Hundreds of Ways

Album: Upside Down Mountain (2014)
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Songfacts®:

  • The first song to be released from Upside Down Mountain is a Country-flavored tune that finds Oberst singing about disappointment and needing to find a way to get through the day.
  • The song features backing vocals from Johanna and Klara Soderberg of the Swedish folk duo First Aid Kit. The sisters provide backing vocals for Oberst throughout Upside Down Mountain. The Bright Eyes leader previously featured on the Swedish sisters' 2012 track "King Of The World."
  • A limited-edition seven-inch of the song was released on Record Store Day on April 19, 2014.
  • The song finds Oberst addressing his own legacy:

    "Maybe no one really seems to be the person that they mean to be.
    I hope I am forgotten when I die."

    "I think a lot of times there's the sense that we have of ourselves and then there's the perception of people we interact with in the world, and those two things are not congruent," he explained to Billboard magazine. "It's a bit of a snarky line, but it's essentially saying that once I'm out of the picture I hope no one talks about me, because it won't be me they're talking about — it'll be their perception."

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