I agree that Solitaire is a pretty little track with enough going on to keep my interest. It's definitely a song of personal growth, something most of us go through. It's a keeper.
I finally got around to listening to this record last night for the first time in a long time and I think that I may have been too harsh on it. It's interesting how a thread can make you do that (I am presently undergoing a huge re-evaluation of Fleetwood Mac's Tusk just from lurking on that currently ongoing track by track thread). This is a nice song. Again it is a song that prior to this thread if you had asked me to hum or sing any part of it, I could not have remembered a lick of it. However, I like it better than "Country Disappeared" for sure. And yes, it does sound like Jeff's vocals are double tracked. I have not looked it up on Setlist.fm but I am pretty sure I have never seen them play this song live.
Solitaire is understated and somber. A lot of nice little musical touches going on underneath. It doesn't necessarily move me in any great way, but it was a good choice for the album
Yeah, it's one they've pretty much never done live, even at residencies. I think it's made two or three random appearances ever. But "Solitaire" is another beautiful song. I'm not always a fan of the double tracked vocals, but I think it works well here. And the arrangement is just right. I even like the little call back to the melody of the opening line of "Country Disappeared" in the little four-note keyboard lick at the top. Eight tracks in, and this album is solid. (I'm somewhat surprised, btw, at the negative reaction here to "Country Disappeared.") The next three tracks, however, are where I think we run into a little trouble.
"Solitaire"- Another song that I can never remember until it's playing. It's a nice song and more reminiscent of his solo albums, but also has a mellow Sky Blue Sky vibe. On this album it's easily one of the highlights. Listening this morning on headphones and it really is a beauty. Lots of subtle touches that perfectly compliment Jeff's acoustic. Speaking of playing it live, I recently watched an interview with Jeff and Nels, and Nels brings up that they don't play some of his favorite songs live, and he mentions "Solitaire" as being one of them. 4/5 Here is the interview and comes in around the 11:30 mark.
I like the back-to-back introspective opening of Side 2. Solitaire is an inauspicious song with a lot of depth. Beautiful insight into life as Jeff emerges out of addiction
I previously criticized the record beginning side B with "Country Disappeared" and "Solitaire," but taken on their own, they're not that bad. I like "Solitaire" a bit better of the two, and the sentiment at its heart really prefaces where Jeff would go with Warm and Warmer. This is a song about recovery and looking for connection after taming an unhealthy ego. I've never been to a Wilco or Jeff solo show where "Country Disappeared" was performed. The band has only done "Solitaire" three or four times, but I've seen Jeff do it solo once, in 2010. It works well in that solo context, for sure. I also have a Roadcase download, 2013-12-18 in LA, where "Solitaire" opened the show and several other Album tracks were played, but all were excised from the recording that went on sale, because of the rights issues discussed earlier.
Solitaire: Not a big fan of this song. I like the opening guitar, but the melody is fairly non existent, and the lyrics, though a compelling psychological self reflection, are either under or over developed. I can’t decide which. Not sure I ever make it through to the end. I think I would prefer it fade out at 1:30, a brief interlude between weightier subjects, connecting tissue rather than a main event. 3/5
I actually think "Solitaire" is one of my favorite cuts on this album. It just has a perfect combination of music and lyrics and overall feel. I'm a sucker for acoustic guitar-based songs that impart a languid, autumnal feeling and this one fits that bill nicely. Tweedy's vocal is really good here. I appreciate the lyrical sentiment here and just find this an absolutely lovely song.
Solitaire - I had to hear the song to know which one it was. I can't ever recall thinking I want to hear "Solitaire" but it is a sweet little song. For me it serves as a nice interlude before we hit a couple of major highlights at the tail end of the record.
Thread guide Introduction and Uncle Tupelo Mar 1995 AM I Must Be High Casino Queen Box Full Of Letters Shouldn't Be Ashamed Pick Up The Change I Thought I Held You That's Not The Issue It's Just That Simple - live Should've Been In Love - live 1995 Passenger Side - live 1996 Dash 7 - live 2010 Blue Eyed Soul Too Far Apart Outtakes Oct 1996 Being There Misunderstood Far Far Away Monday Outtasite (outta mind) Forget The Flowers Red Eyed and Blue I Got You What's The World Got In Store Hotel Arizona Say You Miss Me Sunken Treasure Someday Soon Outta Mind (Outtasite) Someone Else's Song Kingpin (Was I) In Your Dreams Why Would You Wanna Live The Lonely 1 Dreamer In My Dreams Blasting Fonda (outtake?) Live 1996 - televised version Snow Job 97 June 1998 Mermaid Ave (with Billy Bragg) California Stars Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key Birds And Ships Hoodoo Voodoo She Came Along to Me At My Window Sad And Lonely Ingrid Bergman Christ For President I Guess I Planted One By One Eisler On The Go Hesitating Beauty Another Man's Done Gone The Unwelcome Guest March 1999 Summerteeth I Can't Stand It She's A Jar A Shot In The Arm We're Just Friends I'm Always In Love Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway (Again) Pieholden Suite How To Fight Lonliness Via Chicago ELT My Darling When You Wake Up Feeling Old Summer Teeth In A Future Age Candyfloss Interview 1999 May 2000 Mermaid Ave vol 2 Airline To Heaven My Flying Saucer Feed Of Man Hot Rod Hotel I Was Born Secret Of The Sea Stetson Kennedy Remembering the Mountain Bed Blood Of The Lamb Against Th' Law All You Fascists Joe Dimaggio Done It Again Meanest Man Black Wind Blowing Someday, Some Morning, Sometime Mermaid Ave vol 3 Loose Fur Laminated Cat Sept 2001 Yankee Hotel Foxtrot I Am Trying To Break Your Heart Kamera Radio Cure War On War Jesus Etc Ashes Of American Flags Heavy Metal Drummer I'm The Man Who Loves You - live b-side Pot Kettle Black Poor Places Reservations b-side The Good Part Blasting Fonda The Minus 5 2003 More Like The Moon ep Camera Handshake drugs Woodgrain A Magazine Called Sunset Bob Dylan's 49th Beard More Like The Moon June 2004 A Ghost Is Born (inc. Kicking Tv versions) At Least That's What You Said Hell Is Chrome Spiders Muzzle Of Bees Hummingbird Handshake Drugs Wishful thinking Company In My Back I'm A Wheel Theologians Less Than You Think The Late Greats Nov 2005 Kicking Television + some b-sides and oddities March 2006 Loose Fur Born Again In The USA May 2007 Sky Blue Sky Either Way You Are My Face Impossible Germany Sky Blue Sky Side With The Seeds Shake It Off Please Be Patient With Me Hate It Here Leave Me (Like You Found Me) Walken What Light On and On And On Extra Tracks Tweedy Interview The Sun Came Out - 7 Worlds Collide June 2009 Wilco (The Album ) Wilco (The Song) Deeper Down One Wing Bull Black Nova You And I You Never Know Country Disappeared Solitaire
Thanks @mark winstanley ! It's nice to see how much progress we have made. I'll Fight I was very surprised when I saw someone (can't remember who, sorry!) say earlier in the thread that 'I'll Fight' wasn't popular with fans. This has always been a big highlight of the album for me. The Wilcopedia entry also mentions that lots of people think this song is a clone of 'On and On and On,' which I just don't hear. Is it just the fact that they are both repetitive in the chorus? I'm usually really down on excessive repetition in songs, but it works in 'I'll Fight' for me for some reason. Maybe the fact that the repeats of "I'll go, I'll go" etc., are locked right in with the melody? The very effective melody and the repeated lyrics go right hand in hand. And I like this melody very much. I like the acoustic guitar riff, I love the organ and I agree with David Fricke that this has a feel similar to Blonde on Blonde era Dylan. Kind of pop, folk and "Americana" all blended together with the organ being a big part of the arrangement. Really sweet sounding song. Lyrically, this is another interesting departure from Jeff. This is another storytelling song, with Jeff stepping into the shoes of a guy who has signed up as a proxy fighter for someone else in the Civil War! Now that's something new for him and feels more like Robbie Robertson territory. I like the words quite a bit and how Jeff gets into the persona of the narrator: For you to live, I took your place A deal was made and I was paid And the goal as I was told Was a place where my body could be laid This coupled with the explicit references to church and Jesus Christ definitely make this feel like a Southern Baptist guy fighting for the Confederacy to me. And I feel for him, and his certain knowledge that he's going to die alone. This is a very strong song in my opinion and the highlight of the second half of the album.
I know, I'm sorry. I know avatars kind of become people's "face" on the forums, but I needed a change. I'm going to stick with this one for the next few years, I suppose, like I did my last one.
Country Disappeared This probably isn't the most exciting song the band has done, but I really like the melodic structure. Nice track Solitaire I get the old seventies big ballad in my head when I see this title. I thought it would be an odd cover for them. We get a really nice mellow acoustic, with some nice atmospheric slide guitar. The organ chirps are effective. Tweedy is really getting reflective in these couple of songs. Again I really like the melodic structure. The short little instrumental break is very cool too. Another good song
I’ll Fight: I previewed this song several days ago and felt as if I had been punched in the stomach. It left me feeling overwhelmingly sad, with memories of the little country church I attended while living in Michigan. The church program would list those serving in the military...and it was a long list. I’ll fight, I’ll kill, yes, this is a very powerful anti-war song. At least that’s my take on it. This is the last track from this particular album that makes my playlist. Really well done.
I love all Tweedies. I love alt. country Tweedy, I love punk rock Tweedy, I love (power) pop Tweedy, experimentalist Tweedy, country Tweedy, folk Tweedy, soul Tweedy, Wilco Tweedy, Tweedy Tweedy, solo Tweedy… they’re all great, I love them all. But I believe the truest one, the tweediest of them all is « Troubadour Jeff », the songwriter singing timeless songs about timeless issues armed with a timeless acoustic guitar. That’s why love I’ll Fight so much: it's to the point, crystal clear, conveying an eternal humanistic sentiment with the joint power of folk simplicity and pop catchiness. I remember what McCartney said about his White album ballad I Will : he considered it one of his most complete songs, because verse and chorus go together as if they’re two parts of the same melody. I’ll Fight has that quality, verse and chorus meet like a tributary meets a river, or like a river meets the sea (it’s even tricky to decide which part is the verse and which is the chorus). At heart, this is a traditional. In the Wilco oeuvre, it works as a counterpart to When the Roses Bloom Again, but written with a 2009 twist. Sure, the band treats it like it could become an adult contemporary radio hit. I don’t know if it’s the best choice, but it’s easy on my ear, even if I like it best when Jeff does it solo, with a folkier approach. But even with that pop sheen (which is the only reason I can think of as to why some fans may dislike it), this strikes me as an important song in Wilco’s history, marking the first time in years that Jeff allows himself to write defiantly in that traditional vein, music and lyrics being a natural extension of his early Tupelo/A.M/Guthrie years. I’ll Fight is the moment where he reconnects with that style after years and years of moving forward (and away from it). He’s not afraid of the “Americana” tag anymore, he's earned the right to come back home. He’s reconciled.
I'll Fight Again a really nice acoustic opens us up, and we move into a sort of repetitive opening verse.... it works pretty well, and I guess the sentiment is nice, but we often overstate our commitment, and only an actual real event will ever clarify whether we will really do the things we suggest we will. When the lyrical delivery settles down I like this. It is a very difficult task to write a song with repetitive lyrical delivery that appeals to me, this isn't too bad though. In the end I like this, but I don't love it. The mid-section is good and it has a kind of bouncy pop feel that is nice, but it isn't a song I would go to a lot.
And to add onto my own post, another memory. While in the Navy I was in a transit barracks with a Marine just out of basic training. I was on the top bunk, the Marine was on the bottom and talked in his sleep, “kill, kill. Gotta have blood once a month.” Made me a tad nervous! (Actually, a really nice guy but...straight out of boot camp. I guess that’ll do it to you).
Tremendous write ups by @Parachute Woman @Zeki and @Fortuleo. This is one of my favorite Wilco songs ever. I honestly had never thought of a Civil War storyline. It does take me to a kind of resolute and stoic sense of love of family and country. These lines flat give me goosebumps: You'll rise each day as planned Your will is your command And stand each Sunday A hymnal steady in your hand And if I die, I'll die, I'll die alone like Jesus On a cross My faith cannot by tossed And my life will not be lost If my love comes across Magnificent!
