I don't really hear Jerry in "Forget the Flowers," but I wonder if it's actually a takeoff on the Stones' "Dead Flowers." It's a similar theme, both kind of jokey. Whenever Mick sang a country tune, he always sounds to me like he's satirizing country music, or doing it as a laugh. Jeff's vocal here doesn't sound quite so much like a put-on, but it's not exactly his natural singing voice, either. There is a bit of a knowing, affected twang. I prefer the solo acoustic performance. The album version is OK, but not really my idea of good country music or great Wilco.
Really? I find he is sort of playing up his accent a little but it’s still a pretty j unaffected vocal to my ear. Phrasing a little John Prine.
Yeah, it comes across to me like he's winking to the audience, "Hey, here's the country number y'all are expecting. It's a funny one!" And maybe this verse is directed at the fans who wanted Wilco to stay "pure": Lately you've been taking me/ Way too seriously, oh/ I can't ever explain why/ I don't feel your pain." But is the following verse also addressing those same people? "I left you behind, I know it's been a long time/ But I'm not over you/ Don't forget the flowers, someday, I hope I do." The lyric is a little incongruous--I don't feel your pain, but I'm not over you?--but maybe!
Forget the Flowers - It would be impossible to call this a song that is the equal of the first four, but it doesn't have to and still be a success. It's more textural than anything else and more or less confirms that this is "still Wilco." As was commented above, it has a bit of an early '70s Dead vibe going on. Tweedy's voice often veers between Jerry Garcia and Rod Stewart tones and this is squarely in Garcia mode.
I think Forget The Flowers is a wonderful little track, perfect at this point in the album. Despite being "light" it's one that sticks in my mind.
I'd completely forgotten about this song until I started revisiting the album, and it's easy to see how it would get lost after the first four songs but it's a perfect little song for a Saturday afternoon. It's somewhat light hearted but I wouldn't call it jokey as someone else said above - I'm in the camp that doesn't hear any affectation in Tweedy's voice. It might be considered a lost classic had it been an A.M. b-side.
"Misunderstood" Yup, they's change a-comin'. Right out of the box it's stark and bleak. As I understand it, this isn't something completely new for Tweedy, whose influences include some 80's alt-rock, but here he's carving out his own little space. The sonic deluge surrounds a heartfelt, delicate song. This really is a wonderful track, though the atmosphere was probably not quite expected given the previous album. While maybe not the defining track of the album (or maybe it is), it does portend a new direction. "Far, Far Away" A shift back to something a little more traditional. An easygoing, comfortable tune, but the contrast after the opener is evident. I wonder how deliberate that was. For me, this represents classic, early Tweedy: a guitar, a song of longing, and a country-tinged arrangement.
"Monday" Cranky and rockin', and yeah, I couldn't help hearing The Stones vibe to some extent right off the bat. But I think that takes something away from it, sort of making it derivative in a way. The song is alright, but not a real standout for me. Odd though is that the sound seems a touch flat after the previous two tracks. Maybe it's just the general tone of the song in comparison. "Outtasite (outta mind)" This track I like a lot more, particularly for that neat little riff that runs through it. The other side of Tweedy, energetic and cutting loose. I might also say that here is the other side of Wilco, a band that can rock out when it wants to. Sometimes certain songs offer up their personality in one big heaping spoonful, and this is one of those songs.
There is another book that came out almost a year ago - Wilcopedia: A Comprehensive Guide To America's Best Band. I have not read that one either.
That's the main one I am using as a reference guide for this thread (along with Jeff's book, and I am planning to buy Kot's). You all will probably hear a lot from Wilcopedia in my posts.
Completely unrelated to thread topic... I first saw (literally) and heard Shaffer as a musician playing piano in the band that was accompanying the musical Godspell in Toronto in a time long, long ago. (As I remember, he was the musical director, and I eventually recognized him as a band member on SNL.) I also had a personal encounter with Shaffer in NYC about 10 years ago...but that's another story.
Just because I saw this recently, here's a video of Johnny Marr playing acoustic guitar live with the Smiths, 1984 "William It Was Really Nothing". Skip to 1:00 in.
"Forget The Flowers" For me, another classic early Wilco track. I'm O.K. with this as much as I am with the more rockier leaning material. It's another one of those comfortable alt-country excursions that seem to pervade this period of the band's history. Regardless of genre, this is truly a very nice song. The key here is that it shows off Tweedy as a genuinely great songwriter. It's cool, and I'm good with that.
Next up: Red-Eyed and Blue The second side of the vinyl opens up with those absolutely gorgeous piano chords, immediately creating a mood (for me) of very late night/very early morning malaise. This song definitely fits into the overall theme of the record about music, specifically how it is created. It sounds to me like the lament of a guy in the studio who is trying his best to record a song for his love, but can't quite get it right because he's drunk/high/sad. The lyrics are minimal but it paints quite a vivid picture in my head of these guys working in the studio, rubbing their eyes and trying desperately to get this thing down on tape but just not feeling like they can capture it. The frustration of the creator. That's within the song. The actual song 'Red-Eyed and Blue' is wonderful and completely captures the tone it is going for. It is a brief piece with the second half of the song unexpectedly going into a short instrumental section featuring some somber, lackadaisical whistling with nice piano chords. This is a song where I think I can definitely hear Jay Bennett's capable fingerprints. This is moody and emotionally affecting stuff. The song has since almost always been performed live as a pair with 'I Got You (At the End of the Century)' (in the grand tradition of Grateful Dead live pairs). I'll put a video of a live version in the next post.
This is from 2003 and features a weird transitional lineup. Jay and Ken are gone, Leroy is close to leaving, Mikael is in the back holding down percussion and Pat/Nils haven't joined yet. Quite an interesting watch.
One thing I noticed in that performance is how respectful the audience is. I would bet that in 9.5 times out of 10, somebody would yell out during a whistle part. (In general. Not specific to Wilco). Very nice.
Red-Eyed and Blue: A song that instantly transports to late night; creates a yearning, aching feeling. For me, it’s similar to Radio King in terms of how it affects me. Yet another gem, making it 6/6. Playlist? Maybe. Ends with piano chords that take it into the next song. Come to think of it, I could fudge a bit and make a determination that it’s all one song! Two-for-one for the playlist. (I’ll see if it gets by the committee.)
This is pure Wilco, pure Tweedy. It could be on any of the band's records or any of his solo records, or any of his side project records, and it'd still be one of the stand outs. Diminished chords, augmented chords, interesting twisted chords… We're already in this Summerteeth / Beach Boys territory (the Beach Boys of the 1970-1973 era), which seems to show Jay Bennett's influence. This Jay B. piano accompaniment is definitely gorgeous but Jeff has written quite a few of those songs on his own, so it's difficult to be too affirmative about it.
This takes me back! I saw them once in 2002 and at least twice in 2003, with this lineup. I always liked “Forget the Flowers” and “Red-Eyed and Blue.” The latter makes me think of the passage in Jeff’s book where he discusses asking Jay for chord substitutions to fit his melodies.