One Sunday Morning (For Jane Smiley's Boyfriend)

This is probably my favorite song on the new album and it is just heartbreaking.

It's about a son who lost a father who was overbearing and critical and he hated the added pressure of the harsh father. The son is then a bit happy that his father is gone and he no longer has to deal with his judgements and criticisms, then he feels guilty, then he regrets not appreciating his father's love and guidance, no matter how harsh it is.

"Bless my mind I miss being told how to live. What I learned without knowing how much more I owe than I can give"

For a guy who lives a life that might not be approved by his parents...this song just hits like a rock.

The song is heartbreaklingly beautiful. The subtitle is (Song for Jane Smiley's Boyfriend)

Tweedy said in and interview that the song was about meeting Jane Smiley's boyfriend at a dinner and having a poignant conversation in which the boyfriend spoke about his overly religious father who condemned him for the way he lives his life and the son's relief when his father died.

Perhaps it is the atheist in me, but I have been a wilco fan since A.M., and still think this might be their most beautiful song.

I hear the first and last stanzas/verses as:

This is how I'll tell it Oh, but it's long One Sunday Morning Oh, when the sun is gone ("I'll" sounds like just "I" at the end though)

I hear the first line of the second stanza as: "Against silhouetted dawning" but I could have that wrong. I'm fairly certain though that "How am I forgiven?" should be "How will I forgive him?".

Great song, and a very different type of songwriting than we usually see from Jeff.

While I understand that the intentional meaning was about Jane Smiley's boyfriend, I believe that the beautiful thing about music is that it can mean whatever you want it to. I believe that the song is about a religiously rebellious boy who religion imposed upon. he is emotionally destroyed because his ideas of reality are undermined so terribly by his own father. It is almost as if he is lost his own life when his father does, because he is left in a turmoil. It is an endless cycle that causes him to die inside, hence the line, "One son is gone."

This song peters on significantly after its lyrics come to rest. There is a particular instrument dynamic that always brings a tear to my eye: Right after the narrator ceases his recollection, the song lingers on a painful, monotonous bass segment. Although the narrator's spoken account has concluded by this point, his listlessness is made most palpable here. The mundane thuds of the bass audibly construct the narrator's mental rut. Then it is so emotionally uplifting when the song fades out with a jumpy, melodic bass line.

Ultimately, as I become older and understand myself better, my relationships, my responsibilities and obligations, after I have experienced love and loss, I think this song is about passing down the mantle of responsibility. What your father bequeths to you, whether he realizes/wants to or not, is your conections to your ancestors and the structure of masculinity and what it means to you. Beautiful song. It both celebrates and mourns the father/child relationship.

Just got my Whole Love album in the mail, complete with booklet and lyrics! I corrected the words above, according to the booklet.

From Spin: Loosely inspired by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author's books, Tweedy says it's an autobiographical tune with ten verses: "It has a pretty long narrative."

From an interview with Jane Smiley on Galleycat (MediaBristo.com): Smiley says, “Apparently my partner was chatting to Jeff Tweedy about some religious thoughts. I don’t quite understand the song, but those who’ve heard it seem to really like it, especially the music. I do think that it is really funny that someone as square (and old) as myself would end up in the title of a song in an alt-rock group’s album.”

From Chicago Mag.com: “Now he’s [the dead father] going to know he was wrong and that there is an only loving God,” Tweedy explains.

I love this song; it reminds me of a young me and my father. Luckily, he hasn't passed yet and I still have time to repay what I owe. It's funny how much we think we know when we're younger. I listen to it every time I drive to his house in Virginia's house country. I associate some very special memories with it and many beautiful images pop into my mind when I hear it.