Misunderstood

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.

He's not saying "Reflecting off your old CD", he's saying "Reflecting off the OCD"

As in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I heard him say it clearly at a show, and it just makes sense anyway given the type of person the song describes.

To me this song describes the type of guy who never really had anything going for him. He's not motivated and has no drive. He has a "fortune inside his head" but he lacks the motivation and determination to get things rolling.

He never gets a real job, and he lives at home with his mom. All he does is go from day to day feeling like a loser because nobody understands him. Nobody understands that he has vision, and that he's capable of more than he actually does. People label him a loser because they simply don't understand him.

He had a good life before, but things have certainly gone south.

I always thought he says "You're short on long term goals." I love that line.

i just wanted to mention that the first "Do you still love rock and roll?" should be "If you still love rock and roll." and then towards the end he says "I know you've got a God shaped hole, bleeding out your heart full of soul."

Favorite Wilco song. This and Sunkin Treasure were really the turning point from the alt country. Very powerful, great stuff.

Ok, I have to agree with Mr.Tragedy on one thing. This song is about a guy who never gave up his rock star dream. He still lives with his mom, parties, whatever. He has nothing else. A slacker if you will. Maybe he used to be somewhat of a local celebrity in his younger days and can't let go of how that felt and where he thought that would lead. It could also be a nod to the early days in Uncle Tupelo, when those guys were touring and recording constantly and really not making any money. I read the book "Wilco: Learning how to die" and it talked alot about those days. And Ferrar did cll him a mommas boy when they split :)

However, this song is definatley not about Heroin. Tweedy's writing is to personal. He's never had a Heroin problem so I can't see him writing a song based on speculation. If it were about pain killers maybe, but I think its about a loser.

Sunken Treasure that is ;)

Why so few posts? What an absolutely amazing song! How could it just be overlooked like this? This is a work of art that everyone should know about. Wilco has brought greatness to the music world, and this song is amazing. And, wow, those vocals.... good stuff.

I love the line "You hurt her but you don't know why / you love her but you don't know why."

Amazing song. I saw wilco live last night in Philly and they repeat the word "nothing" at the end for almost 2 minutes. It was pretty cool.

I love this song for so many different reasons. I love hearing it in concert since Jeff screams "NOTHING" for like 5 min. straight. It also reminds me of people that I can see this song relating to. I think this song is about a guy who is reflecting on this girl he loved, but she wasn't sure if she loved him. After nothing comes of the relationship the guy dreams of, he gets angry at her and his love turns the hate. Very powerfull stuff!! Wilco wrote the soundtrack to my life.