These cats are scared and feral: Better Oblivion Community Center’s “Dylan Thomas”
Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers often tuck trophy lines into unassuming places that other artists would shine up and shove to the front of the mantle. While the songs are consistently veiled in some arty ambiguity, they convey genuine feelings, which isn’t the default in too-cool-for-school indie genres.
“Dylan Thomas,” the lead single on the new Better Oblivion Community Center album, is either an ambiguously political folk song masquerading as an up-tempo pop tune or a radio-ready single crammed to capacity with grade-A words and syllables.
“I’m getting greedy with this private hell / I’ll go it alone, but that’s just as well” is a chorus we can all make our own, even if it’s pretty easy to project some larger meaning onto it these days. The unassuming verse that immediately follows that first chorus is where the song hits full stride, with every harmonized word (Oberst down low and Bridgers up high) pulling its weight in spades.
“These cats are scared and feral / the flag pins on their lapels / the truth is anybody’s guess / These talking heads are saying / The king is only playing a game of four-dimensional chess.”
Up to this point, whatever unidentified leader we’re hearing about is only referenced as a General. In this third verse he’s a King (unless it’s a different character entirely). It’s pretty easy to turn these folks into Donald Trump, and the talking heads into dead-eyed cable news pundits, and the fearful cats into anybody in government tasked with holding leadership to account.
And even if it is that simple, the way it’s written divorces the story from this particular clusterfuck of a moment. Not only can you count on those feral cats and talking heads to remain fixtures in the culture down the line, but you can also temper your frustration with the fact that it’s not like everything was going swimmingly before 2016. Even if this moment is legitimately bonkers and worthy of song, it’s an extension of what preceded it and a precursor to what’s ahead. “Dylan Thomas” has no expiration date.
