KC Rain
I was born a little sad
I never knew what I had
Mom and dad let it slide
No wonder
I'm never satisfied
I swayed and I swooned
I howled at the moon
Tied myself to the ties
No wonder I'm never satisfied
High in the morning
High in the afternoon
High in evening
When I'm sleeping
I'm with you
Like an old welcome mat
I’m filthy and I’m flat
Now ain’t that the truth
No wonder
I’m so confused
I only care about the cat
Some of this, a little of that
Fat chance I’ll sing the blues
No wonder
I’m so confused
I’m high in the morning
High in the afternoon
High in the evening
When I’m sleeping
I’m with you
written by Jeff Tweedy
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)
New Madrid
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
Shady
new song by Jeff Tweedy
Story to Tell
I’ve been through hell
On my way to hell
I only fought with myself
So I’d have a story to tell
Once I cut off my arm
I sewed it back on all wrong
Now I don’t have to bend
To reach the bottom shelf
When I need a story to tell
The world is always on the brink
And love is dumber than you think
Singing songs of death and doom
With all the voices inside of you
Once I started a war
But I don’t fight anymore
I held the line until the old oak fell
I was left behind
With a story to tell
The world is always on the brink
Hearts are smarter than you think
Writing songs of death and doom
For all the voices inside of you
Once I looked you in the eye
And I told you lies
How I wish I could have treated you well
I wish I had more than
A story to tell
The world is always on the brink
Love is dumber than you think
Singing songs of death and doom
With all the voices inside of you
I’ve been through hell
On my way to hell
I only fought with myself
So I’d have a story to tell
written by Jeff Tweedy
Remember the Mountain Bed
Do you still sing of the mountain bed we made of
limbs and leaves: Do you still sigh there near the
sky where the holly berry bleeds: You laughed as I
covered you over with leaves, face, breast, hips
and thighs, You smiled when I said the leaves
were just the color of your eyes.
Rosin smells and turpentine smells from
eucalyptus and pine Bitter tastes of twigs we
chewed where tangled woodvines twine Trees held
us in on all four sides so thick we could not see I
could not see any wrong in you, and you saw none
in me.
Your arm was brown against the ground, your
cheeks part of the sky, As your fingers played with
grassy moss, and limber you did lie: Your stomach
moved beneath your shirt and your knees were in
the air Your feet played games with mountain
roots as you lay thinking there.
Below us the trees grew clumps of trees, raised
families of trees, and they As proud as we tossed
their heads in the wind and flung good seeds
away: The sun was hot and the sun was bright
down in the valley below Where people starved
and hungry for life so empty come and go.
There in the shade and hid from the sun we freed
our minds and learned Our greatest reason for
being here, our bodies moved and burned There
on our mountain bed of leaves we learned life's
reason why The People laugh and love and dream,
they fight, they hate to die.
The smell of your hair I know is still there, if most
of our leaves are blown, Our words still ring in the
brush and the trees where singing seeds are sown
Your shape and form is dim, but plain, there on
our mountain bed I see my life was brightest
where you laughed and laid you head...
I learned the reason why man must work and how
to dream big dreams, To conquer time and space
and fight the rivers and the seas I stand here filled
with my emptiness now and look at city and land
And I know why farms and cities are built by hot,
warm, nervous hands.
I crossed many states just to stand here now, my
face all hot with tears, I crossed city, and valley,
desert, and stream, to bring my body here: My
history and future blaze bright in me and all my joy
and pain Go through my head on our mountain
bed where I smell your hair again.
All this day long I linger here and on in through
the night My greeds, desires, my cravings, hopes,
my dreams inside me fight: My loneliness healed,
my emptiness filled, I walk above all pain Back to
the breast of my woman and child to scatter my
seeds again.
Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. (BMI)/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing
Corp./Words-Ampersand Music (BMI)/You Want A Piece Of This Music (ASCAP),
administered by Bug Music
Words: Woody Guthrie 1944
Music: Jeff Tweedy/Jay Bennett 1999
Leroy Bach: piano
Jay Bennett: organ, nylon-string guitar, backing vocal
Ken Coomer: drums
John Stirratt: bass, backing vocal
Jeff Tweedy: vocal, 12-string acoustic guitar
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
Sunlight Ends
You’re not the kind of city street
Anyone can cross
You’re the kind of spinning star
That only gets you lost
You
Dance
Like the dust in the
Light
Where the sun comes in
And I’m
Following
‘Til the sunlight ends
You’re not the kind of mountain stream
Anyone can cross
You’re the kind of flashing sign
That only gets you lost
You
Dance
Like the dust in the
Light
Where the sun comes in
And I’m
Following
‘Til the sunlight ends
You’re not the kind of desert sand
Anyone can cross
You’re the kind of missing page
That only gets you lost
And you’re lost
And I’m lost
Enough
Has it ever been enough?
Has it ever been OK?
Have you ever felt full
At the end of a day?
Is your heart high?
Don’t lie
Is your heart higher
Than your mind?
Do you feel like you’re dyin’
Tracin’ a line
Out on your own
Like a complete unknown
Is your heart tired?
Don’t lie
Is your heart hidin’
From your fire?
It’s hard to stay in love
It’s hard to stay in love
It’s hard to stay in love
With everyone
Is there anything to say
That could change your day?
I don’t care about your thoughts
I just want everything you got
Is your heart still tryin’?
Is your heart still alive?
Is your heart still fightin’
To get out of your mind?
It’s hard to stay in love
It’s hard to stay in love
It’s hard to stay in love
With everyone
written by Jeff Tweedy
Forever Never Ends
On the side of the road
In a tuxedo
Three below zero
In a red cummerbund
Highway 13
Not a king not a queen
I didn’t wanna come
To your stupid prom
A hissing road flare
Baby’s breath in her hair
In the middle of nowhere
In the middle of a nightmare
I had to call my dad
I knew he’d be mad
I’d never seen him not mad
Vomit in the frozen grass
Peppermint Schnapps
Well, here come the cops
They don’t even stop
Oh, there they go
Forever never ends
I’m always back there again and again and again
Forever never ends
I’m always back there again and again and again
Forever never ends
I’m always back there again and again and again
Forever never ends
I’m always back there again and again
On the side of the road
In a tuxedo
In the middle of nowhere
In the middle of a nightmare
written by Jeff Tweedy
Country Song Upside-Down
I found
A
Song
Upside-down
A country song
Like a trout
Dying sky and water
Rainbow
Flickering out
Inside
A dark
Cabin
The more moonlike
I become
I’m rounding all of my edges
Because
I’m worried
It can’t be sung
This is the gist
It goes
Like this
I found
A
Song
Upside-down
A country song
Without a doubt
Dying sky and water
Rainbow
Flickering out
written by Jeff Tweedy
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.
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
Soldier Child
So good
To see you
To see you again
I’d almost forgotten
What it’s like
To be this tired
Hold my hand
Across the table
Act like
You’re invisible
And not just high
Unavailable
Now that I am
Over
Smiling at you
Wild like a tiger afraid
I fought like a child
Soldier
Fights to forget
What it’s like
To be
Home
So good
To see you
To see you again
I’d almost forgotten
What it’s like
To feel this pain
Hold my hand
Across the table
Act like
You’re invisible
Not just high
And
Unavailable
Now that I am
Over
Smiling at you
Wild like a tiger afraid
I fought like a child
Soldier
Fights to forget
What it’s like
To be
Home
Laminated Cat (Aka Not For The Season)
Springtime comes and the leaves are back on the trees again
Snipers are harder to see my friends
Weeding out the weekends
Summer comes and gravity undoes you
You're happy because of the lovely way the sunshine bends
Hiding from your close friends
Weeding out the weekends
Candy left over from Halloween
A unified theory of everything
Love left over from lovers leaving
Books, they all know they're not worth reading
It's not for the season
When autumn comes you sit in your chair and you stare
At the TV square
Hiding in the deep end
Weeding out the weekends
Winter comes and the days all start late
There's motion on the boughs where the dark shapes prowl
Feeling out the feelings
Feeling out the feeling
Candy left over from Halloween
A unified theory of everything
Love left over from lovers leaving
Books, they all know they're not worth reading
They're not worth reading
A Robin or a Wren
At the last last call
When it’s time for us all
To say goodbye
I know I’m gonna cry
Know I'm gonna cry
Because all in all
I’m just having a ball
Being alive
And I don’t want to die
I don’t wanna die
At the end of the end
Of this beautiful dream we’re in
I’ll wake up again
A robin or a wren
And then I’ll sit
Outside your window
I’ll sing a song you’ll recognize
And you won’t know why
You won’t know why
And then a teardrop will fall
Into the corner of the smile
On your face
And I’ll be alive
I’ll be alive
I’ll be alive
I’ll be alive
I’ll be alive
I’ll be alive
A Shot in the Arm
The ashtray says
You were up all night
When you went to bed
With your darkest mind
Your pillow wept
And covered your eyes
And you finally slept
While the sun caught fire
You've changed
We fell in love
In the key of C
We walked along
Down by the sea
You followed me down
The neck to D
And fell again
Into the sea
You changed
Oh, you've changed
Maybe all I need is a shot in the arm
Maybe all I need is a shot in the arm
Maybe all I need is a shot in the arm
Maybe all I need is a shot in the arm
Maybe all I need is a shot in the arm
Maybe all I need is a shot in the arm
Maybe all I need is a shot in the arm
Something in my veins
Bloodier than blood
something in my veins
Bloodier than blood
something in my veins
Bloodier than blood
something in my veins
Bloodier than blood
The ashtray says
You were up all night
When you went to bed
With your darkest mind
You changed
Oh you've changed
What you once were isn't what
You want to be any more
What you once were isn't what
You want to be any more
What you once were isn't what
You want to be any more
What you once were isn't what
You want to be any more
What you once were isn't what
You want to be any more
Instrumental credits:
Jeff Tweedy – vocals, acoustic and 12-string guitars, synthesizers
Jay Bennett – lap steel, piano, keyboards, synthesizers, drums
John Stirratt – bass
Ken Coomer – timpani
Feel Free
Feel free
Get on the floor and dream
Cutting pictures out of a magazine
Feel free
Feel free
Plant yourself like a seed
And take your time being buried
Feel free
Feel free
Carry a torch in the street
Say you’re full when we know you’re empty
Feel free
Feel free
To fall in love with the people you know
And fall harder for the people you don’t
Feel free
Feel free
Keep it all pristine
Clean, in its original packaging
Feel free
Feel free
Taking it slow and easy
Even though your heart is racing
Feel free
Feel free
Swim alone in the open sea
Bounce around holding a baby
Feel free
Feel free
Hail Satan, doesn’t matter to me
Or you can be the devil every Halloween
Feel free
Feel free
Lay it down, like a wreath
And leap over what’s underneath
Feel free
Feel free
To never listen and always speak
To never learn and try to teach
Feel free
Feel free
Kick a ball at a tree
Trying to retrieve your frisbee
Feel free
Feel free
Let It Bleed or Let It Be
John or Paul, Mick or Keith
Feel free
Feel free
Think of your name on a marquee
Aim for something you can’t see
Feel free
Feel free
Spin around and get dizzy
Do I know him? Who is he?
Feel free
Feel free
Get yourself born in the USA
Love with a love they can’t take away
Feel free
Feel free
Shave your head in the sink
Be brave, don’t think
Feel free
Feel free
Put your love above the part you play
Keep your love away from what you get paid
Feel free
Feel free
Make a record with your friends
Sing a song that never ends
Feel free
written by Jeff Tweedy
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
Lou Reed Was My Babysitter
I wanna sweat next to you
Sweat next to you
With a sticky carpet sucking on my shoes
’Cause rock ‘n’ roll ain’t never gonna lose
Nah-ah
I want you to dance into me
Spill my drink
I wanna feel the kick kickin’ in my teeth
My bleeding heart bleeding to the beat
Uh
Look out
I want you to blow smoke in my eyes
Smoke in my eyes
I wanna shake shake shake shake shake until my shoes untie
’Cause rock ‘n’ roll ain’t ever gonna die
Not as long as you and I are alive
’Cause rock ‘n’ roll is dead
But the dead don’t die
The dead don’t die
The dead don’t die
The dead don’t die
The dead don’t die
Whoo!
The dead don’t die
The dead don’t die
The dead don’t die
The dead don’t die
Raooh!
Look out
I wanna feel everything
I wanna feel everything
I wanna listen to the idiot sing
Until I can’t feel anything
’Cause rock ‘n’ roll is dead
But the dead don’t die
The dead don’t die
The dead don’t die
The dead don’t die
The dead don’t die
Whooo!
The dead don’t die
The dead don’t die
The dead don’t die
The dead don’t die
Raaaaoow!
Look out
The dead don’t die x16
written by Jeff Tweedy