The Top Twenty Tweedy Songs As Picked By VC

[mpolak21]

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 voted for over a 100 songs in the Wilco, Uncle Tupelo, Golden Smog, Minus 5, and Loose Fur catalog, and this last week despite my extreme aversion to work and general fear of math I have tallied all of our votes.

 

Now unlike the horrific call by American Songwriter to unveil that list over twenty days, who has that kind of attention span? I am going to unveil the entire list post-by-post in this thread. I'm going to include the lyrics courtesy of the great bemydemon website, and if I can get the okay from the mods, I'll eventually try to start tracking down youtube clips of everything.

 

Thanks again for voting and making this list happen. It was a true labor of love. And now enough of me, let's start this Casey Kasem style at number 20 counting down to number one.

 

--Mike.

[mpolak21]

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)

[mpolak21]

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)

[mpolak21]

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)

[mpolak21]

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

 

Found on: Loose Fur-Loose Fur (2003).

[mpolak21]

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

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

 

Every moment's a little bit later

Every moment's a little bit later

Every moment's a little bit later

 

I'm tied in a knot

 

But I'm not

Gonna get caught

Calling a pot kettle black

 

I'm not

Gonna get caught

Calling a pot kettle black

 

Found on: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)

[mpolak21]

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 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 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

 

Oh the saxophones started blowin' me down

I was buried in sound

The taxicabs were driving me around

To the handshake drugs I bought downtown

To the handshake drugs I bought downtown

 

Felt like a clown

They were translating poorly

I looked like someone

I used to know

And if I ever was myself,

I wasn't that night

 

Oh 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

 

Exactly what do you want me to be?

Exactly what do you want me to be?

 

Found on: More Like The Moon (2003) and A Ghost is Born (2004).

[mpolak21]

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)

[mpolak21]

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

 

Please beware the quiet front yard

I warned you

Before there were water skies

I warned you not to drive

Dry your eyes, you poor devil

 

Are there really ones like these?

The ones I dream

Float like leaves

And freeze to spread skeleton wings

I passed through before I knew you

 

I believe it's just because

Daddy's payday is not enough

Oh I believe it's all because

Daddy's payday is not enough

 

Just climb aboard

The tracks of a train's arm

In my fragile family tree

 

And watch me floating inches above

The people underneath

 

She's a jar

With a heavy lid

My pop quiz kid

A sleepy kisser

A pretty war

With feelings hid

 

You know she begs me

Not to hit her

 

Found on: Summerteeth (1999)

[mpolak21]

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 you now

I sold my guitar to the girl next door

She asked me if I knew how

I told her "I don't think so anymore"

 

Don't tell me which way I oughta run

What good could I do anyone

'Cause my heart, it was a gun

But it's unloaded now so don't bother

 

Found on: Still Feel Gone (1991)

[mpolak21]

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 your TV

To watch a man with a face like mine

Being chased down a busy street

 

When he gets caught, I won't get up

And I won't go to sleep

I'm coming home

I'm coming home

Via Chicago

 

Where the cups are cracked and hooked

Above the sink

They make me think

Crumbling ladder tears don't fall

They shine down your shoulders

 

And crawling is screw faster lash

I blow it with kisses

I rest my head on a pillowy star

And a cracked-door moon

That says I haven't gone too far

 

I'm coming home

I'm coming home

I'm coming home

Via Chicago

 

Coming home

Coming home

Coming home

 

Searching for a home

Searching for a home

Searching for a home

Via Chicago

 

I'm coming home

I'm coming home

 

Found on: Summerteeth (1999)

[mpolak21]

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 of tune

With you

 

For all the leaves will burn

In autumn fires and then return

For all the fires we burn

All will return

 

Music is my savior

I was maimed by rock and roll

I was maimed by rock and roll

I was tamed by rock and roll

I got my name from rock and roll

 

Found on: Being There (1996)

[mpolak21]

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 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

 

Found on: Loose Fur (2003), YHF Demos.

[mpolak21]

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 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

 

Found on: Uncle Tupelo-Anodyne (1993)

[mpolak21]

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

'Cause he ain't never been satisfied

He thinks he owes some kind of debt

It'll be years before he gets over it

 

There's a fortune inside your head

When all you touch turns to lead

You think you might just crawl back in bed

With the fortune inside your head

 

I know you're just a mama's boy

You're positively unemployed

So misunderstood

So misunderstood

 

I know you've got a god-shaped hole

You're bleeding out your heart full of soul

You're so misunderstood

You're so misunderstood

You're so misunderstood

You're so misunderstood

 

I'd like to thank you all for nothing

I'd like to thank you all for nothing at all

I'd like to thank you all for nothing

Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing at all

Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing at all

 

Found on: Being There (1996)

[Ghost of Electricity]

oh, the suspense!

[mpolak21]

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

 

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

 

Found on: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)

[mpolak21]

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 above the leaves

 

With the breeze blown through

My head upon your knee

Half of it's you, half is me

Half of it's you, half is me

 

Found on: A Ghost is Born (2004)

[mpolak21]

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

You're quite a quiet, domino, bury me now

Take off your band-aid 'cause I don't believe in touchdowns

What was I thinking when we said hello

 

I always thought that if I held you tightly

You'd 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

 

(Loves you)

 

I'm the man who loves you

 

Found on: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)

[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 cheeks part of the sky

Your fingers played with grassy moss, as 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 your 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

 

Found on: Mermaid Avenue Volume 2 (2000).

[mpolak21]

2. Ashes of American Flags

 

The cash machine is blue and green

For a hundred in twenties and a small service fee

I could spend three dollars and sixty-three cents

On Diet Coca-Cola and unlit cigarettes

 

I wonder why we listen to poets

When nobody gives a fuck

How hot and sorrowful

This machine begs for luck

 

All my lies are always wishes

I know I would die if I could come back new

 

I want a good life

With a nose for things

A fresh wind and bright sky

To enjoy my suffering

 

A hole without a key

If I break my tongue

Speaking of tomorrow

How will it ever come?

 

All my lies are always wishes

I know I would die if I could come back new

 

I'm down on my hands and knees

Every time the doorbell rings

I shake like a toothache

When I hear myself sing

 

All my lies are only wishes

I know I would die if I could come back new

 

I would like to salute

The ashes of American flags

And all the fallen leaves

Filling up shopping bags

 

Found on: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)

[mpolak21]

1. Poor Places

 

It's my father's voice trailing off

Sailors sailing off in the morning

For the air-conditioned rooms

At the top of the stairs

 

His jaw's been broken

His bandage is wrapped too tight

His fangs have been pulled

And I really want to see you tonight

 

There's bourbon on the breath

Of the singer you love so much

He takes all his words from the books

That you don't read anyway

 

His jaw's been broken

His bandage is wrapped too tight

His fangs have been pulled

And I really want to see you tonight

 

Someone ties a bow

In my backyard to show me love

My voice is climbing walls

Smoking and I want love

 

My jaw's been broken

My heart is wrapped in ice

My fangs have been pulled

And I really want to see you tonight

 

And it makes no difference to me

How they cried all over overseas

When it's hot in the poor places tonight

I'm not going outside

 

They cried all over overseas

It makes no difference to me

When it's hot in the poor places tonight

I'm not going outside

 

It's hot in the poor places tonight

I'm not going outside

I'm not going outside

I'm not going outside

 

(Yankee...hotel...foxtrot)

[Wild Frank]

Can't really argue with that list. Some great songs. Nothing from 'Sky Blue Sky' though. Lots from 'Ghost' which would get my vote for best album. 'Ashes' is becoming one of my all-time favourite tunes, especially after seeing the version on the new DVD.

[mpolak21]

Easy cheat sheet.

 

1.) Poor Places

2.) Ashes of American Flags

3.) Remember The Mountain Bed

4.) I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

5.) Muzzle of Bees

6.) Jesus, etc.

7.) Misunderstood

8.) New Madrid

9.) Laminated Cat/Not For The Season

10.) Sunken Treasure

11.) Via Chicago

12.) Gun

13.) She's A Jar

14.) Hell Is Chrome

15.) Handshake Drugs

16.) Pot Kettle Black

17.) Chinese Apple

18.) At Least That's What You Said

19.) Radio King

20.) Pieholden Suite

 

The next five...

 

21.) Spiders

22.) I'm Always In Love

23.) You Are My Face

24.) Magazine Called Sunset

25.) Cars Can't Escape

 

Second highest from SBS

 

27.) Impossible Germany (earlier this read You Are My Face, my mistake).

 

Highest from A.M.

 

30.) Should've Been in Love

 

Highest from WTA

 

32.) Bull Black Nova.

 

A note on the voting:

 

Votes were tallied using a ridiculously simplistic system. First place choices got 20 votes, second 19 votes, and on down the line. If lists weren't in order everything was given a tenth place vote and each song received 11 points. Poor Places emerged as the leader through the first four lists I tallied, and stayed there the entire way.

--Mike

[bleedorange]

Biggest surprise...no A Shot in the Arm.