In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
The greatest lost track of all time
The Late Greats' Turpentine
You can't hear it on the radio
Can't hear it anywhere you go
The best band will never get signed
The Kay-Settes starring Butchers Blind
So good you won't ever know
They never even played a show
Can't hear them on the radio
The greatest singer in rock 'n' roll
Would have to be Romeo
His vocal cords are made of gold
He just looks a little too old
The best songs will never get sung
The best life never leaves your lungs
So good you won't ever know
You'll never hear it on the radio
Can't hear it on the radio
The Late Greats' Turpentine
You can't hear it on the radio
Can't hear it anywhere you go
The best band will never get signed
The Kay-Settes starring Butchers Blind
So good you won't ever know
They never even played a show
Can't hear them on the radio
The greatest singer in rock 'n' roll
Would have to be Romeo
His vocal cords are made of gold
He just looks a little too old
The best songs will never get sung
The best life never leaves your lungs
So good you won't ever know
You'll never hear it on the radio
Can't hear it on the radio
Lyrics submitted by eastcidskl, edited by kevgarf
The Late Greats Lyrics as written by Jeff Tweedy
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I gotta disagree with you, loldoctor; Jeff regularly admits in interviews to being a fan of "the greats," which usually ARE lesser-known artists. I believe I read somewhere that the "Kay-Settes" were a little side band or maybe imaginary band that he made up with drummer Glenn Kotche (I may be a bit off. though). The song is honest: he believes that the best things are yet to come, or rather, never to come. At least never to be heard by the public ear (nor even the strict indie ear). It's a fantastic and true concept, like most of Jeff Tweedy's concepts...
I might have agreed with you on the indie culture mockery even if I hadn't read so often about Jeff's love for obscure greats, but I mean, listen to the song: the music is completely unpretentious, unironic, and assured - it's just good ol' rock and roll with that Americana twang Wilco does so well.
If you want to hear a great song that REALLY reflects this "indie scene" while simultaneously embracing it playfully , check out LCD Soundsystem's "Losing My Edge" from their self-titled album. Talk about irony. James Murphy is another songwriting genius like Jeff Tweedy even if their music is completely different.
Oh, and the indie scene didn't pop up in the past few years, man. There were weirdos that lived next door to your mom and dad in the 70's who wouldn't be caught dead listening to the Carpenters or Simon and Garfunkel.
Well, I don't know Tweedy personally, but given his relative humility in both his songwriting and his interviews, I find it hard to believe that he'd be anywhere near as snobbish about his love for "the greats" as most of these indie rock kids are.
It's funny, because I always made a point to play this song on my college radio show last year, and the programming director (an "indie kid" himself) tried to tell me that I couldn't play Wilco because they were "too commercial".
I told him to shove it up his ass.
Most of you are wrong. The song isn't tongue-in-cheek at all. Tweedy is actually a really easy guy to understand in some of his songs. Tweedy was very frustrated after A&R dropped him when Time Warner and AOL merged. He resigned with Nonesuch, another Time Warner label, which made no sense since the company just dropped Wilco.
This song was actually written during the YFH CD era, but released here after alterations that were made when Jay Bennett left. The song is a shot at the corporate music industry, how all they produce is shit and the real good bands never make it big. Whether you consider Wilco to be in that category, well thats up to you. Tweedy was definitely making a statement here though.
It's straight forward but also means many things ..... its Romeo from Rome & Juliet...
This song should be pretty simple to get the just of. I believe it's about how most of the best music out there will never be heard and the music business is so corrupt in the way of how they want musicians to look and sound. Amazing song, Wilco does it everytime.
While I don't think Tweedy or any of the other guys in Wilco are too thrilled about corporate radio or the record industry, I don't think this song is really about either one. It seems almost like they are making fun of the people who claim nothing good is on the radio, and that the only good music comes from obscure, unattractive bands. This is further supported by the final verse which expands the subject from just songs on the radio to all songs that could be sung. If the best songs won't even GET sung, what is the point of caring what makes it to the radio?
Essentially, I think they are making the point that you can't go through life worrying about these imaginary "bests". I wish I could say I was at this point, but I doubt I was the only person to go online and google the names he mentions in this song.
Music is susceptible to interpretations and this song is indirect. With those two elements combined you have a song that breaks the boundaries of meaning. If you hate corporate records you'll see this as a slight against "Pro-Tools" and the Pro- Tools that run the industry. If you hate snobby Indie Rockers then you'll see it as a slight against them. The meaning lies in the agenda of the listener.<br /> From what I gathered, Tweedy is not a Dylan type lyricist. Unlike Dylan, he isn't trying to loose you in the words, he wants you along for the ride. So, his lyrics are predominately transparent. The deduction of my constant pontificating is, that Tweedy was saying that there are some great bands that will never be signed. He isn't trying to make a blanket statement about the record industry. He's saying there are some bands that will be great and never signed (The late Captain Nowhere for example). <br /> Best of all this is another timeless, catchy song, by a band that seems to be good for at least three of these a record. I think this song was added on the end of the album as a release from the depression and somber melodies of the rest of the album.
I saw Wilco playing in a small venue in Birmingham the same night they won two Grammies...they didn't seem to know how to react, whether to be thrilled and cocky or sarcastic because fame and fortune is not really supposed to be what they are about. So they opened the show by announcing they just learned they won two Grammies (in a deadpan voice, Tweedy said, "Before we were losers, now we are winners") and then they played this song first...."The greatest lost track of all time....I can never hear it on the radio." It was a nice moment.
Are The Late Greats an actual band, or did Jeff make it up for the purpose of writing the song?
I think I would have to agree with distopiandreamguy on two counts: I think it is a toungue-in-cheek jab at some high-minded music fans about obscure material, obscure bands, etc., and all the great stuff the populace misses. But I too fell for it, as I tried to search the material.
However, it is a double edge sword, as we all know great bands that never made a dent in "the industry." I think it is this double edge that makes it such a fun song, and fine songwriting.