Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Ampitheater

One By One

One by one the teardrops fall as I write you
One by one my words come falling on the page
One by one my dreams are fading in the twilight
One by one my schemes are fading fast away

One by one the flowers fade here in my garden
One by one the leaves are falling from the trees
One by one my hopes are vanished in the clouds clear
One by one like snowflakes melting in the breeze

One by one my hair is turning gray
One by one my dreams are fading fast away
One by one I read your letters over
One by one I lay them all away

One by one the days are slipping up behind you
One by one the sweetest days of life go by
One by one the moments stealing up behind you
One by one she'll come and find not you or I

One by one I hear the soft words that you whispered
One by one I feel your kisses soft and sweet
One by one I hope you'll say the words to marry
One by one to one by one forever be

Words: Woody Guthrie 1939
Music: Jeff Tweedy 1997
Jay Bennett: piano, organ
Ken Coomer: drums
Bog Egan: pedal steel
John Stirratt: electric bass
Jeff Tweedy: acoustic guitar, vocal

New Madrid [Uncle Tupelo]

All my daydreams are disasters
She's the one I think I love
Rivers burn and then run backwards
For her, that's enough

They all come from New York City
And they woke me up at dawn
She walked with me to the fountain
And she held onto my arm

Come on, do what you did
Roll me under New Madrid
Shake my baby and please bring her back
'Cause death won't even be still
Caroms over the landfill
Buries us all in its broken back

There's a man of conviction
And although he's getting old
Mr. Browning has a prediction
And we've all been told

So come on back from New York City
Roll your trucks in at dawn
Walk with me to the fountain
And hold onto my arm

Come on, do what you did
Roll me under New Madrid
Shake my baby and please bring her back
'Cause death won't even be still
Caroms over the landfill
Buries us all in its broken back

originally appears on Anodyne / Uncle Tupelo written by Jeff Tweedy

I Am Trying to Break Your Heart

I am an American aquarium drinker
I assassin down the avenue
I'm hiding out in the big city blinking
What was I thinking when I let go of you

Let's forget about the tongue-tied lightning
Let's undress just like cross-eyed strangers
This is not a joke so please stop smiling
What was I thinking when I said it didn't hurt

I want to glide through those brown eyes dreaming
Take you from the inside (baby) hold on tight
You were so right when you said I've been drinking
What was I thinking when we said good night

I want to hold you in the bible black predawn
You're quite a quiet domino bury me now
Take off your band aid cuz I don't believe in touchdowns
What was I thinking when we said hello

I always thought that if I held you tightly
You would always love me like you did back then
Then I fell asleep in the city kept blinking
What was I thinking when I let you back in

I am trying to break your heart
I am trying to break your heart
But still I'd be lying if I said it wasn't easy
I am trying to break your heart

Disposable Dixie cup drinker
I assassin down the avenue
I've been hiding out in the big city blinking
What was I thinking when I let go of you

(I'm the man who loves you)
   

She's a Jar

She's a jar With a heavy lid My pop quiz kid A sleepy kisser A pretty war With feelings hid She begs me not to miss her

She says forever To light a fuse We could use A hand full of wheel And a day off On a bruised road However you might feel Tonight is real

When I forget how to talk I sing Won't you please Bring that flash to shine And turn my eyes red Unless they close When you click And my face gets sick Stuck Like a question unposed

Just climb aboard The tracks of a train's arm In my fragile family tree And watch me floating inches above The people underneath

Please beware the quiet front yard I warned you Before there were water skies I warned you not to drive Dry your eyes you poor devil

Are there really ones like these The ones I dream Float like leaves And freeze to spread skeleton wings I passed through before I knew you

I believe it's just because Daddy's payday is not enough Oh I believe it's all because Daddy's payday is not enough

Just climb aboard The tracks of a train's arm In my fragile family tree And watch me floating inches above The people under me

She's a jar With a heavy lid My pop quiz kid A sleepy kisser A pretty war With feelings hid You know she begs me not to hit her

Instrumental credits: Jeff Tweedy – vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica, backing vocals Jay Bennett – electric guitar, keyboards, tambourine, backing vocals John Stirratt – bass Ken Coomer – drums

Company In My Back

I attack with love, pure bug beauty, curl my lips and crawl up to you I attack with love, pure bug beauty, curl my lips and crawl up to you And your afternoon And I’ve been puking I move so slow, steady crushing hand; holy shit! there’s a company in my back I move so slow, steady crushing hand; holy shit! there’s a company in my back Hide your soft skin; your sorrow is sunshine; listen to my eyes Hide your soft skin; your sorrow is sunshine; listen to my eyes They are hissing radiator tunes I move so slow, steady crushing hand; holy shit! there’s a company in my back I move so slow, steady crushing hand; holy shit! there’s a company in my back You learn so slow, old radiant beauty; I’ll curve my flight You learn so slow, old radiant beauty; I’ll curve my flight Under your bended knee And I will always die I will always die I will always die, so you can remember me I move so slow, steady crushing hand; holy shit! there’s a company in my back I move so slow, steady crushing hand; holy shit! there’s a company in my back There’s a company in my back Instrumental Credits Jeff Tweedy  Vocals, Acoustic Guitar John Stirratt  Bass Glenn Kotche  Drums, Hammer Dulcimer & Percussion Leroy Bach  Piano & Korg CX-3 Organ Mikael Jorgensen  Fenix Modular Synthesizer & Stylophone Jim O'Rourke  Acoustic Guitar

We've Been Had (Uncle Tupelo)

We’ve Been Had

There's a guitar leaning on a Marshall stack
Used to sound like the sun on the horizon
Now I think we've been had

There's a young girl screaming all the way in the back
Poor kid, she never saw it coming
Now she knows she's been had

Watching labels spinnin' on my turntable
There's no call waitin' in my headphones
And every star that shines in the back of my mind
Is just waiting for its cover to be blown

There's an eardrum bleeding, yeah, it's in my head
Could I still be so in love when I know
We've been had?

Republicans, Democrats can't give you the facts
Your parents won't tell you 'til you're grown
That every star that shines in the back of your mind
Is just waiting for its cover to be blown

Flashing your badges, just like the law of averages
Nobody likes 'em where they're from
And every star that hides on the back of the bus
Is just waiting for its cover to be blown

written by Jay Farrar originally appeared on Anodyne/ Uncle Tupelo

I'm the Man Who Loves You

All I can see
Is black and white
And white and pink
With blades of blue
That lay between
The words I think
On a page
I was meaning
To send to you
I couldn't tell
If it would
Bring my heart
The way I wanted
When I started
Writing this letter to you

But if I could
You know I would
Just hold your hand
And you'd understand
I'm the man who loves you

All I can be
Is a busy sea
Of spinning wheels
And hands that feel
For stones to throw
And feet that run
But come back home
It makes no difference
Ever known
Makes no difference
Ever known to me

But if I could
You know I would
Just hold your hand
And you'd understand
I'm the man who loves you

All I can see
Is black and white
And white and pink
With blades of blue
That lay between
The words I think
On a page
I was meaning
To send to you
I couldn't tell
If it would
Bring my heart
The way I wanted
When I started
Writing this letter to you

If I could
You know I would
Just hold your hand
And you'd understand
I'm the man who loves you

If I could
You know I would
Just hold your hand
And you'd understand
I'm the man who loves you

If I could
You know I would
Just hold your hand
And you'd understand
I'm the man who loves you

I'm the man who loves you

I'm the man who loves you

I'm the man who loves you

 

Christ for President

Let's have Christ our president.
Let us have him for our king.
Cast your vote for the carpenter
that you call the Nazarene.

The only way we can ever beat
these crooked politician men
Is to run the money changers out of the temple
And put the Carpenter in

O It's Jesus Christ our president
God above our king
With a job and pension for young and old
We will make hallelujah ring

Every year we waste enough
to feed the ones who starve
We build our civilization up
and we shoot it down with wars

But with the Carpenter on the seat
away up in the capitol town
The USA would be on the way prosperity bound!
Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc./Warner-Tamerlane Publishing
Corp./Words-Ampersand Music [BMI]/Titanic Majesties Music [ASCAP]

Words: Woody Guthrie [no date]
Music: Jeff Tweedy/Jay Bennett 1997
Jay Bennett: banjo, piano, clavinet
Billy Bragg: National guitar
Ken Coomer: drums and percussion
John Stirratt: acoustic bass, bass pedals
Jeff Tweedy: acoustic guitar, vocal