There isn't anything I like about this song. The jazzy vibe won't help me either. For me Summerteeth is a more uneven album than Being There: the highs are higher and the lows are lower.
"When You Wake Up Feeling Old" has a great opening line that forms a solid premise for an interesting lyric, but the rest of the lyrics don't really deliver on that. We get more of the indirect writing style that, to me, is one of the album's faults. The music has a breezy, bouncy quality that is appealing. It sort of reminds me of one of the tunes on the Mermaid Avenue albums but I can't pin down which one. It's a fine little tune but, again, doesn't leave a strong impression after it's through. The musical breakdown at the end is nice and I do like the loungey organ. This is about where the album starts to get a bit long for me. I tend to like longer albums myself - if some is good, more is better, right? - but I'll freely admit that many long albums can't justify their length in terms of consistent quality. Part of why I can't agree with those who call Summerteeth a "masterpiece" is that it doesn't have a proper ending - its final track is a remix of a song we've already heard. I feel like true "masterpiece" albums need to have a definitive closing summary statement of some sort. This album just sort of limps to a finish. Anyway, this is probably one of the songs on the album that is just in the middle of the bunch for me. I like it better than some of the early songs but not as much as others. The lyrics are probably the main weak point for me.
Summerteeth is a CD era casualty. It's 60 minutes long. They probably should have cut three songs, and put those out as b-sides... A Shot in the Arm Remix EP 1. A Shot in the Arm (remix) 2. When You Wake Up Feeling Old 3. ELT 4. My Darling
I would consider "In a Future Age" the proper ending, and a darn good one at that, we'll hear more about Thursday. The rest are bonus tracks. Though I understand it's hard to differentiate when they're tacked on to the running order.
I have never felt it was too long. Maybe the remix doesn't need to be on the album, but I enjoy it. It's 14 songs with two bonus tracks, one of which is the remix. I bet they would have liked to turn this into another double album with a few more songs, but probably felt that was pushing it after just releasing Being There. I would never complain about having too much material from this era. Also, the thought of cutting songs is rather ridiculous because everyone you ask would most likely want different songs cut. One persons favorite is also one that someone else thinks should be cut. I say be happy with the album how it is and if need be, make a cd with your own personal cut. Some people on here don't seem to be much of a fan of this era of the band. While some think it's the best era. I certainly wouldn't want someone who doesn't care for this style of music to dictate which songs should be cut. On certain albums there will be plenty of songs I don't like that I am assuming will be popular. Then it will be ok to cut songs.
Yep. If a track is on the same CD as the rest of the album, I can’t consider it a “bonus” track. It’s just part of the album proper.
I think "In A Future Age" is the proper last song on the album. They give you 23 seconds to find the stop button or 23 seconds to decide if you want to carry on with the bonus tracks. Plenty of cds these days have bonus tracks. I never consider bonus tracks part of an album. I take it as they wanted "In a Future Age" to be the closing song. It certainly feels like the closing song. Then they thought it would be fun to have a new song appear after 23 seconds. A bonus tune! On my cd copy the album track listing ends at song 14."In a Future Age" so when you first bought the CD you had no idea that "Candyfloss" existed. It probably took many people weeks or months before they found it. I didn't even know the name of the song for a long time. I didn't have a computer yet and still used a pay phone. It was referred to as the hidden song. A delightful and excellent song to stumble upon.
At least they give you 23 seconds to turn it off, if you don't want to hear the bonus tracks. "When You Wake Up Feeling Old" is a pleasant little diversion, basically a country-folk tune with jazzy drums and keys. I like the way they sing "Feeeeeeling Old." I think the keyboards and Beach Boys backing vocals are more effective here than on "My Darling," which would've been better, more personal, with just Jeff's voice + acoustic guitar and maybe a piano. My only problem with this one is that it's a connective sort of track that just links to another pleasant, light diversion, and then the main body of the album dissolves and floats away with "In a Future Age." The album is missing a final tent pole, but we can get back to that in a couple days.
Oh...this is Leroy Bach’s debut on a Wilco album, by the way. Plays piano. He isn’t a member of Wilco yet, just a guest on this track only.
I take it that the lyrics are mainly about songwriting inspiration, and whether music can get you to "where you want to be." In the beginning, he wakes up feeling old and wrung out of ideas, staring at his "piano filled with souls" (a nice image), the songwriter's blank page. So then he goes for a walk to clear his mind, and maybe the songs will come to him from the streets, out of the air. But, "I know I can't sing until she brings the song to life." His muse must bless him, I suppose. The swelling instrumental arrangement and background vocals seem to be in tribute to her and the "kings" he walks amongst, too. Then he asks, well, "Who knows anything?" Don't look at him; he doesn't know. He's only learned that there are so many things he should leave alone. Which is why it's so weird for him when "some strange person is calling you their home," leading him back to the question, Can you be where you want to be? Maybe music can be the answer, but maybe not. You might have to find another way for yourself.
"When You Wake Up Feeling Old" Difficult for me to not like this song, I see it as another pure pop gem. There isn't anything spectacular or revolutionary going on here, it's just a really well written, arranged, and performed slice of musical goodness.
Next we have the title track: Summer Teeth A jaunty, jangly little song with pretty keyboard flourishes and a whimsical instrumental break. Yes, whimsical. I think that's the word for 'Summer Teeth.' It paints a portrait of a guy who is living a really lonely life all by himself, but the music itself doesn't sound sad or pity this gentleman. Instead, it is breezy and wholesome. I like this song whenever it is playing but I can never remember how it goes when I just read the song title. It's odd. While going through Being There track by track made me love that album even more, I don't think Summerteeth has held up to the same scrutiny for me. I find that I like this album a little bit less when I break it down into the individual parts. Taken as a whole with one cohesive sound I like it a lot, but only a few of these individual songs would rank among my absolute favorite Wilco songs. For many of these others, I find myself commenting that they are good songs but they don't bowl me over. Very interesting. Summerteeth was never my top favorite Wilco album so I didn't expect to give every song an A+ standing ovation, but I am still a bit surprised by my reactions.
About last night's discussion about the album's length and the bonus tracks… Discogs shows the original 1999 vinyl as a double LP that includes Candyfloss and the Shot in the Arm remix (I don’t know about the 23’’ “silence”)… Which would not make them true bonus tracks, I’d say. But does it make Summerteeth a proper double album ? I'm inclined to think so. Sequence wise, it’s a much better balanced record ( a much better record, period) when you think of it as a double. Side 1 : Can’t Stand it/ She’s a Jar / A Shot in the Arm / We’re Just Friends Side 2 : I’m Always in Love / Nothing’severgonnastandinmyway / Pieholden Suite / How to Fight Loneliness Side 3 : Via Chicago / ELT / My Darling / When You Wake up Feeling Old Side 4 : Summer Teeth / In A Future Age / Candyfloss / A Shot in the Arm remix It works fantastic like this, I think. Every problem solved ! Openers and closers are superb, the flow of each side is excellent, it’s not too long anymore (it's almost too short !), there’s no loss of purpose after Via Chicago. On the contrary, that song makes for a great disc opener, the start of a second cycle that makes perfect sense (+ it’s a great mirror with She’s A Jar, which was supposed to be disc 1 first track). The two Shots in the Arm simply duplicate the Outta Site / Outta Mind two punches idea and the balance between LP 1 and LP 2 becomes very close to the one on Being There (a little bit front-loaded, sure, but the second record is still very solid and full of great songs, if you're willing to explore it).
And so, with that in mind, Summer Teeth is Side 4’s first song. An all-time Wilco classic for me, in the breezy (or whimsical, yes, @Parachute Woman ) melodic style that Jeff comes back to once in a while (some of the best songs on the Tweedy double LP come to mind). This is kitchen sink melancholia with a Ray Davies sensibility, some Beatles ooh ooh’s and – especially – aaaaah aaaaah’s (straight out of Octopus Garden!), a little bit of Mr Kite organ, superb bells, asixties Hollies vibe (I’m thinking of some Nash-led song on For Certain Because and Butterfly, or even the marvelous B-side Everything is Sunshine). My favorite touch is the radical chord-change (three semitones up) after the organ break, which effortlessly brings the song to a whole new upbeat level for the last verse. Splendid stuff.
I started to write a post expressing the exact same thought yesterday...and then deleted it because I wasn’t able to express it coherently. I guess this is the downside of the deep dive as sometimes things don’t hold up quite as well when examined under a microscope. Like you say, “good songs but they don’t bowl me over.” I’m very happy that you expressed this so well. Thanks!
This double record with the bonus cd was my introduction to the album.... and how I generally hear it. Perhaps that's why I have never considered it too long?
That’s interesting. I didn’t know that. I looked at the cd yesterday (because of the discussion) and the track list ends with In A Future Age. There isn’t any reference to Candyfloss at all on the liner notes (which aren’t detailed in the first place).
Summer Teeth I generally like sfx like we have at the start of this track, and this is no exception. This is a bouncy little track. We move into the somewhat psychedelic instrumental break, and it is a surprising at first. This kind of has a Beach Boys feel too, and I keep expecting to hear " bah bah bah baaaaah.... " but that song title isn't coming to mind. Neat song.
That's funny, because I am having the exact opposite reaction! Summerteeth was my first Wilco album, I loved the hell out of it and used to rank it as one of my all-time favorite albums at the time. This was Wilco, to me. This is all in 1999/2000. Then, over time, it just seemed to get de-emphasized for me. First, the band didn't play many of the songs live for a long while. Then, the glossiness of the songs fell a bit out of fashion. Then the biggest thing was the releases of two absolute all-time monster albums, YHF and AGIB, which became the core of the band's identity (and live shows). I think those albums overshadowed Summerteeth. And they didn't sound anything like Summerteeth. In fact, nothing Jeff Tweedy or Wilco have done since has sounded anything like Summerteeth. (The Whole Love comes the closest.) So Summerteeth became a bit of an afterthought, to some degree. That sounds like a bit of an overstatement, but it definitely didn't have the prominence of the follow up albums. It wasn't as revered and celebrated, either in the live shows or in the press. It didn't have the same lore. Going back now makes me realize just how amazing of album it was. I am loving it more now than I have in a while. I have been playing it all week and truly appreciating it as a singular work in an extensive Wilco catalog of great albums.
I found @Parachute Woman's take above to be very interesting. Apart from "She's a Jar" which sort of stands out (primarily from hearing it performed live so many times), the rest of this record is very much a "record" for me. It's more of a "piece" as a whole. I listen to it like I would listen to a piece of classical music, all on one sitting, most of the time (I hope that makes sense). If I was having to put down a "list of favorite" Wilco songs, I might have to look at the track listing of this record, as opposed to immediately saying "this song of that record." Its very much a whole piece for me (I hope that makes sense).
Summer Teeth: A bright, jaunty, toe-tapping song. Chirping birds, fine harmonies, fits the original concept of the album perfectly. Should be listened to with the windows down and the sunroof open.
