Less Than You Think
Your minds a machine
It’s deadly and dull
It’s never been still and it’s will has never been free
Lightly tapping
A high-pitched drum
And as your spine starts to shine
You shiver at your soul
A fist so clear and climbing
Punches a hole in the sky
So you can see for yourself
If you don’t believe me
There’s so much less to this than you think
It’s almost gone
The night is dissolving
In a cup god lifts to toast the lightning
Lightly tapping
It’s high pitched and it hums
Your spine starts to shine
And you shiver at your soul
A fist so clear and climbing
Punches a hole in the sky
So you can see for yourself
If you don’t believe me
There’s so much less to this than you think
Instrumental Credits
Jeff Tweedy Vocals, 6 String Acoustic Bass, Loops, Filters & Synths
John Stirratt Acoustic Guitar, Loops, Filters & Synths
Glenn Kotche Drums, Hammer Dulcimer, Loops, Filters & Synths
Leroy Bach Acoustic Guitar, Loops, Filters & Synths
Mikael Jorgensen Serge Modular Synthesizer
Jim O'Rourke Loops, Filters & Synths
Art of Almost
No!
I froze
I can’t be so
Far away from my wasteland
I never know when I might
Ambulance
Hoist the horns with my own hands
Almost
Almost
I heard a faint olé
True love but
I had other ways to hurt myself
Like calling
I could open up my heart
And fall in and
I could blame it all on dust
The Art of Almost
Almost
Almost
Almost
I’ll hold it up
I’ll shake the grail
Disobey across the waves
Tomorrow
I’ll have all the love I could ever ache
And I’ll leave almost with you
All of almost
Almost
Art of almost
Almost
Art of almost
Almost
I Might
Was I wrong
Off all night long
So high
As the stinking sun
I came alive
Then I felt
Oh Uh Oh
Some guys
Have everything I know
It’s alright
I’ve done a lot of
Crawling around outside
And I heard
It’s alright
Your sno-cone
And it’s piss and blood
It’s in the cards
(oh, oh)
Get well soon
EVERYBODY!
Do all lies
Have a taste?
Let it go
I don’t know oh
A cow’s neck
Bad shave
In the low blow slo-mo
It’s alright
You won’t set the kids on fire
Oh but I might
H0
You come on
Sentimental
If the
Solar car’s coming
I’m home
The Magna Carta’s
On a Slim Jim blood
Brutha!
The sunk soul
With the coal clean toe
Is the mutha!
Yea that’s right
When you gonna find out
I’m all inside
You still might
It’s all right
It’s all right
It’s alright
You won’t set the kids on fire
Oh but I might
Ho ho
It’s all right
It’s all right
Black Moon
I was always right
About the morning
Ok, I’m an old shoe
Danced above the blades
Never stopped crawling
Over the black dunes
And I’m waiting
For you
Waiting forever
Are you awake now too?
I am always one
Without a warning
Whole days
Reappear
Lift away
Past the gate
Desert keeps forming
Underneath the black moon
And I’m waiting
For you
Waiting forever
Are you awake now too?
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
Side with the Seeds
Tires type black
Where the blacktop cracks
Weeds spark through
Dark green enough to be blue
When the mysteries we believe in
Aren’t dreamed enough to be true
Some side with the leaves
Some side with the seeds
The treetops nod
The rain applauds
The park grows dark
And the swings all slowly die
But you and I will be undefeated
By agreeing to disagree
No one wins but the thieves
So why side with anything
The streetlights glow
Comes and goes
When the sun comes back
As we all can plainly see
Embracing the situation
Is our only chance to be free
I’ll side with you
If you side with me
Written by Jeff Tweedy and Mikael Jorgensen
Instrumental Credits
Jeff Tweedy – vocals, electric guitar
John Stirratt – bass
Glenn Kotche – drums
Mikael Jorgensen – piano
Nels Cline – lead electric gutiar
Pat Sansone – Hammond A100 organ, Mellotron
Red-Eyed and Blue
We've got solid-state technology
Tapes on the floor
Some songs we can't afford to play
When we came here today
All I wanted to say
Is how much I miss you
Alcohol and cotton balls
And some drugs
We can’t afford on the way
When we came here today
We all felt something true
Now I'm red-eyed and blue
I Got You (At the End of the Century)
I got you and that's all I need
I got you and that's all I need
I got you and that's all I need
I got you
I got you and I still believe
That you are all I will ever need
It's you, oh
All the way back in the seventies
You were my little TV queen
Tarzan and your friend Janine
I got you
I got you and I still believe
That you are all I will ever need
It's you, oh
It's the end of the century
And I can't think of anything
Except you
It's the end of the century
And I can't think of anything
But you, oh
All, I, need
I got you
I got you, babe
I got you
You
You, ooh ooh
I got you
I got you
Oooh
I got you
Born Alone
I have heard the war and worry of the gospel
Ferried fast across the void
I have married broken spoke charging smoke wheels
Spit and swallowed opioid
I am the driver at the wheel of the horror
Marching circles at the gate
Mine eyes have seen
The fury so flattered by fate
Tonight I’d rather count the warm fuse internally
Subtract the silence of myself
I would rather choose the middle mind of mystery
Reverse a riddle for my health
I’ll unwind strange rinds overpowering
Toss the chimneys in the sea
I believe I’ve seen
The finger divine extremity
Please come closer to the feather smooth lens fly
Sadness is my luxury
Will you weather, join the cold, come before I die
More aware of it than me
The valves are blowing stone
The kids are unabashed
Loneliness postponed
Mine eyes deceiving glory
I was born to die alone
Alone
Alone
You Are My Face
I remember my mother’s
Sister’s husband’s brother
Working in the goldmine full-time
Filling in for sunshine
Filing into tight lines
Of ordinary beehives
The door screams I hate you
Hate you hanging around my blue jeans
Why is there no breeze
No currency of leaves
No current through the water wire
No feelings I can see
I trust no emotion
I believe in locomotion
But I've turned to rust as we've discussed
Though I must have let you down
Too many times
In the dirt and the dust
I have no idea how this happens
All of my maps have been overthrown
Happenstance has changed my plans
So many times my heart has been outgrown
Now everybody’s feeling all alone
Can’t tell you who I am
When everybody’s feeling all alone
Can’t tell you who I am
I am looking forward
Toward the shadows tracing bones
Our faces stitched and sewing
Our houses hemmed into homes
Trying to be thankful
Our stories fit into phones
And our voices lift so easily
A gift given accidentally
When we’re not sure
We’re not alone
Written by Jeff Tweedy and Nels Cline
Instrumental Credits
Jeff Tweedy – vocals, electric guitar
John Stirratt – vocals, bass
Glenn Kotche – drums
Mikael Jorgensen – piano
Nels Cline – lead electric 12-string
Pat Sansone – vocals, acoustic guitar, Hammond A100 organ
Jim O’Rourke – feedback Open Mind
I would throw myself underneath
The wheels of any train of thought
Running off the rails or sail you through
The rogue waves of your brain
If I could bring a light to shine
Upon the dark and disobey
The night so young
But I still say we’re too old
For clichés
Oh I can only dream of the dreams we’d share
If you were so inclined
I would love to be the one to open up your mind
I could base my whole existence
Upon the cherry strands of your gold hair
I would ask almost insist upon
Treating you kind and fair
Oh I can only dream of the dreams we’d have
How our hearts would be entwined
If you would let me be the one to open up your mind
I’ll still be myself beneath
The banks unbroken beside the stream
Ready to return your thoughts unlearned
So it goes
So it seems
Oh I can only dream of the dreams we’d share
If you weren’t so defined
I would love to be the one to open up your mind
If you would let me be the one to open up your mind
Kamera
I need a camera to my eye
To my eye reminding
Which lies have I been hiding
Which echoes belong
I've counted out days
To see how far
I've driven in the dark
With echoes in my heart
Phone my family tell them I'm lost on the
Sidewalk
No it's not O.K.
I smashed a camera
I wanna know why
To my eye deciding
Which lies have I been hiding
Which echoes belong
I'm counting on
A heart I know by heart
To walk me through this war
Memories distort
Phone my family tell them I'm lost on the sidewalk
No it's not o.k.
I'm counted out
And no one knows how far (tell them I'm lost)
I've driven in the dark (tell them I'm lost)
With echoes in my heart (tell them I'm lost)
Phone my family tell them I’m lost
(yeah I’m lost)
No it's not O.K.
No it's not O.K.
No it's not O.K.
I Must Be High
You
Always wanted more time
To do
What you always wanted to do
Now you got it
And I, I must be high
To say goodbye
Bye bye bye
You
Never said you needed this
Now you're pissed that you missed
The very last kiss
From my lips
And I, I must be high
To say goodbye
Bye bye bye
You
Never looked in my eyes
Long enough to find
Any piece of mind
But now you got it
And I, I must be high
To let you say goodbye
I must be high
Bye bye bye
Bye bye bye
Instrumental credits:
Jeff Tweedy – vocals, guitar
John Stirratt – bass
Max Johnston – dobro
Ken Coomer – drums
Brian Henneman – guitar
Lloyd Maines – pedal steel guitar
I'm Always In Love
Why, I wonder is my heart full of holes
And the feeling goes but my hair keeps growing
Will I set the sun
On a big-wheeled wagon
Well I'm bragging
I'm always in love
When I let go of your throat, sweet throttle
When I clean the lash of your black-belt model
Will I catch the moon
Like a bird in a cage
It's for you I swoon
I'm always in love
I don't get the connection
If this is only a test
I hope I do my best
You know I won't forget
When I fold the cold in my jet-lag palm
When I soak so long I forget my mother
Will I set the sun
On a big-wheeled wagon
Well I'm bragging
I'm always in love
It's a drag I snag
Well I'm always in love
Well I'm worried
I'm always in love
I'm worried
I'm worried
I'm worried
I'm always in love
I'm worried
I'm worried
I'm worried
I'm always in love
I'm worried
I'm worried
I'm worried
I'm always in love
I'm worried
I'm worried
I'm worried
I'm always in love
Instrumental credits:
Jeff Tweedy – vocals, baritone guitar
Jay Bennett – bass, piano, keyboards, drums, backing vocals
John Stirratt – piano, backing vocals
Ken Coomer – drums
Capitol City
Capitol city skyline photo
Skyscraper shines the sun so
Low in the sky
Secretaries at the hotdog vendors
Cabs honk at the bicycle messengers
Rolling by
I can’t call with a subway token
Anyway the phones are all broken
I wish you were here
Better yet I wish I was there with you
You wouldn’t like it here
You should stay right there
Breathe in that country air
You wouldn’t like it here
Capitol towers radiator steam vents
Scream along with the clarinets and arguments
Echo down the hall
I can’t sleep, I can’t wake up
I’m shaken up maybe we should break up
I wish you were here
Better yet I wish I was there with you
You wouldn’t like it here
You should stay right there
Breathe in that country air
You wouldn’t like it here
Capitol city skyline photo
Picture postcard signed the moon so
Low in the sky
I can’t smile when my hearts still broken
Faraway, in love and unspoken
I wish you were here
Or I was there with you
Handshake Drugs
I was chewing gum
For something to do
The blinds were being pulled
Down on the dew
Inside out of love
What a laugh I was looking for you
The saxophones
Started blowing me down
I was buried in sound
And the taxi cabs were driving me around
To the handshake drugs I bought downtown
To the handshake drugs I bought downtown
They were translating poorly
I felt like a clown
I looked like someone I used to know
I felt alright
And if I ever was myself
I wasn’t that night
Oh it’s ok for you to say what you want from me
I believe that’s the only way for me to be
Exactly what you want me to be
Oh it’s ok for you to say what you want from me
I believe that’s the only way for me to be
Exactly what you want me to be
I was chewing gum
For something to do
The blinds were being pulled
Down on the dew
Inside out of love
What a laugh I was looking for you
The saxophones
Started blowing me down
I was buried in sound
And the taxi cabs were driving me around
To the handshake drugs I bought downtown
To the handshake drugs I bought downtown
Oh it’s ok for you to say what you want from me
I believe that’s the only way for me to be
Exactly what you want me to be
Exactly what do you want me to be
Instrumental Credits
Jeff Tweedy Vocals, Electric & Acoustic Guitar
John Stirratt Bass & Background Vocals
Glenn Kotche Drums
Leroy Bach Piano
Mikael Jorgensen RMI Rock-si-chord
Jim O'Rourke Electric Rhythm Guitar
Tim Barnes Percussion
Can't Stand It
The way things go
You get so low
Struggle to find your skin
Well hey ho
Look out below
Your prayers will never be answered again
Phones still ring
And singers sing
Speakers are speaking in code
What now
Well anyhow
Our prayers will never be answered again
You know it's all beginning (it’s all beginning)
To feel like it's ending (feels like it’s ending)
No love's as random
As God's love
I can't stand it
I can’t stand it
The way things get
You get so high
Funny how we make new friends
Well hey ho
I gotta go
My prayers will never be answered again
You know it's all beginning (it’s all beginning)
To feel like it's ending (feels like it’s ending)
No love's as random
As God's love
I can’t stand it
I can't stand it
Speakers speaking
Speakers speaking
Speaking in code
Speakers speaking
Speakers speaking
Speaking in code
You know it's all beginning (it’s all beginning)
To feel like pretending (feel like pretending)
No love's as random
As my love
I can’t stand it
I can't stand it
Your prayers will never be answered again
Your prayers will never be answered again
Your prayers will never be answered again
Your prayers will never be answered again
Instrumental credits:
Jeff Tweedy – vocals, electric guitar, backing vocals
Jay Bennett – piano, keyboards
John Stirratt – bass
Ken Coomer – drumsDawned On Me
I’ve been young
I’ve been old
I’ve been hurt
And consoled
Heart of coal
Heart of gold
So I’m told
I’ve been lost
I’ve been found
I’ve been taken
By the sound
Of my own voice
The voices in my head
I can’t help it if I fall in
Love with you again I’m calling
Just to let you know
It dawned on me
Every night is a test
To the east from the west
The sun rises and sets
That’s the sun at it’s best
I forget, then I know
I’d regret letting you go
Sometimes I can’t believe how dark it can be
I can’t help it if I fall in
Love with you again I’m calling
Just to let you know
It dawned on me
It dawned on me
So on
And so forth
And again
I will stop to begin
At the end
I can’t help it if I fall in
Love with you again I’m calling
Just to let you know
It dawned on me
Oh I can’t help it if I fall in
Love with you again I’m calling
Just to let you know
It dawned on 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
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 – drumsWhole Love
My gold marigolds attack
My black bed of roses
I’m going to bring ‘em all back
With hypnosis Ho
And I know that I won’t be
The easiest to set free
And I know that I won’t be the last
Cold captain tied to the mast
I recall you on the telephone
I recall when you get mad
I will still love you to death
And I won’t ever forget how
And I know that it won’t be
The easiest to set free
And I know that I won’t be the last
Cold captain tied to the mast
I’m on the other side
I’m satisfied
I’m a spirit dove
I’m looking for your love
I’m simple as a matter of fact
A punch in the nose don’t overreact
I will still love you to death
And I won’t ever forget how
And I know that I won’t be
The easiest to set free
And I know that I won’t be the last
Cold captain tied to the mast
And I know that I won’t be the one
To securely know when it’s wrong
But I hope I know when it’s past
And I hope I know when to show you my
Whole love
Whole love
Whole love
Whole love
Whole love
Whole love
Whole love
I won’t ever forget how
The Late Greats
The greatest lost track of all-time
The Late Greats’s “Turpentine”
You can’t hear it on the radio
Can’t hear it anywhere you go
The best band will never get signed
The Kay-Sette’s starring Butcher’s Blind
So good you won’t ever know
They never even played a show
Can’t hear ‘em on the radio
The greatest singer in Rock-n-Roll
Would have to be Romeo
His vocal chords are made of gold
He just looks a little too old
The best songs will never get sung
The best life never leaves your lungs
So good you won’t ever know
You’ll never hear it on the radio
You can’t hear it on the radio
Walken
I’m walking
All by myself
I was talking to myself about you
What am I going to do
I was singing
This song about you
I was thinking about singing
This song for you
The more I think about it
The more I know it’s true
The more I think about it
The more I’m sure it’s you
Honey I think you’re just right
You’re just right
I was walking
Like I said by myself
I was talking
To myself about you
Like I always do
The more I think about it
The more I know it’s true
The more I think about it
The more I’m sure it’s you
Honey, I think you’re just right
You’re just right
The more I think about it
The more I know it’s true
The more I think about it
The more I’m sure it’s you
Honey, I think you’re just right
You’re just right
Written by Jeff Tweedy and Wilco
Instrumental Credits
Jeff Tweedy – vocals, electric guitar
John Stirratt – bass
Glenn Kotche – drums
Mikael Jorgensen – piano, Hammond B3 organ
Nels Cline – lap steel
Pat Sansone – electric guitar
Just a Kid
Maybe I'm just a kid
Maybe I just don't fit in
I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready to go now
I don't wanna go to school
But I don't get to make the rules
Too early, too early, too early, too early in the morning
Everybody, everybody, everybody, everybody
Has to do something they don't want to do
Everybody, everybody, everybody, everybody
Has to be something, oh, why is that true?
Maybe I'm not so big
Maybe I just don't fit in
I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready for more now
And I don't wanna go to bed
There's so much going on in my head
Not tired, not tired, not tired, not tired right now
Everybody, everybody, everybody, everybody
Has to do something they don't want to do
Everybody, everybody, everybody, everybody
Has to be something, oh, why is that true?
Everybody, everybody, everybody, everybody
Everybody, everybody, everybody, everybody
Everybody, everybody, everybody, everybody
Everybody, everybody, everybody, everybody
Has to be something, let's have some fun
Na na na
Na na na
Na na na
Na na na
Na na na
Na na na
Na na na
Na na na
Everybody, everybody, everybody, everybody
Everybody, everybody, everybody, everybody
Everybody, everybody, everybody, everybody
Everybody, everyone, somebody, anyone
Has to grow up, let's have some fun
Monday
Choo-choo Charlie had a plenty good band
But he couldn't understand why no one would go
The World Record Players on a tour of Japan
Charlie's fixing his van with a left arm tan
He said
Monday, I'm all high
Get me out of FLA
In school, yeah
I fooled ya
Now I know I made a mistake
Blister on a turnpike, let me by
I only want to wonder why when I don't die
Oooh, I shot ya, yeah, I know
I only want to go where my wheels roll
Monday, I'm all high
Get me out of FLA
I fooled ya
In school, yeah
Now I know I made a mistake
Everybody's wondering, "Where'd he go?"
He must be down in Pensacola
Hiding from the snow
The World Record Players on a tour of Japan
Charlie's fixing his van
He's waiting for a postcard
And he said
Monday, I'm all high
Get me out of TLA
Well I cut class
In school, yeah
Now I know I made a mistake
I made a big mistake
Outtasite (Outta Mind)
I know we don't talk much
But you're such a good talker
Oh-whoa
Well I know we should take a walk
But you're such a fast walker, oh-whoa,
Well alright
I know where I'll be tonight, alright
Outta mind outta site
Well okay
I know you don't love me
But you'll still be thinking of me, oh-whoa
Well alright
I know you probably hate me
That's okay with me
Alright!
I know where I'll be tonight, alright
Outta mind outta site
Outta mind outta site
You don't see me now
You don't want to anyhow
Look out
Here I come again
And I'm bringing my friends
Look out
Here I come again
I'm bringing my friends
Okay, alright, okay alright!
I know where I'll be tonight, alright
Outta mind outta site
Outta mind outta si-ite
Outta mind outta si-i-i-ite
Reservations
How can I convince you it's me I don't like
Not be so indifferent to the look in your eyes
When I've always been distant
And I've always told lies
For love
I'm bound by these choices so hard to make
I'm bound by the feeling so easy to fake
None of this is real
Enough to take me
From you
O I've got reservations
About so many things
But not about you
I know this isn't what you were wanting me to say
How can I get closer and be further away
From the truth
That proves it's beautiful
To lie
I've got reservations
About so many things
But not about you
I…reservations
About so many things
But not about you
Not about you
Not about you
Not about you
Not about you
Spiders (Kidsmoke)
Spiders are singing in the salty breeze
Spiders are filling out tax returns
Spinning out webs of deductions and melodies
On a private beach in Michigan
Why can’t we wish their kisses good
Why do they miss when their kisses should
Fly like winging birds fighting for the keys
On a private beach in Michigan
This recent rash of kidsmoke
All these telescopic poems
It’s good to be alone
Why can’t they say what they want
Why can’t they just say what they need
Come clean, listen and talk
Hello private caller
ID blocked
The sun will rise, we’ll climb into cars
The future has a valley and a shortcut around
Who will wear the crown of drowning award
Hold a private light
On the Michigan shore
Fool me with a kiss of kidsmoke
From a microscopic home
It’s good to be alone
I’ll be in my bed
You can be the stone
That raises from the dead
And carries us all home
There’s no blood on my hands
I just do as I’m told
I'm A Wheel
hold on, you risk exciting me
once in Germany someone said nein
one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine
hold back, don’t invite me
one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine
once in Germany someone said nein
I’m a wheel
I will
turn you
I invented a sister, populated with knives
I’m a wheel
I will
turn on you
um,
I’m a wheel, I will
I’m a wheel, I will
I’m a wheel, I will
turn on you
turn on you turn on you turn on you turn on turn on…