Citizens: I cannot get beyond the plodding drums. Just irritates me every time it comes on. Thanks to PW, I’ll take a good look at the lyrics (with the sound off so I can concentrate).
Another excellent track in a flawless album, and the first in a series of no less than three waltzes on Side 2. It is indeed the more openly political lyric on the record and I’m really intrigued by its placing just after White Wooden Cross (we get another cross and the white color again, but in a very different context). Musically, it’s the return of Glenn’s heavy tribal beat of the first songs that @Zeki enjoys so much. But this time it’s steadier, more purposeful, like a military march in waltz time, strong willed, obtuse, even confrontational, it decidedly comes at you and pushes you out of the way, despite Jeff whisper-singing it like most of the rest. We've talked about headphones, this one particularly shines if you listen to it that way, with guitars and piano licks everywhere. They can be lost on you if you don’t pay attention but they hold the piece together, every instrument being used as percussion, even Jeff's acoustic guitar as evidenced on this good Tweedy show rendition, which emphasize the one word/one chord change principle of the song.
I’m not sure what Citizens is about (I need to listen after Parachute Woman's notes), but it’s another earworm, and a rather dark one. It’s got the cross in it again, and a pine box which is presumably a coffin. That rhythm is absolutely killer, but so far this album is not an ode to joy!
I love Citizens. Very much like a Warm(er) track but spiced up with excellent drums and instrumental goodies all over the place. And that fuzz guitar. So good.
Just had my first listen to "Citizens" - a general thumbs up, the drums don't bother me. Maybe a touch political, but the words could have a variety of meaning, far more than I have time to think about right now!
“Citizens” is cool. Great production too. Glad the politics are left vague, though. The themes of duplicity and doom fit the times.
All I gotta say (beyond what I already have) is that this type of thumping by Kotche isn’t what pushed Ken Coomer out of the band. Okay...carry on!
This record is picking up steam for me. I think several commenters have hit on something that I never considered before. The lyrics are the thing with much of the latter day Jeff Tweedy work. This record needs little more work, patience and time from the listener.
I have to agree here, which in some ways is why I thought it was important to cover Loose Fur way back when. That collaboration (as well as the instrumentals for Chelsea Walls) seems to have really informed where Jeff went in that era. The interviews from back then speak to how intuitive Jeff felt playing with Glenn and that was pivotal in helping him take his songwriting in new directions. By now (and as I’ve said before, I think of Wilco 3.0 starting with Sukierae), Jeff’s songwriting is in a different mode, so Glenn’s drumming plays a different role from the early days of their collaboration. However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t important. First, Jeff has spoken about the central role the drums played on this album. It might not be using Glenn to capacity, but it’s the core of the album’s sound. Second, these drum parts are uniquely Glenn. Despite their plodding-ness, maintaining these grooves is not simple. Where I see Glenn differentiating himself from Spencer, for example, is that there’s always a light touch and the percussion. They’re simple parts played loudly and with force, yet there’s a contrasting delicate touch and loads of subtle intricacies to them. I’ll have more to say when we recap the album as a whole.
"Citizens" is excellent. My favorite on the album so far, probably because the political perspective is refreshing after hearing so many songs from Tweedy that look inward.
I think Citizens is my least favorite song on Ode To Joy. For me it's just too repetitive and plodding, and there's not much that stands out musically for me on this one. I do like the rattle-y shaker sound though.
As I plod along with my playlist choices I find that I now am falling more in line with your Wilco as Multiple Variations concept. Except I put Ghost as a single album outlier for v.2. Then New Wilco and v.4 maybe Jeff Tweedy with Wilco (which probably starts at Sukirae).
"Citizens" could be kin to "Family Ghost," as Parachute Woman mentioned, but I think it also calls back to "Before Us" from the first side of this album. Lies we tell ourselves to feel better about problematic policies, such as wars without end. Here he is calling on his fellow citizens to "carry your own cross," to stop being careless and take responsibility for ourselves. "You are the albatross." We are our own burden, our own curse, the source of our own problems. Stop looking for scapegoats. Stop lying to ourselves. It's up to us to clean up our mess. I think the phrase "white lies" probably has a double meaning, as well. It's fine, an artfully done political song, but I'm still getting a Warm feeling here.
"Citizens"- This feels like the underdog of the album. Before you know it you will have this song stuck in your head all day long just like @Parachute Woman mentioned. I listened to it last night and woke up with it running around in my brain. Great song. I love everything about it. This is part of a near perfect B side. 5/5
Yeah. I kind of group Yankee, Ghost and the Loose Fur albums as v1.5 because he was kind of deconstructing old Wilco and constructing new Wilco at the same time. But there’s also an argument that Yankee belongs with v1 and Ghost kind of stands on its own. I resolve that by placing my own fantasy album of early Yankee outtakes as the end of v1.
Boy, miss a week, miss a lot! I Bad time to miss too, because Ode to Joy is such an interesting entry in the cannon. By the way, I hope all you Americans here had a great Thanksgiving! I missed contributing in depth to some of the individual songs, but I'll briefly give my overall gist of the album. After three years, and following up the uneven and downtrodden Schmilco, I was initially underwhelmed by Ode to Joy. It didn't sound the same as Schmilco, but it was similar enough in terms of energy and production that it left something to be desired for me. With all that time between releases and the hiatus and all, I was hoping they would come back with a bang, with a blast, with something in an entirely different vein than where they'd been. But it didn't long to realize how superb of an album, and what a statement, Ode to Joy actually was. To me, Ode to Joy is to Schmilco what The Whole Love is to Wilco (the Album): taking a formula that wasn't quite perfect on the last album, working out the kinks, and perfecting it. Sonically, there is a lot of cool stuff going on. And the songwriting, wow, it is amazing someone who started out so great like Jeff Tweedy can actually keep getting better at writing these. It's amazing. Ultimately, Ode to Joy is a success. It is not the album I wanted out of Wilco in 2019. But it is a great album nonetheless. That being said, I think they have now reached the mountaintop of this style. They can dust their hands, take a look around, and breathe in the air. Moving forward, I'd prefer they try to move away from the dirges, waltzes and low-fi sound, knowing they've cracked that particular code here. I know enough about Jeff Tweedy to realize that a. he seems pretty set in his approach nowadays (as Love is the King mines the same Sukierae-on style), and b. he likes to throw subversive left turns in when no one expects it. So there's no telling where the path for Wilco will lead next. *I will put my obligatory distaste for Jeff's vocals here. I get so up in arms at the way he undermines beautifully written songs with such lackluster singing. "Bright Leaves," ("which siiiide I'm on") and "White Wooden Cross" ("What would I do") are two examples. It just baffles me. The vocals sound so much better live — there's just no comparison (another trend that continues with Love is the King). I know it's intentional, and I know there's a highfalutin rationalization for his choices, but I loathe it so much. It's not the way I connect to a singer and a song.
I agree, and I kind of doubt the band will repeat itself, but what do I know? But as to why I agree with you--I think Schmilco, Warm, Warmer, and Ode are all of a piece, with Ode being the opus. Basically, what you said.
We Were Lucky 'We Were Lucky' fits together like a beautiful little puzzle for me. The percussion here has an unfurling, shuttering quality to it that reminds me of the cash register percussion in 'Money' by Pink Floyd. Vibes are used in the background to add color. But, of course, the star of the show is the guitar work by Nels Cline--snarling and soaring in a burst of noise and intensity before the second verse. Then he plays a slinking solo after that verse, as intense and ferocious as any great Neil Young solo. And then another solo in the song's breakdown, making the whole thing feel like the wheels are falling off the bus. This is a guitar song. It is superb and powerful playing, really letting Nels loose in a way that hasn't happened in years. Jeff said that this track was added to the album at the last minute because "I really wanted there to be a catastrophe on this album." The beautiful thing is that this isn't just noise for the sake of it. Noise has always been used on Wilco songs for a specific purpose, often to serve as a sonic representation for personal or emotional turmoil. Nels' playing is textured and has a certain grace to it, despite the intensity. I love how the swirl of noise leads into the verse beginning "There was a pop in my ear / As I left the atmosphere." Things reach a cacophonous peak before calming as Jeff begins to sing those words and it perfectly captures the feeling of an airplane lifting off, thrusting into the air, before the calm of reaching cruising altitude. This is like painting the story of the words with the music. Lyrically, I love the main lyrical motif of "We were lucky / I was yours / And you didn't mind being mine." Another beautiful summation of marriage and commitment from Jeff Tweedy. Amazing band track.
We Were Lucky: Evidently the band forgot to tell Glenn that the previous song was over so he just continues to thud and thunk along. But, thankfully, someone is working the ‘ol Pink Floyd cash register instrument (or industrial chain) so I find the drumming less irritable. And I really like the song. The lyrics are rather endearing....I think, though the dissonance in the music speaks of chaos rather than sweetness and harmony. Am I missing the point? “All I saw from where I stood Feel our mountains and the world I'm lucky that's for sure I'm yours And you didn't mind Being mine”
I was thinking this was Jeff. It doesn’t sound like a Cline guitar to me but I’m assuming you’re right.
Plodding tribal drums! I knew our friend Z would express contentment… Except this time the drums sound like a mix between Give Peace a Chance and We Will Rock You… Oh and maybe there’s indeed a little bit of Money thrown in, yes, you're right. Not my favorite song on the album (I love them all), but the melody is great, the sonics are astonishing, Jeff’s singing is a perfect Lennon/Young hybrid. For his part(s), Nels is… otherworldly, and not once but no less than three times, three guitar freak outs in a little more than five minutes. Each time, there’s a burst of turmoil and violence, then a new calm. This song does sound like Jeff is on a bad flight, taking off, contemplating the view, experiencing a panic attack during turbulence, contemplating his relationships with his wife, with the world and with his fans, then landing. I’m always inclined to think Jeff likes to combine the two longstanding relationships of his life, the romantic one (with Susie) and the rock’n’roll one (with us) in his songs. Why the empty auditorium, if we’re not part of that song? The best thing about the lyrics for me is the use of present tense in the last verse. “I’m lucky, that’s for sure / I’m yours” before getting back to past tense “… and you didn’t mind being mine”. If his plain was to crash, he would still be hers, and grateful for whatever time and love he got from her (and maybe from us). This is just lovely.
That's Jay Bennett making an uncredited guest appearance on the album - shaking the chains he forged in life as a warning for Jeff to heed. I didn't feel quite so lucky after hearing this one!
Catching up on the songs quickly, I think tracks 1–6 are just about perfect on Ode to Joy. They're all earworms, and the sequence is just perfect. I'm pretty sure I've had "Bright Leaves" and "Before Us" stuck playing inside my head continuously since last November. I can't seem to shake them! All things considered, "Quiet Amplifier" may well be the best song on here. And "Everyone Hides" is irresistible — you have to love that riff. Perfect Wilco pop song. The second half of the album starts to lose me just a tad. "Citizens" is an OK album track. Great lyrics, but the melody just isn't strong enough to lift it to anything more memorable. It's only been played once live by the band and never revisited. "We Were Lucky" is one I liked initially, but over time I actually found I liked it less. I think it's the only track on the album I feel that way about. The lyrics are, once again, very good. And a lot of the underlying music is pretty — especially the melody and keyboards. But the plodding nature of the drums undercuts the movement in the track. Then there's the guitar. Yes, the Nels guitar freak outs are nice, but they've come to feel inorganic to me, like they're not a natural part of the rest of the song. Like "Oh, we don't have any big guitar anywhere on this album — quick Nels, can you overdub some random wankery on this track?" That does provide a nice counterpoint to some of the other songs, but "We Were Lucky" has ended up being a track I don't seek out individually.
We’re back to insistent drums driving the song in We Were Lucky. We also get not one but several strong, dissonant guitar solos with build-ups. Is it a simple love song in that unique Wilco style? I really like this one.
