracks 1, 2, 5–8)
 * Alex McManus – guitar (track 3, 10)
 * Tim Luntzel – bass (tracks 1, 3, 6, 7, 8)
 * Matt Maginn – bass (tracks 2, 5, 9, 10)
 * Jason Boesel – drums (tracks 2, 3, 5, 7, 9)
 * Clark Baechle – drums (tracks 3, 7, 10)
 * Jim James – vocals (track 1)
 * Emmylou Harris – vocals (tracks 2, 7, 8)
 * Maria Taylor – vocals (tracks 3, 9)
 * Andy LeMaster – vocals (track 3)
 * Jake Bellows – harmonica, vocals (track 5)