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The Lonely 1 Lyrics
After the show you walked right past.
Arms reached out for your autograph.
And as you flashed your backstage pass.
I caught your eye with a camera's flash.
When the band came out they stood behind you.
Cymbals crashed, the lights went blue.
You stood alone in the halo's haze.
Shinny guitar hung on gold lamay.
And you, you were the lonely one.
You were the lonely one.
When you perform it's so intense.
When the critics pan I write in your defense.
I understand I'm just a fan, I'm just a fan.
When I get home I turn off the alarm.
I've checked the phone, no messages on.
I play the ones from yesterday.
I play you're song just to hear you say that....
You, you're the lonely one.
You are the lonely one.
You, you're the lonely one.
You are the lonely one.
I just found this site and I love to read everybody's comments. I am not an English native speaker and feel I miss nuances in the texts, it is great then to compare my interpretations with others. In this song I have always loved the ambiguity going on in the lines
I've checked the phone, no messages on I play the ones from yesterday I play your song just to hear you say that...
where (I think?) "the ones" can refer to both the messages and the songs from yesterday. The image of a person replaying his old telephone messages really empathizes the feeling of loneliness and isolation, I think. Beautiful song.
I interpret "the ones" to be yesterday's phone messages, and yes it is sad. I don't think the "ones" would be songs in this context.
I interpret "the ones" to be yesterday's phone messages, and yes it is sad. I don't think the "ones" would be songs in this context.
@Loudeac i'm not a native english speaker either and there's both nuances and parts of the lyrics I miss, so this site is good for both :)
@Loudeac i'm not a native english speaker either and there's both nuances and parts of the lyrics I miss, so this site is good for both :)
Jeff is so taken by music, the good music... and this one is a bitter sweet confession of a deep connection between musician and fan ...the music has made him almost love-sick. It might be a tribute by Jeff to Paul Westerberg, and in fact this song seems to me much in style of one of those heart-on-sleeve Replacement songs.
My Opinion:
The person speaking is the Fan of some band. He/She explains the events that went down at a show. Then he/she goes home and is lonely but in order to feel better plays a song, not this song, but a song he/she heard at the show which reveals the frontman's loneliness and so the speaker can relate. Simply saying that even if you are a rock star and loved by everyone, you can still be just as lonely as the speaker in this song.
Just my opinion.
it seems like tweedy is writing from the perspective of a fan. but where i differ from the above interpretations is that i think the fan knows that the frontman is lonely and feels for him. when the fan catches his eye the fan realizes that the frontman can be just as lonely up on stage as the fan is sitting at home with no calls. the fan is empathizing with the frontman.
the ironic twist is the line that says, "I play you're song just to hear you say that....You, you're the lonely one." which means that the fan listens to the wilco song "the lonely 1" which means that tweedy is both the fan and the frontman with whom his is empathizing. interesting. great song, great band.
I always thought this was about Neil Young. The instrumental phrase that leads in at the beginning and reoccurs throughout is from a Neil Young song. When Neil Young does live shows he steps out into a spotlight with his band behind him. He also has a gold lame guitar strap. Plus he went through a mid-career slump when critics didn't like him anymore (but has since made a comeback). That said, I've also felt it could be about Jay Farrar, simply from knowing how Tweedy felt about Jay.
This is a really sad, disheartening song about isolation and alienation, as I'm sure you can gather from reading the lyrics alone. This is a great sad, slow song about being on the other side of the spotlight, certainly an interesting view to take.
While I initially saw the same thing as the above commenter, the latter part of the song indicates the song is from a fan's perspective, and overall the song seems to be about people who are drawn to certain songs in a misery-loves-company sort of way, they relate to the song, and in a way, it makes them feel less lonely.
It seems very ironic to me. The fan is commenting on how the frontman gets everyone reaching for his autograph and the band is behind him, people are cheering, his performance is great, but then the fan, who actually is lonely, goes home and plays a song in which the frontman deplores his loneliness. But the way its sang it seems like there's no ill will between the fan and frontman. I guess even though the fan realizes the frontman isn't really lonely, he doesn't care and just wants the musical equivalent to what he's feeling. This is a great song either way.
I think this song is very autobiographical. He's writing it as if he were a fan of Jeff Tweedy. The fan thinks that he has a perfect life, full of fame and such, but in reality, the artist is lonely.
I agree with ars musica, it's about the loneliness on the other side of the spotlight. I first heard this sung by Robert Sean Leonard in the movie Chelsea Walls. Beautiful film.