Wilco

Wilco (The Song)

Are you under the impression,
This isn't your life?
Do you dabble in depression?
Is someone twisting a knife in your back?
Are you being attacked?
Oh, this is a fact that you need to know,

Oh, oh, oh, oh

Wilco,
Wilco,
Wilco will love you Baby,

Are times getting tough?
Are the roads you travel rough?
Have you had enough of the old?
Tired of being exposed to the cold?
The stare of your stereo,
Put on your headphones before you explode

Oh, oh, oh, oh

Wilco,
Wilco,
Wilco will love you baby,

There're so many wars that just can't be won,
Even before the battle's begun,
This is an aural arms open wide,
A sonic shoulder for you to cry on,

Wilco,
Wilco will love you baby,

Is someone twisting a knife in your back?
Are you being attacked?
Oh this is a fact, that you need to know,

Oh, oh, oh, oh

Wilco,
Wilco,
Wilco, Wilco will love you Baby

Wishful Thinking

Fill up your mind with all it can know
Don’t forget that your body will let it all go
Fill up your mind with all it can know
What would we be without wishful thinking?

Chambers of chains
With red plastic mouths
The inside of outside
No one has found
How to unring the bell
It’s just as well
The turntable sizzles
The casting of spells
The pressure devices
Hell in a nutshell
Is any song worth singing if it doesn’t help?
v Fill up your mind with all it can know
Don’t forget that your body can let it all go
Fill up your mind with all it can know
’Cause what would love be without wishful thinking?

Open your arms
As far as they will go
Take off your dress
An embarrassing poem was written when I was alone
In love with you
I shook down these lines
To shine up the streets
I got up off my hands and knees
To thank my lucky stars that you’re not me

What would we be without wishful thinking?
What would we be without wishful thinking?
What would we be without wishful thinking?

Instrumental Credits
Jeff Tweedy Vocals, Acoustic Baritone 12 String Acoustic Guitar
John Stirratt Bass
Glenn Kotche Drums
Leroy Bach Vibes
Mikael Jorgensen Piano and Farfisa Organ
Jim O'Rourke Korg CX-3 Organ

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 – drums

Before Us

I'm surprised staring at the knives
Lying silent in the drawer
I hear the front door ring in my guitar
Empty up against the wall
Alone with the people who have come before
Alone with the people who have come before
Alone with the people who have come before us
I'm high for the people who have come before
I'm high for the people who have come before
I'm high for the people who have come before us
I remember when wars would end
Remember when wars would end?
Now when something's dead
Now when something's dead
We try to kill it again
Alone with the people who have come before
Alone with the people who have come before
Alone with the people who have come before us
   

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)
   

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.

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 wont 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

That's Not the Issue

You've got a problem
I think you know
I'll tell you mine
Before you go

You've been thinking
About somebody new
That's not the issue

Secrets, I have some too
I'll tell you mine
Before I say goodbye to you

I've been thinking
About leaving too
That's not the issue

I'm leaving
I'm leaving now
I'd say goodbye
But I don't know how

You've been sleeping
With somebody new
That's not the issue

Instrumental credits:
Jeff Tweedy – vocals, acoustic guitar
John Stirratt – bass
Max Johnston – banjo
Ken Coomer – drum
Brian Henneman – guitar

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

White Wooden Cross

A white wooden cross by the side of the road
One someone lost that I did not know
What would I do?
What would I do?
If a white wooden cross meant that I'd lost you.
I asked myself how would I let go?
And a thought appeared like a morning dew
And my blood ran cold
My blood ran cold
As these sad ideas passed through
Tell me no lies
Tell me no lies
Is it stranger to live?
Is it stranger to die?
What would I do?
What would I do?
If a white wooden cross meant that I'd lost you
Tell me no lies
Tell me no lies
Is it stranger to live?
Is it stranger to be alive?
For all the people that I am not
And all their prayers and all their thoughts
There's so much more out there
Than here where I stand
I blow my horn for the whole band

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

How to Fight Loneliness

How to fight loneliness
Smile all the time
Shine your teeth 'til meaningless
Sharpen them with lies

And whatever's going down
Will follow you around
That's how you fight loneliness
You laugh at every joke
Drag your blanket blindly
Fill your heart with smoke
And the first thing that you want
Will be the last thing you ever need
That's how you fight it

Just smile all the time
Just smile all the time
Just smile all the time
Just smile all the time

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

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

Sky Blue Sky

Oh, the band marched on in formation
The brass was phasing
Tunes I couldn’t place
Windows open and
Raining in
Maroon, yellow, blue, gold and gray

The drunks were ricocheting
The old buildings downtown
Empty so long ago
Windows broken and dreaming
So happy to leave what was my home

With a sky blue sky
This rotten time
Wouldn’t seem so bad to me now
Oh, I didn’t die
I should be satisfied
I survived
That’s good enough for now

With a sky blue sky
This rotten time
Wouldn’t seem so bad to me now
Oh, if I didn’t die
I should be satisfied
I survived
That's good enough for now

Written by Jeff Tweedy Instrumental Credits Jeff Tweedy – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar John Stirratt – bass Glenn Kotche – drums Mikael Jorgensen – piano Nels Cline – lap steel Pat Sansone – Chamberlin

Kingpin

I wanna be your kingpin Living in Pekin I wanna be your bigwig Living in Pekin I got the flu and away I flew N.Y.C.P.D. blue Dimetapp and spinal tap City maps and hand claps Statue of Liberty play It only works once Don't throw it away ’Cause I wanna be your kingpin Living in Pekin Living in Pekin Living in How can I How can I give my love to you when I don't know what to do

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

Theologians

Theologians they don’t know nothing
About my soul
About my soul

I’m an ocean
And this emotion
Slow motion, slow motion

Illiterati lumin fedei
God is with us everyday
That illiterate light
Is with us every night

Theologians, oh they don’t know nothing
About my soul
Oh they don’t know

They thin my heart with little things
And my life with change
Oh in so many ways
I find more missing every day

Theologians

I’m going away
Where you will look for me
Where I’m going you cannot come
No one’s ever gonna take my life from me
I lay it down
A ghost is born
A ghost is born
A ghost is born

I am a notion
I am all emotion
I am a cherry ghost
Cherry ghost
Hey I’m a cherry ghost
Cherry ghost

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

We Were Lucky

All I saw from where I stood
The sun was smiling down on us
We were lucky that's for sure
I was yours
Now all I see from where I'm from
Empty auditorium
We were lucky that's for sure
I was yours
And you didn't mind
Being mine
There was a pop in my ear
As I left the atmosphere
Dragging behind my mind
It's too late
Don't say it
Don't say...
All I saw from where I stood
Three long mountains and a wood
I'm lucky that's for sure
I'm yours
And you didn't mind being mine

Love Is Everywhere (Beware)

So tangled in the wild
Seeing myself as something more mean
Out in the country
Sadness wants me
Further away from the scene
Right now right now love is everywhere
Right now right now love is everywhere
Where the sunlight grabs the lake
It's frozen in the flames
Beneath the sleeping town
With the riots raining down
It's all yours now
It's all for you
Right now right now love is everywhere
Right now right now love is everywhere
So many things I do
I can't explain to you
Right now right now love is everywhere
Right now I'm frightened how
Love is here
Beware
Our love is everywhere
 

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

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

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

Hoodoo Voodoo

Hoodoo voodoo, seven twenty one two Haystacka hostacka, A B C High poker, low joker, ninety nine a zero Sidewalk, streetcar, dance a goofy dance Blackbirdy, bluejay; one two three four, Trash sack, jump back E F G, Biggy hat, little hat, fattyman, skinnyman, Grasshopper, greensnake, hold my hand Hoodoo voodoo, chooka chooky choochoo, True blue, how true, kissle me now Momma cat, Tommy cat, diapers on my clothes line Two four six eight, I run and hide Pretty girl, pretty boy, pony on a tincan, I'll be yours and you'll be mine Jinga jangler, tingalingle, picture on a bricky wall Hot and scamper, foamy lather, huggle me close Hot breeze, old cheese, slicky slacky fishy tails Brush my hair and kissle me some more Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. [BMI]/Warner- Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Words-Ampersand Music [BMI]/Titanic Majesties Music [ASCAP]/Poeyfarre Songs [BMI]/500 Ft. Toe Music [BMI]/BMG Songs/Koolhot Muzik [ASCAP] Words: Woody Guthrie  [no date] Music: Wilco/Bragg/Harris Jay Bennett: organ, Farfisa bass pedals Billy Bragg: electric guitar Ken Coomer: drums Corey Harris: electric guitar John Stirratt: electric bass, piano [bass] Jeff Tweedy: vocal