mpolak21

3. 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 wood vines 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 c

4. 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

5. Muzzle of Bees There's a random painted highway And a muzzle of bees My sleeves have come unstitched From climbing your tree And dogs laugh, some say they're barking I don't think they're mean Some people get so frightened Of the fences in between And the sun gets passed from tree to tree Silently, and back to me With the breeze blown through Pushed up against the sea Finally back to me I'm assuming you got my message On your machine I'm assuming you love me And you know what that means Sun gets passed, sea to sea Silently, and back to me With the breeze blown through Pushed up a

6. 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 Voi

7. 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 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 'C

8. 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

9. Not For The Season/Laminated Cat 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 weeken

10. Sunken Treasure There's rows and rows of houses With windows painted blue With the light from a TV Running parallel to you But there is no sunken treasure Rumored to be Wrapped inside my ribs In a sea black with ink I am so Out of tune With you I am so out of tune With you If I had a mountain I'd try to fold it over If I had a boat (probably roll over) You know I'd probably roll over (leave it on the shore) And I leave it on the shore (leave it for somebody) I'd leave it for somebody Surely there's somebody Who needs it more than me I am so Out of tune With you I am so out

11. 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 not without fight At the crush of veils and starlight I know I'll make it back One of these days And turn on you

12. Gun Falling out the window Tripping on a wrinkle in the rug Falling out of love, dear It hurt much worse when you gave up Just don't tell me which way I oughta run Or what good I could do anyone 'Cause my heart, it was a gun But it's unloaded now so don't bother Climbing up the ladder Breaking my shin on the very first rung Waking up the neighbors It's all right, they understand they're just as dumb And they don't tell me which way I oughta run Or what good I could do anyone 'Cause my heart, it was a gun But it's unloaded now, so don't bother me now, don't bother Crawling back to

13. She's A Jar She's a jar With a heavy lid My pop quiz kid A sleepy kisser A pretty war With feelings hid She begs me not to miss her She says forever To light a fuse We could use A handful of wheel And a day off And a bruised road However, you might feel Tonight is real When I forget how to talk, I sing Won't you please Bring that flash to shine And turn my eyes red Unless they close When you click And my face gets sick Stuck, like a question unposed Just climb aboard The tracks of a train's arm In my fragile family tree And watch me floating inches above The people underneath Ple

14. Hell is Chrome When the devil came He was not red He was chrome and he said Come with me You must go So I went Where everything was clean So precise and towering I was welcomed With open arms I received so much help in every way I felt no fear I felt no fear The air was crisp Like sunny late winter days A springtime yawning high in the haze And I felt like I belonged Come with me Come with me Come with me Come with me Come with me Come with me Come with me Come with me Found on: A Ghost is Born (2004)

15. Handshake Drugs I was chewin' gum for something to do The blinds were being pulled down on the dew Inside, out of love, what a laugh I was looking for you Saxophones started blowing me down I was buried in sound Taxicabs were driving me around To the handshake drugs I bought downtown The handshake drugs I bought downtown Livin' poorly, I felt like a clown I looked like someone I used to know Was feelin' alright And if I ever was myself I wasn't that night It's okay for you to say What you want from me I believe that's the only Way for me to be, exactly What you want me to be Oh i

16. 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 re-arrival 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

17. Chinese Apple If I sleep too much A good Chinese apple Shine to the touch My sweet-feeling capital It's hard to change Something supernatural Unlock my body and move myself at last In the warm liquid, flowing glowing glass Classical music, blasting masks the ringing in my ears Am I waiting for the uncovering of simple paths between the branches Flowering chance, fence-slats rattling Fingers pushing through, slowly brushing past, a fast glimpse of you If I sleep too much A good Chinese apple Shine to the touch My sweet-feeling capital It's hard to change Something supernatural Fou

18. At Least That's What You Said When I sat down on the bed next to you You started to cry I said, maybe if I leave, you'll want me To come back home Or maybe all you mean, is leave me alone At least that's what you said You're irresistible when you get mad Isn't it sad, I'm immune I thought it was cute For you to kiss My purple black eye Even though I caught it from you I still think we're serious At least that's what you said Found on: A Ghost is Born (2004)

19. Radio King Let’s go down, together 3 A.M tomorrow night I’ll take you over anything Let’s go out, together Broad daylight in the street I’ll take you anywhere Your music fills my car Your voice breaks every time I’m still wonderin’ If I know who you are I hang on every line Let’s go down, together Down by the old mainstream I’ll take you over anything Let’s go back in time 1959 I’ll take you, Radio King Your music fills my car Your voice breaks every time I’m still wonderin’ If I know who you are I hang on every line Found On: Golden Smog-- Down By The Old Mainstream (1996)

20. Pieholden Suite There's a whisper I would like to breathe into your ear but I'm too scared to Get that close to you right now There are dreams we might have shared and I still care and I still love you But you know how I've been untrue In the beginning we closed our eyes Whenever we kissed We were surprised to Find so much inside Found on: Summerteeth (1999)

Letterman Top 10 Numbers About a month ago while sorting through the pages and pages of complaints on the thread discussing American Songwriter's List of The Twenty Greatest Tweedy Songs I thought "shit, we could do this better." I started the "Let's Do This Right" thread, and encouraged everyone to send me or post their personal lists of what they thought were the twenty best songs Jeff Tweedy had ever written. I made executive decisions to let virtually anything fly, as long as Tweedy had a songwriting credit and sang it, it was fair game. Over the course of this last month many of you v

Stopped reading at the "from the ashes of Uncle Tupelo" line. --Mike

Don't know but I'm certainly not anywhere near being tired of them yet. --Mike

I loved their first two albums, though I haven't listened to them seriously for awhile. Still I liked a few of their newer tracks here and there, like Born on a Different Cloud or Lyla. I think Be Here Now is an abomination, and this decade Noel and Liam's interviews were always a little more interesting to read then listening to what ever album they were promoting. Still if done well I'll always have a soft spot for anyone copping from the Beatles, Stones, and Kinks. They really might be the last rock band I liked that got serious Top 40 radio play in the states. I guess I've heard the Stroke

One of my favorite songs, sadly I wasn't be able to hunt down a video of the performance of Grant and Jon Brion doing that at Largo for the unaired VH-1 pilot the Jon Brion show in 1999. It's pretty amazing. --Mike

Woah, I'm really loving this one. It's like he took every instrumental piece of his I love and combined them all into one track. Might be my favorite album of the year thus far. --Mike

Pre-ordered, and I am arranging to come down for the Chicago performances that weekend. Looking forward to it. --Mike