Yep. If I recall, he said that he wanted the songs to touch on every aspect of being a fan - from joining the fan club to the ritual of unwrapping a new album and sitting in front of your stereo to absorb it all to waiting in line for the gig to trying to obtain autographs from the band, etc. Plus, of course, the emotional impact of the music itself. He also wanted to try to incorporate the perspective of the musicians toward those fans as well.
I should probably confess that I didn’t understand Bennett’s full impact until later. I noticed he was on the album as the permanent guitarist but wasn’t aware of his contribution to the (re)arrangements of the songs until much later.
Who really knows, I'm just speculating, too. But watch Tweedy here in his performance at Glastonbury in 1999. Staring into the late afternoon sun, he seems to be going into some dark place in his mind. If this is only acting, he's a very convincing actor.
I didn't either. I thought that the next album was where Bennett's influence came out more, but apparently his contributions were a big piece of Being There also.
Yes. On Being There the songs are still all Jeff’s. Kot book says he wrote 30 songs and then they picked 19.
For a later discussion, but perhaps in retrospect Bennett’s amount of contribution to Being There was just about perfect and on Summerteeth what at the time seemed shiny and cool now feels a bit like overkill and a little dated.
One more "Misunderstood," from the 2015 KEXP show. I like how he doesn't scream the "NOTHING!" part, but smiles a little as he looks out into the audience, like he's relishing the moment.
Right on. Rock N’ Roll is right through the lyrics of this record Misunderstood, notably Sunken Treasure, Choo Choo Charlie’s Band, solid state technology, and who is the Lonely one (can’t wait for that analysis)
"Misunderstood" is pretty amazing song, and for me is light years away from anything on A.M. I think there's a bit of "Holocaust", by Alex Chilton here -- similar piano based melancholy melody -- but the Big Star connection to Jeff Tweedy's music has been mentioned before. While AM certainly had some great songs on it I would say this is the first masterpiece that Wilco put out. It really knocks my socks off, and the noise rock , explosive-ness of it really gets me. It actually makes me cry and brings out profound emotions in me. To me the lyric is largely an exploration of some very complex emotions: there's a frank self-assessment's of the narrator's (let's call him Jeff) narcissism, a sensitivity to the suffering of others and yet an acknowledgement that he too can be the cause of that suffering; there's a world-weary, sick of it all feeling: to me, and i have to say I know almost nothing biographical about Jeff Tweedy or Wilco, but to me, this sounds like a song of saying goodbye to the Old World. Good bye to the provincial town he comes from, to their restrictive attitudes and prejudices; it acknowledges their humanity and but it also totally rejects them. Maybe I'm projecting my own experiences onto this song, but I hear it very much as a world-weary rejection, almost a tantrum: this song sounds like a very intentional demolition of everything that's come before it in Jeff Tweedy's music and his life. 5/5, mastuhpiece.
I'm pretty sure some people in the audience feel that way. And rightly so. They know who they are… There's always been a love/hate relationship between Jeff and (a part of ) his audience, isn't it ? And it's still here, to this day (see the "But they're not my friends" line in the great "Warm" song "Having Been is No Way to Be"). Definitely. But "if you still love rock and roll" in a diminishing way, if you still love it in a castrating way, if you still love it in a non expanding, non freeing of the mind way, then I thank you for NOTHING (x36) at all and… you're not my friend. (for me, the great ironic beauty of the song is that some people who sheer at the r'n'r line are indeed the target of the Nothing at all rant…)
Second track: Far, Far Away At first blush, this seems like it could have been a song on A.M. It certainly shares much of the same gentle, country-tinged DNA of many of those tracks. But what's this? Keyboards! The introduction of keys into the Wilco sound on Being There was major for their development, in my opinion. It helps that piano/keyboards are my very favorite instrument but I think they do add so much color to the palette for these songs. 'Far, Far Away' is a nice composition and I think it is placed very well on the album in the second spot. Sort of, 'Hey, we are still doing this kind of stuff too, but we've updated it a bit.' It also reminds me of other classic albums that put a tender ballad in the second position (Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed for starters). However, the song really becomes a lot better than just 'nice' when I listen closely and hear the way Bennett's tender keys tinkle, filling out the arrangement and adding to the sweetness and sadness of the piece. It makes the song feel quite nocturnal to me, and I can picture this guy riding alone on the CTA at night remembering a time when he rode it with her and they kissed in the twilight. Really pretty song. (So much of this album is about 'being there' in all of these specific memories and moments. I love that specificity).
I adore “Far, Far Away.” It’s one of the first songs I learned on guitar. Its use of triplets during the 4/4 section presages the switch to 3/4 during the chorus: “on the dark side / of the moon.” And they quite seamlessly transition back to 4/4 for the verse. Lovely.
After the raw pummeling of the first track, ‘Far, Far Away’ is an abrupt change of pace. “I long to hold you in my arms and sway Kiss and ride on the CTA I need to see you tonight And those bright lights” Sway, I think, is the key here as that directly describes the late night mood of this song. I love the ache in Tweedy’s voice, the piano and Bob Eagan’s pedal steel. Simply put, a beautiful song.
I am not going to comment on each song, but for me AM is their UT/Wilco transition record, Being There is their Stones record and Summerteeth is their Beatles/Beach Boys record. After that it gets really interesting ...
Great song, musically very close to the "Sky Blue Sky" title track (the little guitar solo starting at 1'45'' almost shares that later song's melody). The way Jeff's voice aches on the "deep in my heart" line gets me every single time.
Here's a great live version of 'Far, Far Away' featuring great work from Jay Bennett and Bob Egan especially:
I think this is a very well thought out track order. Open with a punch in the face to those that just wanted UT type material, and then reassure them that it isn't over... the band just doesn't want to be fenced in. This song has an aching delicacy which makes it very appealing. The musical arrangement is enticing, and interesting, and shows clearly that sfx and noisescapes aren't the only way to get someone's attention. Musically and vocally melodic, with an intriguing lyric A perfect choice for track 2. Light and shade getting good early exposure on the album.
It’s been my new ritual to wake up and check this thread. I’ve really enjoyed all the contributions and many of them have shed new light on these tunes. @Zeki’s one of the many great users in here and his post sums up how I feel, so I won’t add too much. This track is one of the best on the album and wow, what a diverse one-two punch off the bat. At some point I hope we get into “What’s the best sophomore album?” territory. I haven’t checked SHF but probably that thread exists somewhere.
Holocaust is a really smart reference. As soon as I read this my mind starting playing that song - both the original and the wonderful Rainy Day version. I played some of Being There in the car last night with my soon to be 17 year old. He mostly loves hip hop but is listening to some rock as well. He liked the deconstruction aspect of Misunderstood quite a bit. He was amused by the chaos
Oh goodness yes. Many times over! Here's one: No sophomore slump Searching that thread, Being There was only mentioned one time! I am personally of the opinion that the 'sophomore slump' idea is largely a myth. Most of my favorite artists had great second albums that were either just as good as their debut or even better. I can't actually think of one solid example of a really terrible or disappointing sophomore album.
