Easily overlooked ? Not by me, it's not! I like/love most songs on this album but Cold Slope absolutely blows my mind. "Mesmeric" is a fantastic word to describe it (we don't have a real equivalent in french). Every time the song starts, I’m stopped dead in my tracks, engrossed by its irresistible groove. Bass and drums drive the song, but the guitars (Jeff’s Ghost ones, Nels’s and Pat’s bigger ones) are also exceptional and I agree that Jeff's vocals are among his best in years. I’d be curious to hear his solo demo of this, if it exists, just to understand how they built the track. My best guess is that the demo would’ve sounded somewhat like Locator on Schmilco (which I like/love) but what they've managed to do with Cold Slope is just insane, rivaling Handshake Drugs as the best Wilco groove ever. It may even be danceable, who knows !! Really one of a kind in their career… (well, two of a kind, since its evil twin King of You follows).
Cold Slope: Starts out like the New Wilco’s Hoodoo Voodoo before it settles down...if that can be said of a song that has multiple personas. Fun and a song that I like.
Cold Slope and King of You play like one song to me. Both are this ball of intensity at the end of the album. I think they reflect the Star Wars ethos well. There’s some noodling, but they don’t go into Handshake/Germany/Ashes/etc territory. They stay tightly focused around a rhythmic groove driven not just by Glenn, but by the whole band in lockstep.
When Star Wars first came out, "Cold Slope" was immediately one of my favorite songs. "Random Name Generator," "Taste the Ceiling" and "Cold Slope" were the three I took away at first. With that climbing bass/rhythm, "Cold Slope" had a Pink Floyd "Echoes" vibe to it for me — kind of a strange connection because the rest of the song sounds nothing like that! I like every part of the song, from the rhythm to the burst of the bridge to the chorus. Like others have said, it is kind of like three different personas, but they work together great.
"Cold Slope"- Thrilled to see some early praise for this song! This was my first favorite when the album came out. I remember sending this to friend who had thought Wilco had lost it. What a groove! I absolutely love this song. Jeff and band sounding extremely confident in rocking this one out. I agree it's a killer vocal by Jeff and I love the 1:00 minute mark with the little guitar line gliding under the march of the drum and bass. This is one of the best straight up cool and you might say bad a** songs Wilco has ever done. I also agree with @jalexander that it moves into the next song like they are purposely joined together to sound like one song. I use to think they should have separated these tunes because they have a similar groove, but now I see that must have been the idea, and the reason they are sequenced together. An enthusiastic 5/5
"Cold Slope" is a good one, with two caveats: (1) Tweedy's vocal - it sounds as if he's half awake in places and it would have been better if he had just sung it straight (this is a recurring problem on Star Wars, although it has reared its head previously on individual songs); and (2) it's too short. Several of the songs on this album could have been improved by being longer, I think. I love the guitar sounds on this song and the rhythm is rather infectious. I don't really know what the song is about, which is a frequent comment I have about the songs on this album. This fact detracts from my ability to appreciate and enjoy it, but only to a degree. The music here is really quite excellent.
I can't decipher every line in "Cold Slope," but generally it seems to be a kiss-off to someone who has been freezing him out. So-so and you don't really care Stand alone and you're there all day Some would say you're never really there Although you still take up space I know, I know, and you know that I know It's a power play I, I won't recognize you I won't recognize you Anymore It is a cool groove, so good that I don't even mind that after the "I won't recognize you" chorus, it's "second verse, same as the first...." I'd agree that the "aiming for the weak wall" section is the bridge--you might even mark the beginning at "And I won't atone, take some wild bile wicked." And the end of the track does sound like it could've blended seamlessly into "King of You" if they had chosen to do so. The internet tells me that "Cold Slope" is in G; oddly, nobody online has bothered to work out guitar tabs for "King of You," and I couldn't tell you, either. Anyone know?
Glad you said this and not me, but you are correct--my first thought even before I read your post. I like this song but like a lot of Star Wars' songs it's kind of slight structurally. "Cold Slope" is good. Given the way they run into each other, this one and the next one, they could have been reviewed in tandem. This is a mixed bag pastiche montage of an album.
Cold Slope - Another one of my favorite songs on this record. A great groove with cool breaks and I like everything about it.
King of You is in G as well. The verse kind of vamps on G for most of it, up to C, then back to G. The chorus is just D-C-Am then resolves to G. Anyone ever notice that Jeff really likes the II minor chord? He especially loves using Am when in G.
Sorry, man, been listening to the Petty Wildflowers outtakes all day. Helps to get a good palate cleanser like that every now and then. The stuff this dude left laying around ... "Cold Slope" - great track, second half of the album holds up better for me, despite "More" and RNG appearing early on. A little "Children of the Revolution," some heavy Television weaving guitar riffs. I mentioned Pavement earlier - some of this album really strikes me as mining roughly the same territory. Angular, melodic, mostly pop performed in a slightly-off kilter manner. I guess Pavement could be classified as ... Weird Uncle Rock?
Cold Slope is a favorite of mine here. Great groove and electricity. I could give a crap about the lyrics, but then again that’s me with most rock music
King of You 'Pummeling' is the word that comes to mind this morning regarding 'King of You.' That riff is hard and tough (though this is Wilco, not Black Sabbath), smashing into you over and over again. This is definitely a sister song with 'Cold Slope.' They are always performed live together and the Wilcopedia book combines their entries together. Many critics commented on how they were joined together and this one feels like a continuation of the first. I like 'King of You' but not as much as I like 'Cold Slope.' However, listening to them together as intended does create a solid mood and a crunchy, loping vibe. This is the penultimate track on the album and it fits well there. However, I will agree with @robcar . The lyrics on this album do almost nothing for me. I've read them over each morning when I open up the next song and I can barely decipher them. This is too bad, as I'm a big fan of Jeff's words usually. These are just too obtuse.
Ah "pummeling", nice one, I learn a lot here ! Cold Slope’s all about creating an infectious groove, King of You is more insistent and “swampy”, almost in a Kingpin kind of way (but with weirder, more futuristic guitars). In Cold Slope’s case, it’s very hard to imagine how they’ve worked their way around a Tweedy demo (was the groove already there or was the band able to create it from scratch while overdubbing?). It’s easier to “hear” how King of You would’ve sounded like, had it been a Sukierae track, for instance. The question I’m asking myself is “does it work better when listened to in sequence with its sister song or taken as a stand-alone track as this thread invites us to do ?” Listening to it right now, I think it’s pretty good and it stands on its own merits. But at the same time, it’s in the right spot in the track-list, for three reasons. 1/ it does work perfectly with CS, 2/ the record's flow is impeccable and more importantly 3/ there’s a late 60’s/early 70’s Lennon vibe somewhere in this song, that perfectly prepares the ground for the very lennonesque Magnetized, making the last three songs (Cold Slope/King of You/Magnetized) work as a mini-suite. I used to see King of You as the lesser (but still excellent) part of a diptych with Cold Slope, now I see it as the pivotal middle panel in a high-class triptych.
So, go figure this one guys: While "Cold Slope" is one of my favorite songs on the album, I don't like "King of You" at all and actually find it annoying. I can't really explain why. The songs are, theoretically anyway, pretty similar. But I love the groove and even the words in "Cold Slope." "King of You" just sounds, well, again the best words to describe the way I feel is annoying. The groove is plodding. The lyrics are completely unmemorable nonsense. The whole song goes by and you literally can't recall a single line except "Don't make me the king of you." There's no accounting for taste I guess!
King Of You: I’m kinda all over the place on this song. It starts out within my wheelhouse as it recalls the exalted Being There...but then struck me as rather plodding. But that was yesterday. I just listened again and have already forgotten why I considered it as such. Maybe because it’s rigidly structured? Not as shambolic and loose as the prior band? Still, second time around and I abandoned the ‘plodding’ thought. It no longer plods! Either way, it’s a perfectly fine song though the abrupt ending is rather odd. It’s not as if that’s important to segueing into Magnetized. At least I didn’t catch that initially.
Another winner. I think the band set out to make the groove familiar, but hard to place, and succeeded. I thought of this. And this. I'd be curious to know what anyone else hears as an influence. But, really, it felt more like the below track, which I'm sure Jeff would be much more comfortable with as a reference point. I could only imagine the existential terror that being compared to Van Halen would inspire in Jeff:
King of You might not be a great song in isolation, but it’s great on Star Wars. I would say that actually applies to the album as a whole. Would I give up Company in my Back or Poor Places for this song? Of course not. But when you’re twenty years into your career I respect that they’re putting out an album that’s different from the rest of their catalogue and stands on its own in its own right. This is the 33-minute hard hitting indie album and it does it well while still sounding like Wilco. And instead of trying to make another 10-minute motorik jam like Spiders, they keep this one short and sweet. With Cold Slope it’s like a perfect little 7” single, an a-side and b-side they go hand in hand. I also don’t hear this one as a Sukierae candidate. The groove is too Wilco, all six guys playing in lockstep, the guitars a bit too synthetic for Jeff alone (compare that to the intro of Cold Slope - this intertwined random guitars sound like all Jeff to me). All in all, a great song for me.
"King of You"- I'm mixed on this song. It's almost like the Star Wars version of "Walken". Not that it sounds completely like that song, but it's a band jam that doesn't move much past the opening riff. Something about it recalls the feel and intent of a song like "Walken". I do like "King Of You" far more than "Walken". It just happens to fall between two of my favorite songs on the album. As an extended part of "Cold Slope" it works, but on its own I'm not sure it would be a stand out. I will say I am a fan of Jeff's lyrics when they are in the poetry mode of cut and paste. Lyrics don't always have to have some deep meaning or a clear understanding for me to enjoy them. How words flow with the music is also very important. Jeff does this a lot. I am sure the lyrics mean something to him, but in several cases I wouldn't doubt if he is just matching syllables to the rhythm of the music. He is a darn good poet, and I love many of the lines sprinkled throughout this album. This song opens with what I believe is a lovely set of lyrics. 3.5/5 Wave after wave wishes unspoken Talks like a blowtorch Palms out and frozen Who said it's easy language is losing I swallow the steam and claim to be stupid Nails on the threshold Moon free don't make me the king of you
I like Tweedy's poetry some places more than others, though I admit it's probably somewhat arbitrary what I think is more evocative/emotive imagery and what is just random nonsense. I like "I Might," "Born Alone" and "Cold Slope," but don't like "You Satellite" or "King of You." Maybe it's just the way he sings it sometimes. As for "King of You," I get your comparison it to "Walken," but I definitely see it as a jam that doesn't go anywhere past the opening riff, so of the two, I'd take "Walken."
Hiding near the end of the album, Cold Slope and King of You are two great little tracks. They both have powerful yet unexpected rhythms, nicely layered guitars, solid vocals, and in each case it adds up to something special. This is where I start to realize how much I like Star Wars.
In preparation for tomorrow’s discussion of Star Wars’ closing track, I’m assigning 15 minutes of homework. There’s a 2015 episode of Song Exploder that breaks down Magnetized: Episode 58: Wilco
“Walken” is one of my least favorite Wilco songs in lyrics and vocal delivery, but I know many of you don’t agree. In the case of a song like “King Of You”, I think the poetic lyrics make the song far more interesting. On a song like “You Satellite” I don’t even notice the lyrics much. I love the music, but I do happen to like strange and poetic lyrics that are not easy to decipher. I hardly ever have a problem with any of Jeff’s lyrics that fall into that category.
The lyrics completely ruin "King Of You" for me. It could have the greatest music ever and I'd still dislike it with these lyrics. Musically, it's rather unmemorable, although it does have that constant buzzing guitar/drum motif that is rather annoying. There's a hint of a decent melody in it, but it's never really developed. It just returns to that plodding motif. Again, if it was more than 2:41 long, it might have developed into something interesting. As is, it seems more like a song fragment than an actual complete song. The songs on this album ("You Satellite" excepted) are just too damn short.
I don't know if he's actually writing about his marriage, but this seems to be another in a line of songs about ill communication and weathering a stormy relationship. "Don't make me the king of you" being a variation on "I want to be your lover, baby, I don't want to be your boss." (It may not be a coincidence that references to the moon and frost also crop up in "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry.") There is a strong Lennon Meets Bolan vibe to the music, which carries over to the album closer, too. And if you're into that, btw, you should check out Sean Lennon's cover of "Mambo Sun" from Hal Willner's Angelheaded Hipster tribute album for Marc Bolan & T. Rex. Uncanny. You can find it on YouTube, but this performance for the James Corden show has the added appeal of video, and evidently a Wilco connection: some commenters say that Nels Cline is playing drums. Hard to tell, because he's wearing shades like he's in That Thing You Do, but could be!
