Video: Wilco – “Tired of Taking It Out On You”
From Cruel Country, out May 27 on dBpm.
Again, not country. But that’s okay. It’s another well-crafted Wilco song.
I crave crazy times again
Our nights, our nights
Would never end.
I appreciate skronk and noize as much as the next guy, I suppose, but my favorite Wilco has always been the pretty stuff. I like to see what a band can do within the confines of a traditional pop song structure. Every once in a while a band can do something interesting with a 12-minute jam or an extended freakout — “Cowgirl in the Sand” and “Sister Ray” come to mind — but most of the time it just comes off as wanky or lazy. I prefer songwriters to get to the point. Work harder on your craft and refine it into something good. Edit.
I get that bands like to “stretch out” or whatever and that’s fine. Do what you like. But I’m happy that Wilco is promising to release a whole (double!) album full of what appears to be acoustic pop songs. That’s my jam. If this is what Tweedy thinks of as “country” that’s fine. Tomato, tomahto.
Jake,
Well said. I certainly agree with you about refining one’s craft and the idea of 12-minute jams/extended freakouts too, to a certain degree. But there is something to be said for space in-between the notes. Some of my favorite songs aren’t really more than 4 or 5 minutes, but they have this great space between notes that just excel. And it helps showcase their talents beyond songwriting. My main reason for writing though is to take umbrage at the idea of editing. As a songwriter, I can attest to the perils of editing.
Now, some, in the moment editing, is not a bad thing. But when you edit and edit you sometimes end up with nothing left that you started out with. Like pruning bushes. You don’t want to lose the whole bush and be bare. For me, when I over-edit my writing the song ends up suffering for it. I have learned to put my pencil down, per se, when I’m at the save stage. But then again, I have that amazing improvisational skill of writing lyrics. They just come out of me fully formed. Most of the time.
I have been doing this for over 30 years now. And only just here in the last few years have I learned to write better. I also learned to soak in my surroundings & influences without the writing sounding so obviously influenced or “slightly” plagiarized. After losing my fiance died it took a while, but I finally opened up and found the real writer in me. Now I can’t shut it off. But here’s another tome. Sorry for the long piece again. Thanks for reading who ever you are.