Wilco: Album by Album

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Parachute Woman, May 11, 2020.

  1. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    I'm just thirsty :) it's been a long day
     
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  2. Gabe Walters

    Gabe Walters Forum Resident

    It definitely has a different feel with Jay on keys and Ken on drums than the live versions I'm used to from the current lineup. Kind of a Dr. John, swampy stomp. I kinda wish Jeff had taken the guitar lead on that version, though. The feel changes quite a bit when Jay switches to guitar.
     
  3. BlackCircleVinyl

    BlackCircleVinyl Forum Resident

    Location:
    South NZ
    Not a favourite of mine, it’s funk musical style sits at odds with the rest of the album. If this was the first Wilco song I ever heard I doubt I’d be back for more. Thanks for the lyric insights, little of these references made any sense half way around the world, they are very geo-specific! With that in mind I better understand how it fits with the album theme but I could live without this one.
     
  4. frightwigwam

    frightwigwam Talented Amateur

    Location:
    Oregon
    I don't like it when they play it in concert, either. The groove always falls apart--I guess Wilco isn't the greatest funk band--but Jeff probably likes the audience participation, getting the crowd to go "Woooo!" The clavinet part really helps on the album, though. No doubt that he was thinking of The Band, but the wordplay and folky-funky feel makes me wonder whether he was trying his hand at writing a Beck song. Odelay came out while they were still recording this album, but, who knows, Jeff might have been a fan of Mellow Gold and Stereopathic Soulmanure, too. "I got the flu and away I flew/ NYC, pediate blue/Dimetapp and spinal tap/ City maps and hand claps." That's a Beck lyric, if I ever heard one!

    I guess this one made it on the album because Jeff felt like he needed something a little upbeat at about this point on Disc 2. If I had it in heavy rotation, perhaps it would grow on me; but, if I were cutting down the record or looking for a spot to slip in a favorite outtake, this would be one of the candidates for the axe.
     
  5. frightwigwam

    frightwigwam Talented Amateur

    Location:
    Oregon
    If he is writing about a touring musician who is feeling under the weather, but determined to push through because he wants to get his music out to the people and be a big success, even though he doesn't really know how, then that fits with some of the other songs like "Red-Eyed and Blue," "Hotel Arizona," and "The Lonely 1." More generally, the final verse ("How can I/ How can I give my love to you when/ I don't know what to do") touches on a theme that runs through the album and all of Jeff's work: communication breakdown and disconnect; longing to be there, but he can't get there from here.
     
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  6. trd

    trd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Berkeley
    And sunken treasure, “I was maimed by rock and roll”
     
  7. trd

    trd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Berkeley
    Geo specific lyrics are a thing in UT and early Wilco for sure. New Madrid, casino queen, heavy metal drummer. There are others but those come immediately to mind.
     
  8. frightwigwam

    frightwigwam Talented Amateur

    Location:
    Oregon
    And in the Twin Cities there are streets with French names, but Anglicized local pronunciations. Like, Nicolette is "NICK-let," Larpenteur is "LARP-en-ter." Wayzata, a town outside of Minneapolis, named after a Dakota word, is pronounced, "Why-ZETT-ah." I don't know if that's how the Dakota people would also say it, but I always wondered why the locals don't just pronounce it the way that it's spelled. Maybe they say it properly, it's just the spelling that's weird.
     
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  9. dirkster

    dirkster Senior Member

    Location:
    McKinney, TX, USA
    heh heh: “Anglicized local pronunciations” - that’s a kind way of putting it. I live in Texas and I’d swear everything in this state with a Spanish language root word is *deliberately* mangled as much as is humanly possible, oops, I mean “Anglicized”. I suppose every state is like this, but the root language that is getting mangled varies depending on the geography.
    :shrug:
     
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  10. HenryH

    HenryH Miserable Git

    "Kingpin"

    A loose, ramblin' sort of tune; despite the hint of swampiness, I have a hard time convincing myself that it's not much more than an quaint little excursion without the authenticity. It's a passable track, but this one really doesn't stick with me.
     
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  11. Analogmoon

    Analogmoon All the Way Back in the Seventies

    Nels was the first guy I met in the band. It was at the Pittsburgh show (June 2004). Which I think was one of his first shows with Wilco as a member.
     
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  12. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus

    I like the sort of sweaty, raunchy sound of this and can quite happily jam out on it; good summertime outdoor party-at-the-river music, I reckon, you can almost smell the Off! and the blackened, roasted hot dogs; as a song it barely registers and it probably myleast favorite on this album but it's a good solid album track played with fine feel, sounds like it'd be a lot of fun live.
     
  13. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus

    There's a lake in the Ozarks called Lake Pomme de Terre...prounced "Pomter."

    It's not just Americans, either: half the place names in the UK sound nothing like the way they are spelled.
     
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  14. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    (Was I) In Your Dreams


    I've listened to Being There many, many times. I've lost count. And I still kind of always forget about this song. Even looking at the title of it for today's entries, I had a moment of 'how does that one go again?' It isn't a bad song at all, but it just hasn't ever stuck with me in any meaningful way. We're deep in the album now and nearing the end. The album becomes quite downbeat and almost sloppy or drunken sounding on this song and the next. It's a weary, bleary kind of song with one of those choruses that feels like it is moving in molasses, nagging and cyclical. As I listen to the song now, I do like it and I think the slide guitar in particular adds to the slow-burn late night feel of the track. But this is maybe my least favorite on the album. It is certainly the one that has stayed in my head and my heart the least. The thing with Wilco, for me, is that I don't dislike a song in their discography and even the relative 'lowlights' like this one always sound good when I've got them on.
     
  15. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    (Was I) In Your Dreams
    Similar to Far, Far Away with a swaying rhythm. Featuring the piano and *lap steel (?) or slide (?). Tweedy’s vocals at one point are slurred (But I don’t really mind if I dream about you... I can’t say what any of that means).

    “Did I touch your hand and did it feel like snow?” I find this lyric a bit off-putting and unsettling. Still, I love the song and have it on my playlist (though...am having second thoughts). Edit: I’ll cut it.

    In the homestretch of this double album and Wilco will finish strong.

    *It’s not pedal steel because Bob Egan only plays on 2 tracks on the album: Far, Far Away and Dreamer In My Dreams.
     
    Last edited: Jun 10, 2020
  16. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus

    I was going to say it reminds of "Far, Far Away", which is my favorite song on this album.

    Weirdly, this song just played and I got a Beck vibe, perhaps because of the post above that likened the last song to Beck, which I heard AFTER I read the post; but this also sounds like one of Beck's folk ballads, a bit; I can totally hear him singing it, though it sounds like a Mutations outtake which was still a couple years from being released.
    I reckon they were just coming from the same place, being contemporaries, though Beck was the pre-eminent artist of the age, probably more so at the time than he might seem now.

    Anyway, I think that this song is fine; it doesn't particularly stand out, I agree, but it's got a good sort of ramshackle drunken charm to it.
     
  17. Fortuleo

    Fortuleo Used to be a Forum Resident

    Oh how I love this song ! And I think it's an important one in the overall flow of the record : opener of the 4th side after a trio of majestic lead off tracks, it kind of "completes" the square of songs that are supposed to define Being There themes, of which the dream/longing for someone/somewhere/sometime is such a key component. Being There, as opposed to being here, I guess. Musically, this is another of the "kinksian" songs, with all its passing major sixth chords, alcool fueled delivery and new-orleans leanings that could be found on many Ray Davies compositions in the early seventies (from Muswell Hillbillies to the two Preservation acts).

    also : kudos to @frightwigwam and @Lance LaSalle for their Beck reference, I never thought of it, but it makes perfect sense.
     
  18. dirkster

    dirkster Senior Member

    Location:
    McKinney, TX, USA
    (Was I) In Your Dreams

    “Was I in your dreams
    I'd like to know
    Did I touch your hand and did it feel like snow?
    Try to understand while I've got you on the phone“

    This comes across as a conversation that the writer might have on the phone with his wife or girlfriend while he’s on tour with his band. Checking in because the relationship is having a tough time:

    “Did I hurt you like I know I can?
    Tell me why you'd ever want to leave your loving man
    Try to understand, please try to understand”

    The “loving man” here is the writer asking why would you ever want to leave ME?

    “Oh was I in your dreams, late last night?
    Did you hold your pillow, did you squeeze me tight?
    I just want to make everything alright
    Was I in your dreams
    Was I in your dreams
    Was I?”

    Being away from home and one’s partner is tough, and a touring musician’s hours are weird. Work until 2-3am and then sleep until mid-afternoon. Yesterday’s song “Kingpin” was a goofy oddball lament about road life while feeling sick and this one is another aspect of that, but this time without the humor. Today’s song has a real hazy feel, like the writer is not even fully awake and wondering aloud on the phone “was I in your dreams?” while hoping his relationship is still solid. “Did I touch your hand and did it feel like snow?” could be a moment from a dream and the writer is wondering if it really happened.

    So many songs on Being There fit together as pieces of a mood, and Tweedy seems to write these so effortlessly. I enjoy this song a lot.
     
  19. Al Gator

    Al Gator You can call me Al

    It's definitely an end-of-the-evening (or album) feeling coming through Was I In Your Dreams. Or maybe it's a waking-up-the-next-morning feeling, I'm not sure. Jeff's vocal sounds almost drunk (or hungover). The music is slow and sad. It's a solid choice at this point, but it's not one of my favorites.
     
  20. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    Was I in your dreams
    It is only on this revisit, that this song struck me.
    It certainly does have a late night bar room feel.... almost seventies Tom Waits kind of thing going on.
    This is a much better song than a casual listen would reveal.
    Musically I really like it. There are a lot of really nice chord sequences, and the vocal delivery really hits the spot.

    That's the thing I love about doing a track by track, it gives me time to really digest the music, and whereas when we started I felt a little so-so about disc two, it has really risen in stature for me, with a measured listen and approach, rather than just blurting out what I think without closer inspection.

    Another great song, and already this and the next album have really grown in stature for me.

    That's why I love these threads, they take me back to being a teen with all the time in the world to really absorb what I am listening to.
     
  21. Fortuleo

    Fortuleo Used to be a Forum Resident

    Absolutely. The late night cabaret/bar sounding chord sequences and feel. Randy Newman or Nilsson also comes to mind. I have a hunch that this is one of the reasons why Capitol City was left off the album : it shares some the same cabaret influences, and maybe two of those would be too much, even on a double LP !
     
  22. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    In fact... thinking about it now, this album seems almost like a big party (being there) it starts off with an introduction, and then we are all rocking out in the vibe of it all, and as the night wears on, we are a little more disheveled, and gradually move into the wee hours with an introspective sort of quietude with the effects of our .... evening, having their dulling ... effect....
    Interesting construction.
     
  23. Gabe Walters

    Gabe Walters Forum Resident

    I love "(Was I) In Your Dreams." According to wilcoworld.net, it's been played only 39 times total, and of those, only 15 since 2000. I happened to be at one of those shows: 2008-02-26, 9:30 Club, when "(Was I) In Your Dreams" was the opener. This was within a week of the five-night residency in Chicago where Wilco attempted to play every song in the catalog, so we were getting some very interesting setlists. The Total Pros were on stage with the band that night, and really add to the Allen Toussaint with The Band feel here. (Also check out the next song, the Mermaid Avenue track "Blood of th' Lamb," featuring clarinet solo throughout!) If you're looking for shows to check out on the Wilco Archive, this one and the next night, also at the 9:30, are highly recommended. They also played the song both nights at Tipitina's, the famous New Orleans club, on that tour; footage from each city is featured in the Ashes of American Flags DVD.
     
  24. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    Until we catch our second wind with Dreamer In My Dreams. :D (and collapse)
     
  25. planetexpress

    planetexpress Searchin' for light in the darkness of insanity.

    Location:
    Chicago
    This right here. I know we may be going at a snail's pace to some but it's been infinitely more entertaining doing a deeper analysis track by track. I don't have much to add to "(Was I) In Your Dreams" other than it's not terribly memorable to me. I think Jeff summed it up best after playing it live one night "Was I In Your Dreams? Yeah, Not So Much..."
     

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