Normal American Kids
I remind myself of myself long ago
Before I could drive, before I could vote
All of the time, holding a grudge
Before I knew people could die just because
Shot from a sling, head full of buzz
I knew what I liked was not very much
High at the time, tied to the grid
Always afraid of those normal American kids
Oh all of my spirit leaked like a cut
I knew what I needed would never be enough
I was too high to change my bid
Always afraid to be a normal American kid
Always hated normal American
Empty summer days
Lightning crazed and cracked like an egg
High behind the garden shed
Painting myself as a normal American kid
I always hated it
High as high as high can loom
Under the sheets in my bedroom
I was as high as high can get
Always afraid of the normal American kids
Oh bongs and jams and carpeted vans
Hate everything I don’t understand
High times tightening the lid
Had to get away from those normal American kids
Always hated those normal American kids
Always hated those normal American kids
If I Ever Was A Child
I’ve never been alone
Long enough to know
If I ever was a child
I was tied up like a boat
Unbuttoned like a coat
Set free for a while
Well I jumped to jolt my clumsy blood
While my white, green eyes
Cry like a windowpane
Can my cold heart change
Even out of spite?
I slump behind my brain
A haunted stain never fades
I hunt for the kind of pain I can take
And I cry like a window pane
Can my cold heart change over night?
So I won’t ever want to touch
Your heart too much
Or hold you too tight
I slump behind my brain
A haunted stain will never fade
I hunt for the kind of pain I can take
I never was alone long enough to know
If I ever was a child
Cry All Day
I know that I'm unknowing
I'm never totally right
I'm gonna walk away slowly
Instead I bid you good night
Another goodbye, I'm gonna cry
Cry, cry, cry all day
Whatever you're withholding
I never said it was good
If I could sell it by the dozen
I'd never dare but you would
I know that you would, I'm aware that you could
Cry, cry, cry all day
Cry all night
I had a hole in my heart, I had a "company" me
It kept me whole-y from rolling
Someone into something like me
Something like me, you don't wanna be
I cry, cry, cry all day
I cry all night
I cry all day
And I cry, cry, cry all day
Cry all night
At the open mic
I sing and I stall
I fall on the knife
However there's another
Another future to fight
I never took it so seriously
Oh it was serious alright
Watch them all fight, but you can't fight it
And I'll cry, cry all day
Cry all night
Cry all day
Cry all night
All day
And now the hounds are calling
I see the world I find
I'm sick of your affliction
But you're just a smartass and blind
Out of the light
Now be kind
Cry, cry, cry all day
All night
Into the light
Into the light
Into the light
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
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)
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
Pickled Ginger
Alone in the zone of the sad
Where no one gives a zig to the zag
I'll never let you rot
I'll never bet you don't know
Some might glisten the knot
I'll never let it show
I know when I'm towing the drag
Where no one gives a zig to the zag
I might have to let you rot
I'm sad to let you go
I can't remember the night
I know what I'll never know
No one tells me how to behave
I'm mowing and I'm growing the grave
No one tells me how to be saved
I'll know till I go to my grave
I'll never let you rot
I'll never bet you don't know
Some might glisten the knot
I'll never let it show
I'm going to let it rot
You'll never guess what's below
Some might glisten the knot
I'll never let it show
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
Someone to Lose
Where you gonna go in your winter coat
I wonder what you’re hiding cause it’s not too cold
It’s already too late
Somebody’s gonna get you
And if I hold you to tight, someone else won’t get to
Ohhhh wouldn’t you know it, I keep it rolling
Considering no one punching a path
Facing the blast and the moon and the math
But you still never know where your soul is attached
Oh, wouldn’t you know it, ah wouldn’t you know it
I’m so confused
I can’t move
I can’t even try
I hope you find
Someone to lose, someday
Now where you gonna go like a cobra coiled
Sweating in sweater, you’ve got too much style
But you’re never alone, someday they’re gonna get you
I hope you find
Someone to lose, someday
I hope you find
I hope you find
Someone to lose, someday
Pot Kettle Black
Crazy rides rockets
Waves a magic wand
Empty out your pockets
Words without a song
I myself have found a real rival in myself
I am hoping for the rearrival of my health
Sleeping eye sockets
Baby suck your thumb
I'll keep you in my locket
A string I never strum
It's become so obvious
You are so oblivious to yourself
I'm tied in a knot
But I'm not
Gonna get caught
Calling a pot kettle black
Every song's a comeback
Every moment's a little bit later
Lazy locomotives
Wherever you may roll
I think you have no motive
I know you have no home
It's become so obvious
You are so oblivious to yourself
I'm tied in a knot
But I'm not
Gonna get caught
Calling a pot kettle black
Every song's a comeback
Every moment's a little bit later
Every moment's a little bit later
Every moment's a little bit later
Every moment's a little bit later
I'm tied in a knot
But I'm not
Gonna get caught
Calling a pot kettle black
I'm not
Gonna get caught
Calling a pot kettle black
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
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
Impossible Germany
Impossible Germany
Unlikely Japan
Wherever you go
Wherever you land
I’ll say what this means to me
I’ll do what I can
Impossible Germany
Unlikely Japan
(The) fundamental problem
We all need to face
This is important
But I know you’re not listening
Oh I know you’re not listening
If this was still new to me
I wouldn’t understand
Impossible Germany
Unlikely Japan
But this is what love is for
To be out of place
Gorgeous and alone
Face to face
With no larger problems
That need to be erased
Nothing more important than to know
Someone’s listening
Now I know
You’ll be listening
Written by Jeff Tweedy and Wilco
Happiness
My mother says I’m great
And it always makes me sad
I don’t think she’s being nice
I really think she believes that
So now I bend my days around the people, other people obey
Whoah
So sad it’s nothing, happiness depends on who you blame
I gather things can change
So maybe she’s asleep in her grave
She gave her body to science
So I’m not sure what’s in her place
Maybe roses or Tanqueray™
So sad it’s nothing, happiness depends on who you blame
I know the dead still listen
She sings a part of every refrain
Under the weight of the living pointing a finger with no eyes to aim whoah
So sad it’s nothing, it’s absolutely nothing
So sad it’s nothing, it’s absolutely nothing
So sad it’s nothing, happiness depends on who you blame
We Aren't the World (Safety Girl)
Have you seen any mention
It’s been quiet in detention all week
Is that so?
I saw the winter party person candidate, give a sermon
Shook his fist, like this.
Is that so?
And everyone sat as blank as a cake and in love
like a stupid lump of clay
Is that so?
I know a good Armageddon might have made my day, that day
Is that so?
We aren’t the world
We aren’t the children
But you’re my safety girl
And you know we could go spend ourselves like money
Let’s pretend we’re hundred dollar bills
Is that so?
And complain everyday there’s a spider in my soup
Tired of my opinion, like everybody else
Is that so?
We aren’t the world
We aren’t the children
But you’re my safety girl
Like so
Is that so?
We aren’t the world
We aren’t the children
But you’re my safety girl
Box Full of Letters
I've got a box full of letters
I think you might like to read
Some things that you might like to see
But they're all addressed to me
I wish I had a lotta answers
'Cause that's the way it should be
For all these questions
Being directed at me
I just can't find the time
To write my mind
The way I want it to read
You'll come back again
And I'll still be your friend
I got a lot of your records
In a separate stack
Some things that I might like to hear, but I
Guess I'll give 'em back
I wish I had a lotta answers
'Cause that's the way it should be
For all these questions
Being directed at me
Just can't find the time
To write my mind
The way I want it to read
You'll come back again
And I'll still be your friend
I can't find the time
To write my mind
The way I want it to read
Just can't find the time
To write my mind
The way I want it to read
Instrumental credits:
Jeff Tweedy – vocals, guitar
John Stirratt – bass, vocals
Max Johnston – dobro
Ken Coomer – drums
Brian Henneman – guitars
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
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
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
Dawned 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
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
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
Locator
Locator sees me swaying through the catacombs
Locator hears me whispering in my home
Even when the waves are falling
Beating me into diamonds
Even when the wheels are whining
Even when the wheels are whining
Something in the sky can find me
I x8
Hide x8
Here below
Hide
Oh no, Locator it is I
Even when I run
I’m crawling
Even through the walls and blinds and
Even when the wheels are whining x3
something in the sky can find me
I x8
Hide x8
Here below x4
I love Locator everywhere I go
I tell Locator everything it wants to know
Random Name Generator
Come on listen to the weed whistle way
I belong to the stars in the day
I ran away
Eternal instigator
Well I was old
I remember the Milky Way, why?
I belong to the stars in the sky
Random name
Random name generator
Random name generator
Random name generator
You don't know me cold as night
Somebody hold me in the diamond light
A narrator
Mr narrator
I want to name every new born child
A miracle only ever grows wild
Invisible
Instigator
Random name generator
I kind of like it when I make you cry
A miracle only once in a while
Random name
Random name generator
I change my name every once in a while
A miracle every once in a while
I create
I am the flame, a flame creator
A random name generator
Come on cuff me to the weed whistle whine
If I miss your breeze will you miss mine
I kind of like it when I make you cry
A miracle every once in a while
Come on cuff me to the weed whistle whine
I think I miss my family fine
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
California Stars
I'd like to rest my heavy head tonight
On a bed of California stars
I'd like to lay my weary bones tonight
On a bed of California stars
I'd love to feel your hand touching mine
And tell me why I must keep working on
Yes I'd give my life to lay my head tonight
On a bed of California stars
I'd like to dream my troubles all away
On a bed of California stars
Jump up from my starbed and make another day
Underneath my California stars
They hang like grapes on vines that shine
And warm the lovers' glass like friendly wine
So, I'd give this world
just to dream a dream with you
On our bed of California stars
Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc./Warner-Tamerlane Publishing
Corp./Words-Ampersand Music [BMI]/Titanic Majesties Music [ASCAP]
Words: Woody Guthrie [no date]
Music: Jay Bennett/Jeff Tweedy 1997
Jay Bennett: piano, backing vocal
Billy Bragg: acoustic guitar
Ken Coomer: drums and percussion
Corey Harris: lap steel guitar
Eliza Carthy: violin
John Stirratt: electric bass, backing vocal
Jeff Tweedy: acoustic guitar, lead vocal