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Edit: All final lists due by Friday, August 28th.

 

As many of you may know American songwriter has been excruciatingly unveiling their list of the twenty best Tweedy songs over the past couple of weeks, you can read all about here: Top 20 Jeff Tweedy Songs Thread. The list has been frustratingly inconsistent, and I was thinking perhaps rather than ripping the American Songwriter guys with yet another post. I'd just try to do it better.

 

So, over the next few weeks, I invite all of you to share lists of your top 20 Tweedy songs. In a few weeks, I'll compile the lists, and complete a master talley. Feel free to share, discuss, argue, etc. here.

 

Guidelines:

 

1.) Everything Tweedy wrote is fair game. I have decided the Mermaid songs count, because they are awesome, and because I don't want to be on the wrong end of hate mail from Kidsmoke if she can't vote for Feed of Man. But yeah, Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, Golden Smog, Loose Fur, Minus 5, unreleased Wilco stuff, if you can find it and prove he wrote it, you can vote for it. I am totally voting for Diamond Claw.

2.) It would be nice if your list is in order, but if you've agonized for three hours over whether Gun is better than New Madrid, just making a list of twenty songs will suffice, and points will be distributed evenly to all 20.

3.) If you want to throw a preliminary list up now and edit it, that's fine. Just let me know what lists are final and what lists aren't.

4.) I was thinking of having blurbs like the American Songwriter guy did it, but much better and written by VCers, to go with all of the songs. Let me know what you think of this idea/if you'd be interested in writing something about one of your favorite Tweedy songs.

 

--Mike.

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Guest Speed Racer

This is more or less in order for me:

 

1. Chinese Apple

2. Poor Places

3. Ashes of American Flags

4. Spiders

5. Hell is Chrome

6. IATTBYH

7. Panthers

8. More Like the Moon

9. Summerteeth

10. I'm Always in Love

11. Kamera

12. You Were Wrong

13. Wreckroom

14. Red Elevator

15. Diamond Claw

16. Feed of Man

17. Let Me Come Home

18. Magazine

19. Acuff Rose

20. Gun

 

edit: Well, poop in my hand, I forgot Magazine! Sorry, "Wait Up." Yeeargh, and edited again to ditch "Long Time Ago" in favor of "More Like the Moon," the most awesome song in the universe. Seventh most awesome...

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Mike,

You're a madman, and I totally dig it. I have always been obsessed with list-making. For many years as a kid I did my own Top 20 Billboard style charts. I kept them in a binder and included records on one side of a sheet of paper and singles on the other. I kept track of how long records had been in the charts, etc. Unfortunately I lost that binder long ago. I'll reanalyze my list from the other thread and try to rank them when time allows.

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Guest Speed Racer

Out of curiosity - the solo acoustic live version or the studio version?

 

Dear lord! Solo acoustic. Studio version can suck nuts.

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1. Someday Soon

2. If That's Alright

3. Radio King

4. Should've Been in Love

5. Poor Places

6. Misunderstood

7. Wait Up

8. Watch Me Fall

9. When the Roses Bloom Again (Jeff didn't write this did he? It is too awesome not to include though!)

10. Remember the Mountain Bed

11. One By One

12. Nothing

13. Blasting Fonda

14. Sunken Treasure

15. Pieholdensuite

16. You Were Wrong

17. We've Been Had

18. Ashes of an American Flag

19. Too Far Apart

20. Pot Kettle Black

 

Just realized I don't have any songs past Yankee...

 

Hmmm

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Dear lord! Solo acoustic. Studio version can suck nuts.

 

This is the correct answer. It's even more precise and accurate than an atomic clock. You will be hearing from a team of scientists from Switzerland very soon.

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Last edit......I numbered them to prove that I can...... :thumbup

 

 

Edited to four groups of FIVE......Each set of five is no order of preference but they are tiered. Don't think I can rank much better than this. Hope this helps in assigning points.

 

If I had to make a mix of Tweedy songs for someone who wasn't familiar with them these are the 20 I would include beyond a doubt.

 

Top five(best)

1.Acuff Rose

2.Forget the Flowers

3.Red Eyed and Blue

4.I Got You

5.Impossible Germany

 

Second tier of five(next best, etc.)

6.Misunderstood

7.IATTBYH

8.Hate It Here

9.Should've Been in Love

10.Too Far Apart

 

Third Tier

11.You Are My Face

12.Walken

13.One Wing

14.Handshake Drugs

15.Casino Queen

 

Fourth Tier

16.Shot in the Arm*

17.You Never Know

18.Poor Places

19.The Thanks I Get

20.Jesus Etc.

 

* took out Hummingbird

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Poor Places

Muzzle Of Bees

Remember The Mountain Bed

Please Be Patient With Me

Ashes Of American Flags

Gun

Not For the Season

Via Chicago

Spiders

Bob Dylans 49th Beard

Bull Black Nova

On and On and On

One Wing

Passenger Side

New Madrid

Hell Is Chrome

Pieholden Suite

Side With The Seeds

Sunken Treasure

Summerteeth

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9. When the Roses Bloom Again (Jeff didn't write this did he? It is too awesome not to include though!)

Wilco has an "arranged by" credit on this song, I'm saying it's fair game.

 

12. Nothing

 

Good choice, friend.

 

Thanks for the lists folks. If you're list is not in order please specify like Nudie did that all songs should be counted equally.

 

--Mike

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Guest Runaway Jim

I thought quite a bit about this, and here's my final list (differs greatly from what I posted in the other thread). In Order.

 

1. Outtasite (Outta Mind)

2. Pot Kettle Black

3. Jesus, etc.

4. I am Trying to Break Your Heart

5. Misunderstood

6. Sunken Treasure

7. A Shot in the Arm

8. Remember the Mountain Bed

9. Gun

10. Muzzle of Bees

11. Ashes of American Flags

12. At Least That's What You Said

13. I'm The Man Who Loves You

14. Airline to Heaven

15. Not for the Season

16. Poor Places

17. Cars Can't Escape

18. Via Chicago

19. Summerteeth

20. Please Tell My Brother

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1. Poor Places

2. Remember the Mountain Bed

3. Via Chicago

4. Spiders

5. Ashes of American Flags

6. Cars Can't Escape

7. Not for the Season

8. Misunderstood

9. More Like the Moon

10. Radio Cure

11. Muzzle of Bees

12. Radio King

13. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart

14. She's a Jar

15. Acuff Rose

16. I'm Always in Love

17. Wishful Thinking

18. Venus Stopped the Train

19. Country Disappeared

20. My Words

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Something like this:

 

1. Poor Places

2. Hell is Chrome

3. Muzzle of Bees

4. Remember the Mountain Bed

5. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

6. Radio Cure

7. Misunderstood

8. She’s a Jar

9. Gun

10. Via Chicago

11. Bob Dylan’s 49th Beard

12. Sunken Treasure

13. More Like The Moon

14. Jesus, etc.

15. Hummingbird

16. Summer Teeth

17. I’m Always in Love

18. Cars Can’t Escape

19. Let Me Come Home

20. Far, Far Away

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I've amended my previous post on page 2 or 3 from the original forum regarding Top 20 Jeff Tweedy Songs to add Mermaid Avenue songs. Overall, I am still very pleased with my list.

 

 

1. Poor Places

2. Ashes of American Flags

3. Remember The Mountain Bed

4. Muzzle Of Bees

5. How To Fight Loneliness

6. A Shot In The Arm

7. Hell Is Chrome

8. Radio King

9. Theologians

10. Jesus, etc.

11. She's A Jar

12. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

13. Sunken Treasure

14. New Madrid

15. Please Tell My Brother

16. Impossible Germany

17. On and On and On

18. Long Time Ago

19. Gun

20. Hoodoo Voodoo

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My list in alphabetical order...

 

Black Eye

Bull Black Nova

Chinese Apple

Far, Far Away

Hummingbird

I Got You (At the end of the century)

Jesus, Etc.

Kamera

Muzzle of Bees

New Madrid

Poor Places

Pot Kettle Black

Reservations

Should’ve Been in Love

Spiders

Sunken Treasure

Theologians

Via Chicago

Wishful Thinking

Wreckroom

 

No SBS made the cut. Impossible Germany could be crammed in my list somewhere. It gets an honorable mention instead.

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In order of release:

 

 

Should've Been in Love

Dash 7

Misunderstood

Monday

Sunken Treasure

Dreamer in My Dreams

I'm Always in Love

Via Chicago

Future Age

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

Jesus, Etc

Poor Places

Hell is Chrome

Theologians

Impossible Germany

Sky Blue Sky

Hate it Here

One Wing

Country Disappeared

I'll Fight

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Guest Speed Racer

I'm definitely going to need some time.

 

Why are so many people afraid to rank the songs? It's not that difficult.

 

:lol

 

I think people are just not willing to put that time in.

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I've approached this in terms of songwriting. What I mean by this is does the song in question stand up as an entity seperate from the recording. If I had never heard of Wilco and heard a cover of these songs, I think they would stands up because there is a timelessness of universality about them. Had I approached it differently, say, in terms of the quality of specific recordings, or Jeff's personality or emotion coming through, my list would be vastly different and would unquestionably include "Misunderstood." The order is somewhat arbitrary:

 

1. Forget The Flowers

2. The Long Cut

3. Jesus, Etc.

4. California Stars

5. How To Fight Loneliness

6. New Madrid

7. Hummingbird

8. Cars Can't Escape (not sure how much of this is Jeff and how much Jay)

9. Acuff Rose

10. Pick up the Change

11. Please Tell My Brother

12. Someone Else's Song

13. Magazine Called Sunset

14. One by One

15. We've Been Had

16. I'm Always In Love

17. Kamera

19. The Lonely 1

20. Far, Far Away

21. Black Eye (in case Cars Can't Escape is ineligible)

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Why are so many people afraid to rank the songs? It's not that difficult.

 

Cause too many songs would be duking it out for the #1 spot. And I don't want to hurt their feelings.

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from a singer/songwriter perspective I have to admit (although it is my least favorite Wilco album) that AGIB contains some real nuggets. "Hell Is Chrome" is lyrically unbelievable if you think about it.

 

That being said I personally think it would be tough to top "New Madrid". I think it is memorable, historically based, timeless, etc etc etc.

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