| Wilco – You Are My Face Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| After thinking more about it, I think 'shadows chasing bones' is the ultrasound of a child, and how it changes the narrator's life. I think that makes sense, since the whole song is about how easily stuff can change, and it seems to be in an urban relational setting. Just some more stuff to think about, I love this song. By far my favorite Wilco album, and I love them all. | |
| Wilco – Walken Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| I love this song, especially the way he performs it solo. A lot of the SBS songs are just fun-loving and free-spiritted, and this one especially. This album, culminating is the closing track, is definately about the ups and downs of relationships, both romantic and otherwise, including the narrators relationship with himself. Walken, however, is pretty obvious. He's in love, and he can't help it--he's walken around and can't help but sing about his girl. He runs home just to see her. This song might be the first time the narrator realized he's in love--'the more I think about it the more I know it's true'--or possibly when he decides to ask for her hand in marriage. Hell, it could just be Tweedy saying 'man I love my wife'. Either way, a great song and great album by a great band. | |
| Wilco – Walken Lyrics | 18 years ago |
| I love this song, especially the way he performs it solo. A lot of the SBS songs are just fun-loving and free-spiritted, and this one especially. This album, culminating is the closing track, is definately about the ups and downs of relationships, both romantic and otherwise, including the narrators relationship with himself. Walken, however, is pretty obvious. He's in love, and he can't help it--he's walken around and can't help but sing about his girl. He runs home just to see her. This song might be the first time the narrator realized he's in love--'the more I think about it the more I know it's true'--or possibly when he decides to ask for her hand in marriage. Hell, it could just be Tweedy saying 'man I love my wife'. Either way, a great song and great album by a great band. | |
| Wilco – You Are My Face Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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I'm trying really hard to figure out the opening lyrics, so here's what I've got so far. I don't really know the opening stanza, part of me wants to dismiss it as straight-forward with the introduction of a character and then the way he "filled in for sunshine", or brought back "gold" to replace happiness. That's a sketchy idea. The next line, "filling into tight lines, ordinary beehives" is about urban, possibly suburban, life. Tight lines of roads, beehives the way the city forms a comb of bustling life. "The door screams I hate you"... at first I didn't know what to think, but it occured to me that the narrator is hearing voices through the door of his parents arguing. As for the 'hanging round my bluejeans'... several thoughts, none of which I am certain. It could be sexual, since underneath bluejeans are... well... essentials. Or maybe something with workplace, since bluejeans used to be the typical work attire before they came into style. Either way, the narrator seems to be going through some stress. The character, 'mother's sister's husband's brother' could refer to a man the narrator's mother is having an affair with--kind of like we often call them 'uncle' (and by the description he would be an uncle-in-law) 'Why is there no breeze? No currency of leaves?' I think this whole stanza is talking about how there's no dynamics in his life, no chance, no 'feeling i can see'. Next is more obvious, 'I trust no emotion, I beleive in locomotion' could mean he doesn't beleive in love, and he's ready to leave at any moment. Or maybe by 'believing' in locomotion he's saying that his way of handling problems, 'emotions', is by taking off. He's deteriorating, turning to rust, as he's tried to explain, but it's too late. He's let someone down too many times. The next line appears to be about something, possibly an end to a relationship, messing everything up. 'Maps', or plans, have been 'overwrote' (possible overthrown?). Maps could also refer to how he sees things, his perception of where things are in his life, and suddenly that changes. Happenstance changes his plans, and his heart is 'ungrown', possibly synonymous for broken. I'm not sure what 'When everybody's feeling all alone, I can't tell you who I am' means. I think it might represent his identity being reliant on someone else's love, being part of a relationship, but I'm not sure. Then back to the quiet guitar, 'I am looking forward toward the shadows chasing bones' could be refering to death, possibly even longing for it. The next lyric, 'our face is stiched in sewing,' I think refers to their child. Two faces sitched together to make one (You Are My Face), and that child is what 'hems' the house into a 'home'. But the couple seems to have broken apart, since their 'stories fit into phones', seeming to me as them relaying from a distance because they arn't together (possibly father-son trying to keep up a relationship). 'Our voices lift so easily' is referring to fighting between the narrator and the woman, which is 'a gift given accidentally when we're not sure we're not alone'--the child is overhearing the arguments. Anyway, that's my interpretation right now. I'd love to hear other's thoughts. These lyrics are really good and remind me a lot of 'She's A Jar' for some reason. |
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| Wilco – Hate It Here Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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In a recent interview JT was asked if this song was pessimistic, and if it had anything to do with his marriage. Jeff's response was a laugh and, this isn't a direct quote, but something along the lines of "No way, I think its hilarious" and "My wife called this 'the joke song' because I don't even know how to fold a shirt" and "I honestly think its one of funniest things I've ever written" One more reason I love Jeff, even when he's this famous he doesn't take music too seriously. |
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| Wilco – On and On and On Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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One of my favorite songs from the album. The first time I heard it I stopped doing everything else and just revelled in the ambience and beauty of it. The slow climax and emotion in the lyrics make the song an emotional rollercoaster, much like what the narrator is describing to what I'm assuming is his lady. The contrast in the lyrics tells the story completely, one lyric starting with 'please don't cry' and ending with 'go ahead and cry'. The song appears likens death, with lyrics such as 'we're designed to die', and 'i will live in your and you will live in me', to breaking apart. The closing lyric narrows it down to what I'm thinking is a break-up since it say 'you and i will try to make it better yeah. As I'm reading the lyrics again I think maybe his 'we're designed to die' referance is just to show that we're mortal, a kind of play at the saying 'we all make mistakes' or 'I'm still human'. The music is crucial in interpreting this sound, the climb-and-fall chord progressing, the swirling strings, ultimately this restless feeling that really puts you into the lyrics, building up only to let you down again. On and on and on, up and down and up and down. Much like the relationship its describing, the music captures an incredible beauty, but not without it's crescendos and decrescendos--every relationship has dynamics. |
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| Wilco – Sky Blue Sky Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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A few corrections (I could be wrong) "Windows open and raining in MAROON, yellow, blue, gold and grey." "With the sky blue sky this rotten time wouldn't seem so bad to me now" I heard Jeff Tweedy perform this back when it was called Lullaby for Rafters and Dreams at one of his solo shows in Southern Illinois and it took my breath away. After the show I mentioned to my friend that the lyric 'sky blue sky' really made me smile and was amazingly descriptive for its redundancy. The song, to me, is just the concept of hope and how even on the saddest of days if you look outside and see nature smiling bright and sundrenched, you are at your core made at least slightly happy. |
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| Wilco – Sky Blue Sky Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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A few corrections (I could be wrong) "Windows open and raining in MAROON, yellow, blue, gold and grey." "With the sky blue sky this rotten time wouldn't seem so bad to me now" I heard Jeff Tweedy perform this back when it was called Lullaby for Rafters and Dreams at one of his solo shows in Southern Illinois and it took my breath away. After the show I mentioned to my friend that the lyric 'sky blue sky' really made me smile and was amazingly descriptive for its redundancy. The song, to me, is just the concept of hope and how even on the saddest of days if you look outside and see nature smiling bright and sundrenched, you are at your core made at least slightly happy. |
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| Wilco – Ashes of American Flags Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Sugarxspice is right, he stated in an interview that it was out of respect for people who can burn a flag, something he'd never do. In 'Learning How To Die' he says that at the time of writing the album he was thinking alot about distance, loneliness, and the idea of "country"--the "distance" theme is really obvious throughout the album in the mixing, the way all the instuments sound so broken apart and hollow, and the 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' lo-fi radio at the end of Poor Places. To me, subjectively, this song is about the loneliness the narrator feels from himself. 'All my lies were always wishes' and 'I would die if I come come back new' are the most prominent (and my personal favorite lyrics in the song). The song starts and ends with lyrics about consuming--he spends his money on cigarettes and Diet coke, and at the end he salutes all the 'fallen leaves', or currency, that's just being tossed away on things that even he wastes his money on. Maybe that's what makes us countrymen. Just some thoughts, nothing is black-and-white with Tweedy. He says very often his music is about interpretation, both by musician and listener. Some of his lyrics are just word association, but watching people apply meaning to them is part of the fun. |
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| Wilco – Summer Teeth Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Summerteeth is a reference to women, but I don't know how to apply it here. It's used like this: "Summerteeth are there, summerteeth are there". It's a woman with bad teeth-- "some [of her] teeth" = summerteeth. Don't know why. |
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| Wilco – I'm A Wheel Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Michaelsee, I'd encourage you to check out Kicking Television (you may have already). This song's not on there, but it shows that A Ghost is Born was really just the groundwork for an amazing live band--the band they have now become. | |
| Neutral Milk Hotel – Little Birds Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Story: Kid sees water turn into birds, he sees it as a miracle. His parents see it as a sign of evil, like they did his gay brother (a direct link to Jeff's life). In the end, his father drowns him. Yeah, Jeff. It's good to say goodbye to your music. This was the best way to stop. |
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| Wilco – Less Than You Think Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Listen to the feedback. You can hear Tweedy breathing. In and out, very slow, the worst headache ever. It really is an amazing look into his mind. |
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| Wilco – The Late Greats Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| This is just Tweedy making fun of indie kids who think all the good music is the music no one hears. Whether Tweedy agrees or not--which he probably doesn't, since he's bringing his music to millions and it's some of the best music I'VE ever heard--he is directly touching on the indie mindset. This may have something to do with the indie scene "popping" in the past few years and becoming popular, leaving indie wannabes to find crappy music that no one's ever heard of. | |
| Wilco – Poor Places Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Poor Places is a strange song. Basically, on the demos for YHF, the song had twice as many lyrics. Somewhere between the demo and the actual CD, Wilco decided to cut out the end of every line. The complete lyrics tell much more, I'll write some one. It's my father's voice trailing off sailors sailing off in the morning to fight the war, For the air conditioned room at the top of the stairs, at the head of the table... there's a face on every smile and it makes no difference to me, how they cried all over overseas, cause its hot in the poor places tonight I'm not going goin outside. There's bourbon on the breath of the singer you love so much, he doesn't care If he takes all his words from the books that you don't read anyway It makes more sense this way, but is missing the absolute glory of this song--the slow buildup and climax, the degrade into noises and fuzz. The original version is also very piano-driven and upbeat. I'm glad they changed it. |
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| Wilco – One By One Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| This song is about death, the death of a loved one. It should also be noted, Tweedy didn't write the lyrics to this song. | |
| Wilco – Handshake Drugs Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| This song is not about buying drugs, or Tweedy's addiction to painkillers while writing/recording this album. Tweedy himself has said that he just liked the idea of "handshake drugs", so he wrote a song about it. He seems to have given meaning to his sister, but the song isn't very personal on a drug-based level. | |
| Wilco – Radio Cure Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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This song is Tweedy's response to the common practice of turning to music to help in times of need. Radio Cure, the title, and the line about 'my mind is filled with radio cure/electronic surgical words' both seem to refer to music as a medical cure. Distance has no way, however, could refer to two things. The distance between two lovers, that commonly kills relationships, or the distance between the artist and the listener of the song. I prefer the former, but knowing Tweedy's lyrics, it could be either or nothing at all. |
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| Wilco – Misunderstood Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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This song, for those of you who may be confused, is about a Rock star who claims that most of his lyrics are "misunderstood". This is Jeff's way of making fun of himself and other rock stars, and the whole "tortured artist" BS that comes with it. I could go line by line, but they're pretty easy to figure out and, once you think about it, the song really shows the genius of Tweedy's writing. My favorite lines are Think you might just crawl back in bed, with a fortune inside your head which refers to how the rock star has some song in his head that could make him millions, but because he's so misunderstood, he just goes to sleep. Also great is "positively unemployed", because musicians don't have real jobs but make alot of money, thus positively unemployed. A great song, especially off of Kicking Televison. Hope this helps. |
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| Wilco – I Am Trying to Break Your Heart Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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i am an american aquarium drinker *he drinks a lot, or like a fish. he is an alcoholic. i assasin down the avenue *he drinks and drives i wanna hold you in the bible black pre-dawn you're quite a quiet domino bury me now *The line is actually 'marry me now', and it refers to this woman being a domino--a pushover. So he commands her to marry him, since she is a pushover, and not asks. take off yer bandaid *Lower your defenses... 'cause i don't believe in touchdowns *Because I'm not just trying to "score", or sex i am trying to break your heart still i would lyin' if i said it wasn't easy *It should be noted that him saying 'still I'd be lyin if I said it wasn't easy' is a double negative in a sense. If we straighten it out, he'd be saying 'I'm telling the truth, it's easy', which adds a strange twist to the whole song. |
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| Wilco – Company In My Back Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| This song is actually based on a poem he wrote about combat... I can't beleive I forgot the title. Basically, the song is based on an argument between a man and a woman, where she is yelling at him and starting the fight subtly. "How can you say you never said combat?" is one of the lines, and certain lines are cut out and put into this song. | |
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