Jeff Tweedy was the junior partner in alt-country outfit Uncle Tupelo, playing bass and fronting the occasional song. When the group split, Tweedy formed Wilco with other Uncle Tupelo musicians – notably bassist John Stirratt, Wilco’s only other constant member. Their first release, 1995’s A.M. was pleasant, but the group made a huge leap with the 1996 double album Being There. The addition of multi-instrumentalist Jay Bennett was a huge asset for their band, his sonic sculptures shaping experimental records like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and Summerteeth.
Bennett was acrimoniously dismissed after the completion of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. The later era of the group has been bolstered by ace musicians like drummer Glenn Kotche and guitarist Nels Cline. Since 2004’s excellent A Ghost Is Born, Wilco have been vital on record, but have remained a popular live draw-card. Tweedy has always the emotional core of the band, his songs vulnerable and emotional.
Here’s my list of ten favourite Wilco songs – it’s a rich catalogue with many fine songs from which to choose. Apologies in advance to ‘Say You Miss Me’, ‘California Stars’, ‘Another Mans Done Gone’, ‘She’s A Jar’, ‘Via Chicago’, ‘I Am Trying To Break Your Heart’, ‘Ashes of American Flags’, ‘Hell Is Chrome’, and ‘One Sunday Morning’.
Ten Best Wilco Songs
#10 – Bull Black Nova
from Wilco (the Album), 2009
‘Bull Black Nova’ is essentially the younger, shorter brother of ‘Spiders (Kidsmoke)’ from A Ghost Is Born, but I enjoy Wilco’s guitar freakouts. According to Tweedy, ‘Bull Black Nova’ is from the point of view of a man who just killed his girlfriend.
#9 – Can’t Stand It
from Summerteeth, 1999
Wilco’s third studio album, Summerteeth, isn’t one of my favourites – the arrangements reach for pristine studio intricacy, but strip away too much of the band’s country authenticity in the process. Lead-off track ‘Can’t Stand It’, though, is energetic and propulsive though – “it’s all beginning to feel like it’s ending” is a great lyric hook. Tweedy’s voice cracks appealingly on “I can’t stand it”, backed by Bennett’s dynamic organ.
#8 – I’m The Man Who Loves You
from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, 2002
2002’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot had a troubled genesis, as captured in the film I Am Trying To Break Your Heart. It turned out great but most of the tracks are moody and morose, making the few upbeat songs like ‘Heavy Metal Drummer’ and ‘I’m The Man You Loves You’ stand out. ‘I’m The Man Who Loves You’ recalls the late 1960s – the “woo woo” backing vocals are similar to those on The Rolling Stones’ ‘Sympathy of the Devil’, and the piano groove and piercing lead guitar recall late-period Beatles. There are unexpected elements too – Tweedy’s lead guitar is unhinged, while the horn section that enters late in the song adds another dimension.
#7 – Impossible Germany
from Sky Blue Sky, 2007
Wilco’s sixth album marks a retreat from the studio experimentation of their previous records. Famously, a Pitchfork record review coined the term “dad-rock”in describing the record (although I maintain that Sting’s collaboration with Dire Straits on ‘Money for Nothing’ is peak dad-rock). ‘Impossible Germany’ is a beautiful song, but it’s most notable for the lovely guitar interplay of Tweedy and Nels Cline in the second half.
#6 – Spiders (Kidsmoke)
from A Ghost is Born, 2004
‘Spiders (Kidsmoke)’ is a ten minute epic that combines a couple of disparate genres. The motorik beat is straight from krautrock – Tweedy is a fan of German bands like Can and Neu! – while the guitars could have come from a Television or Slint record. Tweedy wrote A Ghost Is Born while he was struggling with addiction, and used creature metaphors to communicate how he was feeling.
#5 – Misunderstood
from Being There (1996)
Wilco signalled that they’d moved beyond alt-country from the opening notes of Being There. The feedback-drenched introduction lightens into one of Tweedy’s most evocative lines; “When you’re back in your old neighborhood/The cigarettes taste so good.” ‘Misunderstood’ mixes beauty and dissonance over its six minutes, culminating in Tweedy shouting “I’d like to thank you all for nothing at all”.
#4 – Company In My Back
from A Ghost is Born (2004)
A Ghost Is Born featured some avant-garde material – notably the dozen minutes of guitar feedback on ‘Less Than You Think’, representing Tweedy’s migraines. Much of the record, however, has accessible songs dressed up in accomplished arrangements. There are so many creative instrument parts on ‘Company In My Back’ – John Stirratt’s bass-line, the warm piano, and the staccato guitar that leads into the choruses are all memorable. Tweedy’s at it again with the creature metaphors: “I attack with love, pure bug beauty.”
#3 – Poor Places
from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, 2002
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is full of emotive material, but the heart of the record is ‘Poor Places’, the penultimate track. Tweedy, strumming an acoustic guitar, is striving for intimacy in the chaos unfolding around him. The song is overwhelmed by a barrage of short-wave radio samples that spell out Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.
#2 – Sunken Treasure
from Being There (1996)
Just like ‘Misunderstood’ on the first disc, disc two of Being There opens with a lengthy epic. Again, there’s an evocative opening line – “There’s rows and rows of houses/With windows painted blue” – and ‘Sunken Treasure’ captures a beleaguered resignation that recalls Neil Young’s On The Beach. Tweedy later told the Chicago Tribune that ‘Sunken Treasure’ was largely improvised in the studio as the band developed bonus material, not realising that Being There would become a double album.
#1 – Remember The Mountain Bed
from Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (2000)
English political singer-songwriter Billy Bragg collaborated on two records with Wilco, where they put Woody Guthrie lyrics to music. In particular, the first record is essential for Wilco fans, with lovely country-tinged songs like ‘California Stars’ and ‘Another Man’s Done Gone’. My favourite Wilco song, though, is from the somewhat overlooked second volume. Guthrie’s lyrics on ‘Remember The Mountain Bed’ is beautifully profound – an older man nostalgically remembering the first flush of love, and how it’s served as a motivation throughout his life. Tweedy’s warm vocal is accompanied by Bennett’s piano and organ, and the pretty melody sounds like a well-worn folk song.
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A band I’ve known by name only for quite some time but never explored. After sampling all tunes you highlighted here, I think I’m sufficiently intrigued and might take a closer look!
I think they’re one of the best bands of their era – they’re able to balance the emotional authenticity of country and a restless streak of experimentation (especially in the Jay Bennett years). I didn’t feature any songs from it, but you may well enjoy Mermaid Avenue from 1998, where Wilco and Billy Bragg put Woody Guthrie’s unrecorded lyrics to music.
Nice choices, Graham – I appreciate the apologies in advance.
Outta site (Outta mind) was my gateway so it’ll always have a place for me. Hotel Arizona would be near the top too.
I love Being There, and it’s my favourite Wilco album. It just came from nowhere – Tweedy was a good songwriter in Uncle Tupelo and A.M., but I don’t know if anyone was expecting him to drop a killer double LP full of great tunes. Jay Bennett was a massive talent.
The only album (CD) I had by them was Yankee Hotel Foxtrot…I bought it after 9-11. I was listening to an alternative station at the time…very good cd.
It’s hard not to like their songs. I also like Secrets of the Sea with Billy Bragg.
I want to explore Uncle Tupelo more. I like what I’ve heard from them. I really like the 90s alt-country… them and the Jayhawks.
Excellent band.
I think it came out online the week after 9/11, which is weird as it has a picture of towers on the cover. Natalie Merchant released an album with a song named ‘This House is on Fire’ shortly after 9/11 too.
The record company dropped them after paying for it and they sold it again to another record company. I believe it worked out well for them.
I heard some of it after it was online and bought it on cd a few months later when it came out.
I think the record company that bought it eventually was a subsidiary of the first one too.
You are right…shows you how organized big companies are…
They’re one of those that I know should but don’t. I think they’re just okay. They do have a few great tracks though. I especially enjoy their work with Billy Bragg on the Mermaid Ave albums.
Missed a few words in that comment. Bit early still. Wilco is a band I know I should love but don’t.
Mermaid Avenue is really good – it’s a shame I couldn’t squeeze anything in from volume 1.
Such a great band! And great list. Nearly impossible for me to pick 10. Like you I would include Misunderstood and Poor Places. Then I’d probably have a few different choices.
Passenger Side
Monday
She’s A Jar
How To Fight Loneliness
A Shot in the Arm
He’ll is Chrome
Muzzle of Bees
You Are My Face
…oops, ran out of choices. Their catalog is dense with great songs and their concerts are intensely great. For the uninitiated I always recommend the album Summerteeth or the live album, Kicking Television, as a good starting point. Caution: once your in, you may never get out.
Thank you! Monday, She’s A Jar, and Hell Is Chrome are all favourites. They have a really deep catalogue – it felt weird only have two songs from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.
I have got to admit I was expecting Jesus Etc. to be somewhere in there. That’s my absolute favorite by them. But great choices anyway.
It was tough on great records like Being There and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot only having a couple of selections. They just have a lot of great songs.
Amem to that!
Cant do it. Like every song you picked and more. We’ve had the Wilco talk before. We both like their music. I always seem to have one of their songs playing in my spins. I like that #1 choice. Did you know there’s another Woody collaboration kicking around. Just heard a cut the other day.Different bunch of musicians,
I haven’t heard Mermaid Avenue 3 either – you can only get it in the box set.
Oh yeah that new bunch of Woody songs has Tweedy’s old buddy Farrar involved.
This one? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Multitudes
It’s a few years old, so assuming there’s something newer?
Yup. The cut was ‘Worlds On Fire’. The Grand (DJ) plays lots of stuff like this. One of the people on the album,Will Johnson is in a band called Centro-matic. I’m just givingb them some time.
I like Centro-matic. I only know one album -All The Falsest Hearts May Try.
I’m going to give them some time. The grand plays them a lot.
I was just looking up some info on a record that I want to review soon (John Moreland’s LP5) and it turns out it was produced by Centro-Matic’s drummer. Funny because I haven’t seen them talked about for years.
Always cool when artists we like hook up creatively.
I commend you for taking this on. I agreed with all your choices, and could think of hundreds more. Yeah, I’m a bit of a fan. But still, well done!
Yup, it’s a deep catalogue with lots of very good songs. It was a shame I couldn’t fit anything from The Whole Love onward too.
Bravo, man. This is a helluva task – all of these are great songs, but some of my favourites (granted they’re not necessarily their best songs) are missing and I can’t even begin to think how they’d shape this ten. I honestly wouldn’t chuck any of them… well, perhaps I would disqualify Remember The Mountain Bed to make space for Jesus, Etc. Or Via Chicago. Or Ashes of American Flags. Or Hell is Chrome. Or How to Fight Loneliness. Or… etc etc.
They have a lot of great material to choose from at this point – Hell is Chrome and Ashes of American Flags are great ones I couldn’t squeeze in.
Yeah – it’s probably quite a bit easier to pick the 10 worst songs.