Wilco

Jul.25.2014

Portsmouth, NH - The Music Hall

Down From Above

Down from above
I know
It’s only love
Until it goes
When the last book is written
The last song is sung
When the last beginner has begun
Down from above
Comes the day
A light is made
to go away
Where can I go
Where can I flee
Now that you know
Will you take me?
Down from above
I know
It’s only love
Until it goes
The world is filled with sadness
Your darkness falls on me
Where will you go?
Where will you be?
Down from above
Too wonderful for me
Down from above
Too wonderful for me

Diamond Light Pt. 1

Why don’t we pick one script
and read it
Where the milk has dried
on the throne
Open wide
Sing gracefully beside
Rolling rivers of diamond light
Dash and heave
Each ache to the sky
Why don’t we choose one to
believe in
Where shadows die
Also alone
Coincide
Colliding points of view
Perfect mountains of diamond light
Dash and heave
Each ache to the sky
Are you scared
Are you frightened
Terrified of being alone
Are you scared
Are you frightened
Terrified of being alone

 

Flowering

Hold me stranger
Don’t deceive
Angel master
Can’t retrieve
Northern knots
Hung high in the trees
Spilling oceans
Existing to believe
Flowering
I told you danger
Carbon crown
March through the salt slush
Howling at the ground
Whistle my answer
Dance a blank face
Torment my sugar
And leap at any trace of
Flowering
Hold me stranger
Don’t deceive
Angel master
Can’t retrieve
Northern knots
Hung high in the trees
Spilling oceans
Existing to believe
Flowering

 

Summer Noon

Summer noon I can always stay
To radiate what the cello can’t play
She spoke to me and provoked my band
And I broke in two in the heat of her hand
Like a lioness or a coyote
At a pink beating heart in the balcony
I followed the finger to the creature’s gate
In the hubbub where the pitiful congregate
I thought there was a note that I couldn’t hear
So I floated to the whisper up against my ear
Afterwards I found my face in the trash
Really at the core of it it wasn’t so bad
Never leave your mother's womb
Unless you want to see how hard a broken heart can swoon

Honey Combed

I can feel the mystery
But I can’t play it
Grey as the children are grey
My thoughts are grim, polluted as I am
Walking out one summer noon
So soon
How will the weather bring
Sing like the children have sung
High as the stars are hung
I vanish before I go
I have written with a rope
Wrapped around my throat
Loomed like an island
Dope hooked and cycloned
Honey-combed my heart in love
And from above
Every cemetery
Against the bloom
Rattle the pigs, visit the silence
Waking up an open wound
I can feel the mystery
But I can’t play it
Grey as the children are grey
My thoughts are dim, polluted as I am
Walking out one summer noon

Desert Bell

Oh, I am sorry you won’t recognize me
Born and bred to be led
and be dead by degrees
I’m taking a moment to express my regret
Before I forget how it goes
As fast as our blood can crackle with blame
The arrows of eyes
Defined our embrace too soon
And piercing the place where even the moon
Would never dream to shine
The deluge day-dreaming turned to pain
Blades of blood
Rained beneath
Silk teeth
I barked like a cricket flaked like a bone
Tricked and switched off in a heap
And buried myself so deep and so true
No one ever saw through
Thoroughly cruel and alone
Am I so sorry you don’t recognize me
I am always the one
You lost to all tomorrows
Oh, look past your anger and please render me down
In a hole in the ground
Mixed with the earth
Remember these words
And let me no longer be worth your sorrow

World Away

I only want to feel
this morning
Catch the avenue
I intend to steal
this moment
As we’re moving through
Make my rendezvous
As if it’s all I do
I’m about to feel it lift
sorrow floats away
Over miles of old world
Darling
Honey I can’t complain
Only a world away
Only a world away
I’m about to freeze the sun
So let me fall away
How it comes to be so really
Nothings left to say
Only a world away
Only a world away
Out of bounds of maps crawl
Over the mounds of bones
Is how I came to call you lonesome
Over the telephone
Over the telephone
Only a world away
I only want to feel
this morning
Catch the avenue
I intend to steal
this moment
As we’re moving through
Make my rendezvous
As if it’s all I do
I’m about to feel it lift
sorrow floats away
Over miles of old world
Darling
Honey I can’t complain
Love me a world away
Only a world away
I’m about to freeze the sun
So let me please explain
How it comes to be so really
Nothings left to say
Only a world away
Only a world away
Out of bounds of maps crawl
Over the mounds of bones
Is how I came to call you lonesome
Over the telephone
Over the microphone
It’s only a world away

New Moon

Well, I’ve always been certain nearly all of my life
One day I’d be your burden and you would be my wife
Let me hang like a new moon and let me be your twin
Let me hang like a new moon
Don’t treat me like a stranger again
You keep me as your thief, please let me be a little more
When you fall asleep let me be what you’re dreaming for
Let me hang like a new moon
Don’t treat me like a stranger any more
Well, I’ve always been certain nearly all of my life
One day I’d be your burden and you would be my wife
Let me hang like a new moon high in the wind
Let me hang like a new moon
Don’t treat me like a stranger again
You keep me as a thief, please let me be a little more
When you fall asleep let me be what you’re dreaming for
I’ve always been certain nearly all of my life

 

Fake Fur Coat

Behold the drift of a distant sun
Cold as my own heart
Blind at the edge of no return
Every time I dare depart
I believe the myth may illuminate
an anchor in dry weeds
At the end of July in a fake fur coat
Hoping that your heart still needs me
I concede there’s beauty in bubblegum
And rolling up my sleeves
To advertise the new freedom
I accept that I can’t receive
Behold the gift of a distant sun
The canyons full of loose bones
The metals and brambles and the jack bitch boss
Thundering down from his throne

Hazel

Hazel, Hazel, Hazel eyes
Nobodies ever seen you cry
Hazel, Hazel, Hazel tears
Nobody loves you, nobody cares
No one could protect you from the blood in your own veins
No one could predict who would be taking you away
You vanished in the trees in the woods where we would play
Last seen on Sycamore, I’ve often heard them say
Hazel, Hazel, Hazel green
No one can remember how long it’s been
Hazel, Hazel, Hazel brown
No one can remember when you were around
They caught you in the soil safe between the swarm
Sleeping the orchard unaccounted for
They caught you in the thicket, a prisoner no more
Hooded like a hawk pitiless and poor
Hazel, Hazel, Hazel tears
Nobody loves you, nobody cares

High As Hello

So long I will wait for
Howl at the moon
So low all the way home
Sit at the spoon
I should take you too
O’ I’m as high as
I’m as high as
Hello on the waveform
The wicked will die
So alone I know I’m shade-grown
Now why would I?
I’ll take you too
I’m as high as
I’m as high as
Oh I’ll take you too
I’m as high as
I’m as high as
Hello
Solo all the waveforms
The wicked will die
I’m alone all overtone
The rivers awake
I should take you too
O’ I’m as high as
I’m as high as
Hello
Hello
I’ll take you too
I’m as high as
I’m as high as
I should take you too
O’ I’m as high as
I’m as high as

 

Low Key

I want to let it be known
Ever since I was young
I’ve always been a refugee
Of the very high strung
I’ve always been low key
Let’s let the record show
No I won’t jump for joy
I don’t
If I get excited
Nobody knows
But I’m going love you the same
I’ll always be your fool
If it looks like I don’t care
I’m just playing it cool
No I won’t jump for joy
I don’t
If I get excited
No no one will know
I’ve always been low key
You know me
I’ve always been low key
You know me
No I won’t jump for joy
I don’t
If I get excited
Nobody knows
I’m gonna love you the same
I’ll always be your fool
When it looks like I don’t care
I’m just playing it cool
No I won’t jump for joy
I don’t
When I get excited
Nobody knows

 

Slow Love

Slow love is the only love
Slow love is the only love
Slow love is the only love
Slow love is the only love
Slow love is the only love
Slow love is the only love
Slow love is the only love
Slow love is the only love
Slow love is the only love
And so it was on one cold night
In the middle of a lonely life
And so it was you found my door
And though it wasn’t open
O, I had never seen it before
So it was we fell in love
What would you call when it rises up
Or what to call it but falling in love
I never needed to know what it was
You never needed to know what it was
We never needed to know
Oh
So it was that it was there
A part of us as real as the air
I never needed to know what it was
So it was that it was there
A part of us as real as the air
I never needed to know what it was
No love is the only love

 

Nobody Dies Anymore

Sitting in a combed out room
Watching the world to end
I won’t say golden
Until you let me back in
Nobody says goodbye
But everybody goes home
We end the day sober
To a depth we don’t own
I stand where I grew
Oh, I hated that too
When hell’s about to blow in
I saddle up new
And it won’t be long
To find a broken back bone
Or another ocean
Are there any unknown
So I dance my shoe
Beneath the black balloon
Flip it at you for your trouble
So long, so soon
I’m going to
Nobody dies anymore
but don’t you think it’s never over
Nobody dies anymore
No badge knock on a dark front door
Some things still change
But
Nobody dies
Nobody dies
Nobody dies
Don’t I look over my sister
Sister don’t you know me no more
She calls me once every summer
Before the leafs turn gold
When she was the daughter
Of a world without end
They told her I was stolen
She couldn’t comprehend
Poured out in the street
By the blood in the grass
Poured out at the feet
By the broken glass
Nobody dies anymore
No badge knock on a dark front door
Some things still change
But
Nobody dies
Nobody dies
Nobody dies
Love every song that I know
You ask me well how so
Strange I can’t defend
I love how every song ends

 

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)
   

One Wing

We once belonged to a bird
We cast a shadow on this world
You were a blessing, and I was a curse
I did my best not to make things worse
For you

That isn’t true
I always knew this would be your fate
This is what happens when wings separate
This happens to all dead weight
Eventually

We may as well be made of stone
We can’t be flown
One wing will never fly
Neither yours nor mine, I fear
We can only wave goodbye

One wing will never ever fly
Neither yours nor mine
One wing will never ever fly, dear
Neither yours nor mine, I fear
We can only wave goodbye

One wing will never ever fly, dear
Neither yours nor mine, I fear
We can only wave goodbye

Bye, bye
Bye, bye
Bye, bye
Bye, bye

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

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

Please Tell My Brother (Golden Smog)

Please tell my brothers I love them still Over the mountains On their phone bill I should call more often But they know I never will Please tell my brothers I love them still Please tell my sister I miss her too My nieces and nepfews And their swimming pools When I think about her Her skies are blue Please tell my sister I miss her too Please tell my father I love him still Forget the railroad And all those bills Head for the cooler And drink your fill Please tell my father I love him still Listen dear mother I miss you the most And as I travel From coast to coast I feel your love And I feel your ghost Listen dear mother I miss you the most Listen dear mother I miss you the most written by Jeff Tweedy

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

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

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

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

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

 

You Are Not Alone

You're not alone
I'm with you
I'm lonely too
What's that song
Can't be sung
By two?
My broken home
A broken heart
Isolated and afraid
Open up this is a raid
I want to get it through to you
You're not alone
You're not alone
Every night
I stand in your place
Every tear
On every face
Tastes the same
A broken dream
A broken heart
Isolated and afraid
Open up this is a raid
I wanna get it through to you
You're not alone
An open hand
An open....

Give Back The Key To My Heart [Doug Sahm cover]

Take my picture off the wall
It don't matter to me at all
Said I was headed for a fall
But you wanted me to crawl

Give back my TV
It don't mean that much to me
While you're giving back my things
Give me back the key to my heart

Give back the key to my heart
Give back the key to my heart
And let my love flow like a river
Straight into your heart, dear

Well, you say I was the one
To blame for the wrong that's been done
Well, you got a friend named cocaine
And to me he is to blame

He has drained life from your face
He has taken my place
While you're alone in San Antone
Give me back the key to my heart

Give back the key to my heart
Give back the key to my heart
And let my love flow like a river
Straight into your heart, dear

written by Doug Sahm © Bluewater Music Corp.

Only The Lord Knows (Mavis Staples cover)

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