Today I went with a track from one of my favorite groups. Wilco's got a big catalogue with a lot of different sounds, this song's always stuck out to me. The odd, off kilter arrangement paired with the catchy, melodic vocals has always made the song stick in my mind.
I could never pin point what exactly he's saying lyrically, but the general image to me is romantic disconnect and loss. I love the specificity of the imagery in single lines but overall incoherence from phrase to phrase.
"Let's forget about the tongue-tied lightning
Let's undress just like cross-eyed strangers
This is not a joke, so please stop smiling
What was I thinking when I said it didn't hurt?"
A few lines have some combinations of words that don't quite make sense while simultaneously creating emotional territory that's so familiar.
"Take off your Band-Aid cuz I don't believe in touchdowns
What was I thinking when we said hello?"
The composition of this song is simple and clever, (one of my favorite combos) and is filled out with an eclectic arrangement. In classic Wilco fashion, the track starts (and ends) with 45 seconds of semi-organized noise. There's only really verses with instrumental breaks. The verses are more minimal, giving way to more scattered instrumentation in the breaks. My favorite moment comes around 5:35, when the vocal cries out into a wash of synth and noise to gave one final strained verse.
Thanks again for reading, see you tomorrow with another tune ✌️