Via Chicago

I dreamed about killing you again last night
And it felt alright to me
Dying on the banks of Embarcadero skies
I sat and watched you bleed
Buried you alive in a fireworks display
Raining down on me
Your cold, hot blood ran away from me
To the sea

I printed my name on the back of a leaf
And I watched it float away
The hope I had in a notebook full of white, dry pages
Was all I tried to save
But the wind blew me back via Chicago
In the middle of the night
And all without fight
At the crush of veils and starlight

I know I'll make it back
One of these days and turn on your TV
To watch a man with a face like mine
Being chased down a busy street
When he gets caught I won't get up
And I won't go to sleep
I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Via Chicago

Where the cups are cracked and hooked
Above the sink
They make me think
Crumbling ladder tears don't fall
They shine down your shoulders
Crawling is screw faster lash
I blow it with kisses
Rest my head on a pillowy star
And a cracked door moon
Says I haven't gone too far

I'm coming home
I'm coming home
I'm coming home
Via Chicago

I'm coming home
I'm coming home
I'm coming home

Searching for a home
Searching for a home
Searching for a home
Via Chicago

I'm coming home
I'm coming home
Instrumental credits: Jeff Tweedy – vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, synthesizers Jay Bennett – banjo, piano, organ, moog, tambourine John Stirratt – bass Ken Coomer – drums

Remember the Mountain Bed

Do you still sing of the mountain bed we made of
limbs and leaves: Do you still sigh there near the
sky where the holly berry bleeds: You laughed as I
covered you over with leaves, face, breast, hips
and thighs, You smiled when I said the leaves
were just the color of your eyes.

Rosin smells and turpentine smells from
eucalyptus and pine Bitter tastes of twigs we
chewed where tangled woodvines twine Trees held
us in on all four sides so thick we could not see I
could not see any wrong in you, and you saw none
in me.

Your arm was brown against the ground, your
cheeks part of the sky, As your fingers played with
grassy moss, and limber you did lie: Your stomach
moved beneath your shirt and your knees were in
the air Your feet played games with mountain
roots as you lay thinking there.

Below us the trees grew clumps of trees, raised
families of trees, and they As proud as we tossed
their heads in the wind and flung good seeds
away: The sun was hot and the sun was bright
down in the valley below Where people starved
and hungry for life so empty come and go.

There in the shade and hid from the sun we freed
our minds and learned Our greatest reason for
being here, our bodies moved and burned There
on our mountain bed of leaves we learned life's
reason why The People laugh and love and dream,
they fight, they hate to die.

The smell of your hair I know is still there, if most
of our leaves are blown, Our words still ring in the
brush and the trees where singing seeds are sown
Your shape and form is dim, but plain, there on
our mountain bed I see my life was brightest
where you laughed and laid you head...

I learned the reason why man must work and how
to dream big dreams, To conquer time and space
and fight the rivers and the seas I stand here filled
with my emptiness now and look at city and land
And I know why farms and cities are built by hot,
warm, nervous hands.

I crossed many states just to stand here now, my
face all hot with tears, I crossed city, and valley,
desert, and stream, to bring my body here: My
history and future blaze bright in me and all my joy
and pain Go through my head on our mountain
bed where I smell your hair again.

All this day long I linger here and on in through
the night My greeds, desires, my cravings, hopes,
my dreams inside me fight: My loneliness healed,
my emptiness filled, I walk above all pain Back to
the breast of my woman and child to scatter my
seeds again.

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. (BMI)/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing
Corp./Words-Ampersand Music (BMI)/You Want A Piece Of This Music (ASCAP),
administered by Bug Music

Words: Woody Guthrie 1944
Music: Jeff Tweedy/Jay Bennett 1999
Leroy Bach: piano
Jay Bennett: organ, nylon-string guitar, backing vocal
Ken Coomer: drums
John Stirratt: bass, backing vocal
Jeff Tweedy: vocal, 12-string acoustic guitar

Bombs Above

All my life

I’ve played a part

In the bombs above

The ones you love

I’m taking a moment to apologize

I should have done more

To stop the war

So I’m sorry

I leave behind

A trail of songs

From the darkest gloom

To the brightest sun

I’ve lost my way

But it’s hard to say

What I’ve been through

Should matter to you

A man so drunk

He could hardly stand

Told me once

Holding my hand

Suffering is the same

For everyone

He was right

But I was wrong

To agree

Ahh ahh ahh ahh

Ahh

Some Birds

Some birds

Just sit

Useless

Like fists

I wrestle

On TV

But no one ever

Let’s me win

I lean

On the wall

Like a broom

Confused

By the scope

Of it all

Any fool

Can tell the truth

And though I don’t

Think that I should

Add one

To the sum

Of all that you fear

I’d love to take you down

And leave you there

In my window

I have a twin

I look out

He looks in

He has a point

I applaud

Oh my goodness

Oh my god

Is it my fault

The countrysides

Are so full

Of suicide?

I break bricks

With my heart

But only a fool

Would call it art.

No I don’t

Think I should

Be one

Of the sum

Of all that you fear

I’d love to take you down

And leave you there

So why fuss

Why not bend

Like a nail

Hammered in

Times are tough

If I recall

Oh it ain’t easy

No not at all

And no I don’t

Think I should

Complete

The sum

Of all the you fear

I’d love to take you down

And leave you there

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)
   

Sick Server

When I left my home

I moved down the street

I never went back there

Unless I needed to eat

Or someplace quiet

When I couldn’t sleep

Now I never go back there

Except when I dream

Oh I never went far

From the people I love

I live in the spaces

Underneath and above

Time passes slow

Before it goes too fast

Dream with me darling

Now the moment has passed

I called from overseas

And I called from the Midwest

I’d call from New York City

And you’d say “get some rest”

I always played your song

Every time you would ask

Dream with me darling

Now the moment has passed

Dream with me darling

Now the moment has passed

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

Ashes of American Flags

The cash machine
Is blue and green
For a hundred in twenties
And a small service fee
I could spend three dollars
And sixty-three cents
On diet coca-cola
And unlit cigarettes

I wonder why
We listen to poets
When nobody gives a fuck
How hot and sorrowful
This machine begs for luck
All my lies are always wishes

I know I would die
If I could come back new

I want a good life
With a nose for things
A fresh wind and bright sky
To enjoy my suffering
A hole without a key
If I break my tongue
Speaking of tomorrow
How will it ever come
All my lies are always wishes

I know I would die
If I could come back new

I'm down on my hands and knees
Every time the doorbell rings
I shake like a toothache
When I hear myself sing
All my lies are only wishes

I know I would die
If I could come back new

I would like to salute
The ashes of American flags
And all the falling leaves
Filling up shopping bags

 

Bull Black Nova

It’s in my hair
It’s on my clothes
It’s in the river over the road
It’s shining down, my angry star
Hanging on the hood of my car

I’m not going far
I’m not going far

It’s coming down
They’re coming up the shoulders
What have they found?
I wonder if they know
I’m in a bull black Chevy Nova
Silhouetted by the setting sun

This can’t be undone
This can’t be undone

If I’m the one with blood on my sofa
Blood in the sink, blood in the trunk
High at the wheel of a bull black Nova
Then I’m sorry as the setting sun

This can’t be undone
Can’t be outrun

It’s in my head
There’s blood in the sink
I can’t calm down
I can’t think
I keep calling there’s blood in the trunk
I can’t calm down

Pick up
Pick up

Having Been Is No Way To Be

Oh I was naive

My shoes were untied

In heaven everything is just fine

But the phones are dead

And so is the light

And so are you

And honey so am I

But the earth still turns

For the unconcerned

Days pass below like train windows

I was a sapling tree

The birds looked like me

So I begged my nerves to kick me something new

From time to time

I’d watch you sleep

I wonder how much freedom we can dream

And I’m sorry when you wake up to me

I just got tired

Shining steady like a spider web

Is an empty stage

Now people say

“What drugs did you take?”

And “Why don’t you start taking them again?”

What difference would it ever make to them

But they’re not my friends

And if I was dead

What difference would it ever make to them

If I got high

From time to time

I wonder how much freedom you would need

And I’d be sorry when you wake to me

I’m reaching out to you

I’m writing all the time

I don’t see deep but I see far and wide

I see dead trees

But the roots have leaves

Just because I can’t describe it doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try

To untwist the knife

To unmake my mind

Having been is no way to be alive

And I’m alive

When I watch you sleep

I wonder how much freedom we need

And I’m here

When you wake up to me

I’m still here

When you wake up to me

 

Hummingbird

his goal in life was to be an echo
riding alone, town after town, toll after toll
a fixed bayonet through the great southwest
to forget her

she appears
in his dreams
but in his car, and in his arms
a dream could mean anything
a cheap sunset on a television set could upset her
but he never could

remember to remember me
standing still in your past
floating fast like a hummingbird

his goal in life was to be an echo
the type of sound that floats around
and then back down like a feather
but in the deep chrome canyons of the loudest Manhattans
no one could hear him
or anything

so he slept, on a mountain
in a sleeping bag underneath the stars,
he would lie awake and count them
but the great fountain spray of the great Milky Way
would never let him
die alone

remember to remember me
standing still in your past
floating fast like a hummingbird
remember to remember me
standing still in your past
floating fast like a hummingbird
a hummingbird
a hummingbird

Instrumental Credits

Jeff Tweedy Vocals
John Stirratt Electric Rhythm Guitar & Background Vocals
Glenn Kotche Drums
Mikael Jorgensen Piano
Jim O'Rourke Bass & Electric Lead Guitar
Frankie Montouro Hammer Dulcimer
Karen Waltuch Viola

The Ruling Class

He resurfaced on the sidewalk on my block the other day
Yeah it's a fact, check it sorry charlie honey he's back from LA
So son you better turn it around, yeah Christ is on his way across town
He was gettin' tired of hangin' around
Yeah he's back jack, smokin' crack, find him if you wanna get found
he's having supper with the upper management of a new regime
He's in a new jacket, tax bracket, sandals and a dark pair of jeans
He's got deductions right on down the line
Dependent claims on all of my mankind
Have no fear he's right here drinking beer just trying to get down
he resurfaced on the sidewalk on my block the other day
Yeah it's a fact, check it--sorry charlie honey he's back from the grave
You better turn your frown upside down, yeah Christ is on his way across town
He was gettin' tired of hangin' around
Yeah he's back jack, shootin' smack, find him if you wanna get down
Yeah he's back jack, smokin' crack, find him if you wanna get found

Guaranteed

We've been through A lot Me and you Hospitals and bars I know how it hurts I'm a piece of work And you're no walk in the park Oh that's a good place to start When things go wrong Our love gets stronger A normal heart is a shopping cart Left by the side of the road Maybe I'm naive Is it up to me Whether I'm alive or alone? Oh I'd love to know How things go wrong Love gets stronger each day Things go wrong And our love is stronger that way Tragedy is guaranteed Things go wrong We think we can't go on Nothing can break you and me Oh oh oh I'm lucky I'm not alone Oh I don't need to know Why things go wrong Our love gets stronger that way Don't let your pain go to waste      

Heavy Metal Drummer

I sincerely miss
Those heavy metal bands
I used to go see
On the landing in the summer
She fell in love with the drummer
She fell in love with the drummer
She fell in love

Shiny shiny pants
Bleached blond hair
A double kick drum
By the river in the summer
she fell in love with the drummer
another
then another
she fell in love

I miss the innocence I've known
Playing Kiss covers
Beautiful and stoned

Unlock my body
And move myself to dance
Into warm liquid
flowing blowing glass
classical music blasting
masks the ringing in my ears

Oh I sincerely miss
Those heavy metal bands
I used to go see
On the landing in the summer
She fell in love with the drummer
She fell in love with another
She fell in love

I miss the innocence I've known
Playing Kiss covers
Beautiful and stoned

I miss the innocence I've known
Playing Kiss covers
Beautiful and stoned

Playing Kiss covers
Beautiful and stoned

Playing Kiss covers
Beautiful and stoned

 

Jesus, Etc.

Jesus, don't cry
You can rely on me honey
You can combine anything you want
I'll be around
You were right about the stars
Each one is a setting sun

Tall buildings shake
Voices escape singing sad sad songs
Tuned to chords strung down your cheeks
Bitter melodies turning your orbit around

Don't cry
You can rely on me honey
You can come by any time you want
I'll be around
You were right about the stars
Each one is a setting sun

Tall buildings shake
Voices escape singing sad sad songs
Tuned to chords strung down your cheeks
Bitter melodies turning your orbit around

Voices whine
Skyscrapers are scraping together
Your voice is smoking
Last cigarettes are all you can get
Turning your orbit around

Our love
Our love
Our love is all we have
Our love
Our love is all of God's money
Everyone is a burning sun

Tall buildings shake
Voices escape singing sad sad songs
Tuned to chords strung down your cheeks
Bitter melodies turning your orbit around

Voices whine
Skyscrapers are scraping together
Your voice is smoking
Last cigarettes are all you can get
Turning your orbit around

Last cigarettes are all you can get
Turning your orbit around

Last cigarettes are all you can get
Turning your orbit around

Let's Go Rain

Oh I’ve heard about Noah’s flood
Washed away a world of sin
Some say destruction is an act of love
And think it should happen again
Let’s go rain
Let's go rain
Again
Let’s go rain
Let's go rain
Again
Once upon a time I was a Christian
I didn’t know I didn’t need to know
Now when the sky speaks I’m going to listen
And when it’s pissing I’ll just figure I’m alone
Let’s go rain
Let's go rain
Again
Let’s go rain
Let's go rain
Again
Oh I should
Build a wooden ark
Wouldn’t you rather live
On an ocean of guitars
Aw c’mon rain
Let’s go rain
Again
Let’s go rain
Let's go rain
Again
Oooooh oooh ooh
Aah aah aaah
Maybe you’re not a believer
Or maybe you don’t have a choice
Or maybe it’s a fever that you haven’t caught yet
‘Cause you haven’t met
Scott McCaughey
Let’s go rain
Let's go rain
Again
Still no rain
Let’s go rain
Again

I Know What It's Like

Far away

From the fireworks display

Quiet and bright

I know what it’s like x 3

To not feel love

When a sunny day

Starts to rain

Keep me in mind

I know what it’s like x 3

Even when I’m wide awake

I keep turning back one page

I can’t find the plot

Something else is taking shape

I know what it’s like

To keep losing your place

My shadow stays

Even when I’m miles away

Waiting outside

I know what it’s like x 3

To not feel pain

When the lights are dim

In my window I have a twin

I’m always looking out

And he’s always looking in

I know what it’s like

Starting over again

I know what it’s like x 2

To not feel love

Far away

From the fireworks display

Quiet and bright

I know what it’s like x 3

To not feel love

Even when it’s years away

I still think it’s yesterday

I can’t find the plot

Something else is taking shape

I know it’s a lie

When you say it’s ok

I know what it’s like x 9

To not feel love

I know what it’s like

To not feel love

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

 

Passenger Side

Hey, wake up
Your eyes weren't open wide
For the last couple of miles
You've been swerving from side to side
You're gonna make me spill my beer
If you don't learn how to steer

Passenger side
Passenger side
I don't like riding
On the passenger side

Roll another number for the road
You're the only sober person I know
Won't you let me make you a deal
Just get behind the wheel

Passenger side
Passenger side
I don't like riding
On the passenger side

Should've been the driver
Could've been the one
I should've been your lover
But I hadn't seen

Can you take me to the store, and then the bank?
I've got five dollars we can put in the tank
I've got a court date coming this June
I'll be driving soon

Passenger side
Passenger side
I don't like riding
On the passenger side
I don't like riding
On the passenger side

Instrumental credits:
Jeff Tweedy – vocals, acoustic guitar
John Stirratt – bass
Max Johnston – mandolin, fiddle
Ken Coomer – drums
Brian Henneman – small stoned guitar

Family Ghost

I’m a dope

Blowing smoke at a tv screen

I’ve lost all hope

Based on the things I’ve seen

I’m a man content

For the sake of argument

But underneath each added straw

I feel so american

Spray paint me gold

Pull my face up to the blinds

I’m a family ghost

You’ll never leave behind

I wanna exist

Where the misfit fits

I want to have some purpose

I believe what she believes

I believe my children

When the lights go off

There’s no applause

Condescending to the hideous thought

Imprisoned in my lonely skin

I feel so american

Spray paint me gold

Pull my face up to the blinds

I’m a family ghost

You’ll never leave behind

Time will tell this story again

Different clothes than they wore back then

Digging holes and filling them in

I feel so american

Spray paint me gold

Pull my face up to the blinds

I’m a family ghost

You’ll never leave behind

Don't Forget

Don’t forget

Don’t forget you’ve got a key

Yeah a cosmic key

Oh I love you so much

Don’t forget

We’re all blowing in

The interstellar wind

I’m your little galaxy

Don’t forget

Don’t forget sometimes

We all

We all think about dying

Don’t let it kill you

Don’t forget

I won’t forget the long drive

We arrived in time to say goodbye

And the way my roses shook

I won’t overlook

The willows bending by the graves

The very next day in the shade

Sweating in a new suit

I don’t regret

I don’t regret sometimes

We all

We all think about dying

Don’t let it kill you

Don’t forget

Don’t forget to brush your teeth

Or you’ll have a funny smile

You don’t have to smile at me

Don’t forget

Don’t forget sometimes

We all

We all think about dying

Don’t let it kill you

Don’t forget

Don’t forget sometimes

We all

We all think about dying

Oh

Misunderstood

When you're back in your old neighborhood
The cigarettes taste so good
But you're so misunderstood
You're so misunderstood

There's something there that you can't find
You look honest when you're telling a lie
You hurt her but you don't know why
You love her but you don't know why

Short on long term goals
There's a party there that we ought to go to
If you still love rock and roll
If you still love rock and roll?

It's only a quarter to three
Reflecting off of your CD
You're looking at a picture of me
You're staring at a picture of me

Take the guitar player for a ride
'Cause he ain't never been satisfied
He thinks he owes some kind of debt
It'll be years before he gets over it

There's a fortune inside your head
When all you touch turns to lead
You think you might just crawl back in bed
With a fortune inside your head

I know you're just a mama's boy
You're positively unemployed
So misunderstood
So misunderstood

I know you've got a god-shaped hole
You're bleeding out your heart full of soul
You're so misunderstood
You're so misunderstood
You're so misunderstood
You're so misunderstood

I'd like to thank you all for nothing
I'd like to thank you all for nothing at all
I'd like to thank you all for nothing
Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing at all
Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing at all

Acuff-Rose (Uncle Tupelo)

Early in the morning,
Sometimes late at night
Sometimes I get the feeling
That everything's alright
Early in the evening,
Sometimes in the day
Sometimes I get the feeling
Everything's okay
Because everything
Cuts against the tide
When you're by my side
Name me a song
That everybody knows
And I'll bet you it belongs
To Acuff-Rose
Children in the playground,
The folks in the home
Anybody anywhere
Who's ever been alone
'Cause everything
Cuts against the tide
When I hear that sound