3,000 sets of lyrics to choose from and Bragg picks this one. (I read, somewhere, Nora’s comment about how some of the lyrics made her cringe.) Lyrics aside, it’s an okay song. I find Billy Bragg’s vocals rather monotonous so I’m glad the track isn’t overly long.
From Greil Marcus: “Characters come to life as Bragg or Tweedy take on their voices, or stand off to the side, describing them in wonder: the night clerk and the customers in the smoky film noir ambiance of “Hot Rod Hotel,” which presumably can be translated as Hot Sheet Hotel; the street preacher in “Feed of Man,” so caught up in the frenzy of speaking the word of God, the words that are pounding in his head, that the words collapse: “On God’s plan print. That you dead a man.” Notes on Woody Guthrie’s ‘Mermaid Avenue’ (07/14/12)
Hot Rod Hotel is a good one, that eluded me until now (I only have Wilco tunes on my 20 track "Mermaid Avenues" (plural) homemade disc that I listen to more often than the original CD's). HRH sounds a lot like Canadian band The Sadies (one of my favorite bands around). I like the aggressiveness of the instrumental backing and Bragg's vocals, in contrast with a melody that could be pretty, if not for that confrontational attitude. Even the mandolin is kind of punk !
I'm catching up here and gave the first four tacks of Mermaid Avenue Vol. II a listen this morning. To me, Airline to Heaven has a similar feeling musically to California Stars with its acoustic sing-along sound and somewhat repetitive nature. Of course, the subject matter is completely different and obviously religious. The melodies make it memorable and I like it. It seems appropriate for a Sunday morning... Is My Flying Saucer really comparing the man's lover to a UFO? An interesting and unique idea, and musically it works quite well. Feed of Man sounds like an updated old-time blues to me. It's a dark song and the vocals are (probably intentionally) hard to understand, but it's not one of the albums best IMO. Hot Rod Hotel is certainly an odd choice and I'm not sure it fits well on the album.
Feed of Man and Hot Rod put us in much darker territory. Both songs are deeply interesting and were probably an inspiration to Jeff because they veer from typical pop lyric fare. Ironically, the singer you’d expect to sing each of these is reversed... the plea for human brotherhood/sisterhood is sung by Tweedy and the brooding tale of a societal underbelly is grabbed by Bragg. Musically, these two both benefit from Jay’s ability to layer on the instruments. Where they suffer is in their musical simplicity. They both sound like songs that were quickly jammed out. This is in sharp contrast to much of the material on volume one which included so many well crafted songs.
Let me just make a plug for the Sadies as well. I've seen them many many many times -- and their performance is always stellar. When we finally get to see live shows again, and they come through your town -- please go see them. They are pretty much the best live show going. No hyperbole.
"Feed Of Man"- This is one of my favorites on the album. "I say I'll help you squeeze and fix yourself up a, a new god of some kind". I love the relentless barrage of lyrics and the punk attitude in Jeff's vocal. Very interesting musical accompaniment. They were ready to lay down some chaos and destruction to these lyrics. I think it's one of the most unique tunes on the entire session. It breathes fire and demands to be played at maximum volume. The closest comparison I can come up with is it sounds like a punk version of The Faces after a night of moonshine and amphetamines. The organ sound and vibe slightly reminds me of "Wicked Messenger" from their first album. A fantastic song. 5/5 "Hot Rod Hotel"- I also like this one. Now Billy gets his turn to spit out some nasty lyrics. This is the perfect song to follow "Feed of Man". So far we are off to a good start. I think any of these first four songs could have been strongly considered for the first volume. This is already becoming an album I realize I like more than I thought. It will not continue throughout, but there is half of a great record in here. 4/5
"Feed Of Man" is an angry, intense song with a ton of power in the lyric and the way Tweedy delivers the words. This reminds me of some of Dylan's work. This isn't a song I turn to specifically much, but it's always great to hear it. The live feel of the band on this one serves as a marked contrast to the studio craft we heard on the last album. The organ is almost violent near the end. Potent stuff. "Hot Rod Hotel" is one where I quite like the melody and arrangement. The lyric is one I've always found rather darkly humorous, with the main take away (and I suspect the reason Bragg chose it) being that a person's dignity should come before his or her duty to an employer, even if it means starving. Bragg delivers this tale quite well. Neither of these two songs are album highlights for me, but their strength is indicative of how great this record is overall.
That's a good interpretation. I was always so overwhelmed with "ick" when I listened to this song that I didn't think about a deeper meaning.
Two songs for today: I Was Born Music by Billy Bragg and sung by the lovely Natalie Merchant, 'I Was Born' is a pretty simple children's song. I don't really have much to say about it. It's kind of sweet, kind of pretty (Natalie can sing anything and I'll listen) but I'm not quite sure why this was chosen for the project. Just to show another side of Woody? I do find it interesting that it has the line "one year younger than I used to be," a concept Dylan would play around with on 'My Back Pages'...This doesn't even reach the two minute mark. I've never skipped it but it's pretty inessential for me--especially compared to Natalie's amazing contributions to the first volume.
And secondly... Secret of the Sea In contrast, this is the very definition of essential! 'Secret of the Sea' is not only one of the best songs on this particular album, it is one of the best from the whole Mermaid Avenue project and, dare I say, one of Wilco's best in the whole catalog. It is certainly one of my top favorites among their power pop type songs. Talk about a hook. "If you can guess the secret of my love for you!" It is immediate and wonderful and just makes me grin every time I hear it. I am a fan of melancholy music, to be sure, but I love a big, happy, sunny song just as much as the next person (when it's done well). Jay and Jeff did an amazing job here. Jay contributes piano, acoustic guitar, organ, tambourine, baritone guitar, slide guitar, electric guitar, backing vocals and electric sitar (!) and the song doesn't feel overstuffed to me at all. I assume the vocal melody and hook came from Jeff and he nails it. This is just great pop music. I love it. I listened to it three times while I wrote this, smiling all the time.
Secret of the Sea: Bennett/Tweedy, from 1999 loft session. A cool Jay-all-over-this, shades of George Harrison slide, very pleasant to the ears. This is performed entirely by Wilco (Bragg isn’t on it) and sounds, to me, like a tune that could have been on Summerteeth. I love the song despite it being an outlier for the Guthrie project.
It is a little strange to have a nursery rhyme like I Was Born on the album, but it works after those two previous dark songs. Natalie Merchant does such a great job on these seemingly simple lyrics. Secret of the Sea is another positive song, and while I don't love it like Parachute Woman, I do think it's a strong track with a great melody and a driving rhythm.
This is such a great song. I totally OD’d on it for a couple of years. Nice to hear it again today. Maybe I’ll listen a few more times.
First post and since I’m new to Wilco but after hearing some on the radio. I remembered this thread. I’ve read your into and I’ll digest this thread slowly but surely. The first tune from UT is ok. I love the voice but the lyrics could of used help. Would I listen again? Yes and I did. It’s still just ok.[/QUOTE]
Until it came up recently, I actually forget how fantastic this track is! I have been playing it a whole lot in the last week or so. What a killer catchy tune. I agree it absolutely could have fit on Summerteeth. Here they are playing it on Letterman, with Jay Bennett shining on double neck guitar.
Indeed, this is a Harrison fest ! Even more so than on She Came Along to Me on volume 1, the band creates a mash up of George tricks : slide, bed of acoustics, electric sitar, you name it, it’s all there. It sounds like one of the famous rejects from Somewhere in England or (especially) George’s cover of Dylan’s song I Don’t Wan't To Do It. Obviously, someone had bought all the George bootlegs, and I suspect his initials were J.B ! Even (the album)’s You Never Know doesn’t out-George this wonderful smooth song. Of all the Mermaid Wilco songs, this is the farthest from what was expected of a Woody Guthrie project, and I suspect that's the reason it took some time before it reached the cult status it now holds among fans. Jeff's vocal melody also ventures in Harrison high pitch territory, for the "you can guess the secret of my love for you!" hook, that our host mentioned. All in all, this track is a buoyant pleasure, with nods to Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne's signature descending guitar hook at the end of the intro, making it a kind of Traveling Wilcoburys fantasy.
Leroy Bach was part of The Letterman clip so I’ll mention that he became a member of Wilco during the promotional part of Vol. II. The Kot book recounts how both Bragg (and his own band, which included the ex-Wilcoite Bob Egan) and Wilco found themselves on the same bill promoting the same record. (No, you can’t make this stuff up). Egan says something to Bach about him (Bach) being a member of Wilco and Leroy replies that he isn’t really sure if he is! So Bob ends up saying, “let me be the first to welcome you to Wilco!” (Paraphrasing) Remember this same am-I-in-the-band-or-not thing happened to Egan?
I've missed a lot from here after having been gone most of the weekend. I have no real opinion on the one Bragg tune. "Feed of Man" I personally like, not really for anything to do with Guthrie lyrics as I haven't even listened to these particular ones very closely. Instead, I really just like the harder edged music on this one. " I was Born" has nice vocals by Natalie, but not terribly moving, it's just OK. "Secret of the Sea" is one of the overall best on Mermaid II, a fun jangle pop romp!
