"Walken"- Here we start to hit a dry spell. I'm not fond of many of the songs coming up in the next week or two. I have to be honest and say this song annoys me. I don't care for the vocal, the lyrics, or the honky tonk slide guitar jam. This just sounds to me like they are running out of ideas and they looked to ZZ Top and Little Feat for inspiration. Not really a knock on ZZ Top because I like some of their music. Isn't this around the same time that Jeff started wearing Nudie suits? At this point I expected Jeff and Nels to show up with long beards while playing fuzzy white guitars. The ending saves it a bit with the stuttering guitar and John's bass line, but I rarely make it that far. I'm kind of surprised, but I think this is my lowest rated song so far. 1.5/5
Walken is ok, and definitely fun. I’d differentiate it from Being There material though. It’s got a Southern boogie to it, but Wilco v2.0 lack the raucous vibe of Wilco 1.0. These guys are very precise even when they’re rocking out (see also Shake It Off). This was my least favourite of the three SBS songs I heard at a late Ghost show. Also the piano and Hammond are back! 7/10
"Walken" is one of my favorite Wilco songs. For once, we have a happy Tweedy lyric! I simply love this music, with all of the little riffs and motifs that appear for brief passages here and there. I hear a bit of Little Feat in places and anything that reminds me of the Feat is always worth praise! (Greatest American band of the 1970s.) The closing instrumental section is possibly my favorite bit of Wilco music period. One of the album's absolute highlights and a strong contender for my favorite track on the album. I only wish it had been about two minutes longer - they could have extended that closing instrumental nicely and it would have replaced "Impossible Germany" as the centerpiece of their live show.
"Walken" - apparently a play on Christopher Walken's name that isn't developed in the song. Beginning with a piano riff, singing, "I'm walking," and rhyming with "talking" (naturally), just calls to mind Fats Domino; a songwriting mistake, I'd say, to lead the listener to want to hear a better song right from the start. Of course it's just a throwaway to give the back end a little rocker. The composition is credited to Jeff Tweedy and Wilco, so I suppose that it came out of a studio jam, or Tweedy had some rudimentary lyrics and they fleshed it out in a jam session. Some of you compared "Hate It Here" to late Beatles; the guitars on this one make it sound like a minor piece on Let It Be. I don't love or hate it, but I think it's a little clunky to be a full success at its purpose. Wilco has played "Walken" 407 times, but mostly from 2005-12. It's become something of a rarity since then, not played at all in some years, as it was no longer new and they could easily bring out other easy rockers to take its place in the show. They dusted it off in Mexico last January, for the first time since 2016. Jeff played it a couple times in his streaming shows last April; the last time, it followed "Cissy Strut" by The Meters, which had Spencer on drums. "Cissy Strut" as an album-filler jam, now there's an idea!
Right, but ZZ Top and Little Feat could lay down an effortless boogie groove that they could ride for miles. If that was the goal of "Walken," well, I think they came up short. They get a bit of a ZZ Top groove going after the choruses, so I get what you're saying, but I'd like it better if that had been the main body of the song, instead of breaking down and jumping back into something else. The main body does make me think of some earlier Wilco material like "When You Wake Up Feeling Old," but with Nels adding some of his thing. Ambling along a dirt road, Nels is like the dust cloud after tripping over a rock.
I like Walken. We start out with what sounds like a piano song, and it is that here and there. But the heavy blues take over intermittently, and then pretty much totally. The bridge is fairly killer. Travelin' Loft-side Blues. This is Chicago electric blues! But still very much a Wilco song. I really like the ending. Parts of this tune remind me of a band I mentioned earlier. Looking at the remaining tracks, I like this album more now than I did when we started. For me the first three songs are OK, and then it gets much better. Which is to say I'll never sport an impossible Germany unlikely Japan lapel pin from the Wilco store.
I'm not a fan of Walken. It's offbeat, and I can certainly enjoy odd songs, but for some reason it just leaves me cold. And it's annoying because it's an earworm too!
Today we have the penultimate track on the album: What Light Jeff Tweedy: vocals, acoustic twelve-string John Stirratt: background vocals, bass Glenn Kotche: drums, percussion Mikael Jorgensen: Hammond A100 organ Nels Cline: electric guitar, lap steel Pat Sansone: background vocals, piano Jim O'Rourke: acoustic guitar Wilcopedia compares this track to 'If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out' by Cat Stevens and I agree (both musically and lyrically). This is an uplifting song all about support and solidarity. Be yourself. Don't fear the negative comments of others. Find and nurture the light within yourself. It's definitely not a unique topic for a song, but that doesn't mean the song is a cliche. Jeff finds new ways to write about this topic and I like the lyrics very much. I especially like this section, about letting your art into the world and knowing that it no longer belongs to you--it becomes everyone's. And if the whole world's singing your songs And all of your paintings have been hung Just remember what was yours is everyone's from now on I like the chorus and the way it subtly uses what/one/white all interchangeably. I like the warm melody, which definitely fits in with a '70s singer-songwriter sound (and I love '70s singer-songwriters). It's just a good song in my opinion. Feel good. It hasn't been played live very often, which is a bit surprising to me because it could be something of a singalong anthem. For your plans, I was thinking of finishing the album tomorrow, then doing "Let's Not Get Carried Away" on Wednesday and moving on to (The Album) on Thursday. Is there anything else anyone wants to cover before we continue to the next LP?
What Light: I like this song just fine though think the repetitive ending meanders on for too long. If that’s where the singalong portion would be...I’m against it!
The only problem with What Light is it never became the hit song it was meant to be. I think Jeff really tried. He tried to write a kind of hippie folk anthem for a new generation, about expression of self and embracing the gifts you give to the world as an artist instead of antagonizing it. He clearly talks to (and about) himself here, stating his willingness to welcome success and validation, even if it sometimes means being… misunderstood. So in a big way, it’s also a Wilco song about many other Wilco songs. He's making the point that there’s no reason popularity (and sanity) should kill his rock ethos and artistic purpose. In that sense, it paves the way to the next album, which is all about Wilco being content of being Wilco. When it was released at the time, I was really surprised that it failed to resonate, even with most fans, as I though he pulled it off quite beautifully. For me, it’s indeed a great singalong tune, bright and smart, with Dylan undertones (if only for the song/painting metaphor) and a clever Lennon directness in the way he addresses the listener, with slogan lines like “don’t let anyone say it’s wrong” and “it’s alright to be frightened”. Funny how in this LP, Jeff sometimes almost presents himself as a personal development guru… But as I said, the problem is nobody cared to listen – not even the faithful fans, which undermines the whole proceedings. What Light is not like Leave Me : it can't really work as a deep cut or as an underrated fan favorite. It is either an anthem, or it's not much at all… Thirteen years later, fact is the song is all but forgotten and they never play it. “Just remember what was yours is everyone's from now on » is a superb line, except this song failed to connect enough to prove its point.
What Light... I heard this one at the end of the Ghost tour and enjoyed it. If anything, I think this one gets at what Jeff was trying to accomplish with this album. Straightforward songwriting and a message of hope after years of darkness. Jeff saw the world as going through a dark time and sight to shed a little light. Musically, it’s beautifully simple. It’s got that Hammond and piano combo (8 for 11 now) plus Nels weeping slide, as well as some country style noodling. All built on Jeff’s acoustic bed. Lyrically it builds on Jeff’s tradition of songs about the power of music... Sunken Treasure, Lonely 1, even Ghost closer Late Greats. This time instead of it being a cry of desperation (“I was saved by rock and roll”), it’s a celebration and an invitation, influenced by therapy and rehab. I’m glad to see Jeff in such a positive space here.
Interesting and thank you for the background. This was the album where I ended my personal ‘must buy’ decade (?) so clearly I wasn’t paying that much attention. Separately, in a couple days it’ll be essentially new territory for me. I have heard all the original albums (at least, I think I have!) but don’t expect much familiarity other than an occasional song (until Star Wars).
Wow. Some excellent points here. I think the reality is anthem-writing just isn’t one of Jeff’s strong suits. We’ll get there later, but I think Let’s Go Rain is another example that tries but doesn’t quite get there. Looking back on their catalogue, they have one big anthem... California Stars. And as I’ve learned from this thread, the music to that one was largely written by Jay (plus of course lyrics by Woody). So why is that one different? I’m not schooled in the Max Martin book of hooks, but there is a bit of a science to a catchy hit. And What Light is still a bit clunky, especially the melody at the end of the chorus which just kind of drops off leaving the instruments to resolve with that flat-6/flat-7/root progression. Compare that resolution to the chorus, which is straight chords with no real instrumental melody to speak of, with California Stars, which despite having a circular chord pattern with no changes, reprises an instrumental melody each time. Whether it’s played by guitar or honky tonk piano, it keeps the song moving forward. So just these two “anthems” resolve each section very differently: What Light: “there’s a light (pause)... what light (pause)... inside of you”... where the last line is a low pitched descending melody that then leads into two bars of chords California Stars: a much more energized chorus with “I’d give this world/just to dream a dram or you/on our bed of California Stars”... where the last line is higher pitched and emphatic, with a harmony on top, all of which leads you into an upbeat instrumental that makes the listener want to dance along If anything, What Light sounds a bit like an anthem on Prozac... just a little low key and downtempo. (For another example of the importance of pitch and speed, The Cure’s Friday I’m in Love was pitched up a half step post recording and that little shift just brightens everything up... see also the mono vs stereo versions of the Beatles’ She’s Leaving Home). As inspiring as I find the message of this song, the lyrics still feel somewhat specific to a musician fresh out of rehab and into sobriety. Compare this to the classic Sing a Song by the Carpenters (which my wife randomly started singing on a walk yesterday, and I immediately started singing along to, despite not being able to remember if I’ve ever actually sat down and listened to). There’s just a universality to that lyric that also fits the zeitgeist of that era. And then it goes into a bunch of la-la’s that are 100% irresistible. I don’t write any of this to denigrate What alight, but just a few thoughts on why it’s not the anthem Jeff might have been going for. And I would agree that when I heard an early version of this song (and similarly with an early version of Let’s Go Rain), I got the impression that this was what Jeff was going for. While I prefer Wilco v2.0, this is a case where Jay’s pop sensibilities might have helped.
Works for me. There are a few other rarities we can hit on Wednesday as well, and maybe the Ashes DVD? I just listened to that one in the car last week (in surround sound!) and it’s a worthwhile listen with important developments over Kicking Television.
I'm not a fan of What Light. Lyrically it's fine, and I'm sure a lot of effort went into it (as has already been said). But it's another that doesn't do much for me melodically, and it's a bit repetitive. That's three in a row that don't work well for me, and there's no previous Wilco album like that.
“What Light”- I have to agree with @Al Gator. This is the second dud in a row for me. I think the problem with this song is it wants to be some grand anthem, but it’s just not good enough. It sounds like he is trying too hard and it doesn't ring true. It’s a boring song and unfortunately I find it annoying. Especially “There’s a light, one light” part that goes on way too long. It gets an immediate skip from me when it gets to this part. Maybe for another songwriter this would be a decent song, but we are talking about Jeff Tweedy, and this falls severely short of his capabilities. I didn't care for the song when it came out, and I am still not seeing the light. 2/5
I'm a little in between on What Light ... it is a good, simple song with some meaning to the lyrics, so I appreciate that and don't skip the song. However, it really doesn't move me in any way
"What Light" is a great little song. Great lyrics that are refreshingly straight forward. There's a country feel that gives the song a pleasing, sunny afternoon kind of vibe. Not much to analyze here - definitely one of the album's highlights.
I'm really interested in how some of these songs are dividing opinion. For some, the simplicity is moving and likable. For others, it is boring and skippable.
It appears I lied earlier when I said I’d heard the albums to follow (at least once). I’m doing my dry run of Wilco (The Album) and recognize exactly one track. Uh oh.
I like melodic Wilco, and lyrics don't mean too much for me. So the last couple songs I've liked more than most others have, it seems.
I generally prefer when Wilco aren't trying too hard to be "arty". That's not to say that some of their best work hasn't been produced when they've been in "arty" mode, but I just prefer music that doesn't sound endlessly fussed over.
