First Bright Eyes single from "People's Key"

So I downloaded the single from the new Bright Eyes record. First noticed, it really really sounds like a Bright Eyes song, verses Monsters of Folk/Conor Oberst & Mystic River Valley Band/I'm Wide Awake (what?). I mean, it could easily fit into Digital Ash. Conor makes references to past Bright Eyes albums in the first verse, which sets the song up for this retrospective on his career with the Bright Eyes "project."

Any Bright Eyes fan will know that Conor is pulling in his handful of hang-ups/images/go-to obsessions.

SUCH AS:

• Machinery

"Distorted sounds on oscilloscope".

An oscilloscope is a machine that creates images of sound waves. 'Course Conor cites machinery used depicting/representing a function that is alien to it, such as in "Danny Callohan" "whose heart beats electrical".

• Cocaine references

"I was dressed in white, touched by something pure"

• Elliott Smith references

"Slipping steadily into madness, now that's the only place to be free" and an echo of "distorted" twice in another verse.

vs.

"A distorted reality is now a necessity to be free" which is the name and chorus of an ESmith song.

ETC ETC ETC.

That aside, what the hell is this song about? I mean, specifically "heavy love." This is the main point of the song, right---it's the chorus, it's repeated 1000000 times.

"Here it come that heavy love
Someone got to share in the load
Here it come that heavy love
You never going to move it alone"

Hm, heavy love.
Could it be...

1. A relationship that requires two people to be equally committed? That seems to ignore the rest of the lyrics perhaps. But may make the most sense when the chorus stands alone.
2. The necessity of Conor to have his bandmates help him put his emotions/experiences to music.
3. Conor's relationship with his fans, who rely on his music to connect to their own lives.

But what's the namesake, "Shell Game" for which he professes twice "it's a shell game".

It being...

1. The music industry/Bright Eyes itself as a project?
2. Love itself, involving oneself in a relationship? 3. Trying to connect your life to music or art, which could, perhaps never be enough to get you through.

Personally I think the song is a little dry. The best part of the song comes in the chorus, which usually isn't true of any Bright Eyes songs. Mostly because Conor doesn't save his best lines for the chorus, they are just everywhere. Some good lines are "my private life is an inside joke,no one will explain it to me" & "we'll be everything that we ever need." That's pretty great, but maybe the only line or so that hits home. Heavy love, perhaps because of --or in spite of its ambiguity, doesn't resonate with me. For whatever reason, I'm not blown away. But maybe this is another "Say Please" and when "The People's Key" drops I'll be scratching my head wondering why release "Shell Games" as the single Conor? For the lols? For the DEEP HIDDEN IMPLICATIONS? For the lols? Get your piano back to the desert and write me another "Coyote Song."