The Lonely 1 Lyrics

Lyric discussion by Loudeac 

Cover art for The Lonely 1 lyrics by Wilco

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.

My Opinion

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 :)