Sky Blue Sky - Confession of a Relatively New Fan

[spongebob]

Can't we all just get along? Won't someone please think of the Children!!!

 

P.S. LaughingDog - We get it. You like SBS, and you seem to have some sort of persecution complex. It's all good. Relax and let folks enjoy what they enjoy. That seems to be what others are doing. So, join in.

[Guest Speed Racer]

Can I hate a song of an artist and still be a fan? Because I hate Leave Me (Like You Found Me) and What Light.

 

I think you logged in as me.

 

I actually don't mind What Light. I enjoy Side With the Seeds, Shake it Off, Hate it Here, Walken, and What Light. You Are My Face and Impossible Germany are good songs, but I don't think of them often, I guess. I don't mind Sky Blue Sky either, but I don't really like the arrangement on that song (I've said this before, but I really hate how Wilco + Nels = Nels playing lap steel-ish guitar on every. single. slow. song). But Please Be Patient With Me and Leave Me Like You Found Me are Pity-Party 2007, Either Way also has a "don't mind me, I'm totally fine (but I really hope it's sunny and you love me)" vibe, and really spoil the barrel for me.

 

Those who really like Sky Blue Sky (and those who don't, even) ought to scroll up to the Wilco Archive link and download the 05/16/2003 Martyr's show - or at least "You're Really Gone." It's Hate it Here in its earliest incarnation, nicked from a cassette Jeff recorded around the time UT made Anodyne. Completely different, sparse and haunting. Here are the lyrics: http://www.bemydemon.org/songs/reallygone.htm

[Sir Stewart]

Either Way also has a "don't mind me, I'm totally fine (but I really hope it's sunny and you love me)" vibe

He doesn't hope it's sunny at all in that song. Nor does he hope "you love me." The song is about acceptance, not longing.

[Guest Speed Racer]

He doesn't hope it's sunny at all in that song. Nor does he hope "you love me." The song is about acceptance, not longing.

 

I know, but the fact that it's spoken to "you" always gives me this grandma-in-the-corner "don't mind me" vibe.

[Sir Stewart]

You is a loon.

[LaughingDog]

Can't we all just get along? Won't someone please think of the Children!!!

 

P.S. LaughingDog - We get it. You like SBS, and you seem to have some sort of persecution complex. It's all good. Relax and let folks enjoy what they enjoy. That seems to be what others are doing. So, join in.

 

I probably do; that, and I also loooove talking about Wilco

I really do like Sky Blue Sky, I had a pretty long phase with it after having equally long or longer phases with the rest of the Wilco catalog. I've never really found any aspect of Wilco I haven't liked. I don't think there is a single song on any of their albums I just can't listen to. SBS isn't too high on my list though, but that is no indication as for how much I like it. I just happen to like some of their others better.

[W(TF)]

 

they don't play "shake it off" live very often because of some comments that appeared on this board.

 

I take it you forgot the sarcasm tags??

 

SBS holds up really well for me, I always liked it. It came in a year that had quite a number of great records though.

[i'm only sleeping]

 

Those who really like Sky Blue Sky (and those who don't, even) ought to scroll up to the Wilco Archive link and download the 05/16/2003 Martyr's show - or at least "You're Really Gone." It's Hate it Here in its earliest incarnation, nicked from a cassette Jeff recorded around the time UT made Anodyne. Completely different, sparse and haunting. Here are the lyrics: http://www.bemydemon.../reallygone.htm

 

Sorry but I think that show is not in the Wilco archive:

January 12, 2003

February 2, 2003 Franger Source

April 21, 2003

April 22, 2003

April 26, 2003

May 1, 2003

June 21, 2003

June 24, 2003 Eddy Source

June 28, 2003

June 29, 2003

July 2, 2003

September 3, 2003

September 4, 2003

September 19, 2003

September 20, 2003

October 25, 2003

October 26, 2003

[choo-choo-charlie]

 

Sorry but I think that show is not in the Wilco archive:

January 12, 2003

February 2, 2003 Franger Source

April 21, 2003

April 22, 2003

April 26, 2003

May 1, 2003

June 21, 2003

June 24, 2003 Eddy Source

June 28, 2003

June 29, 2003

July 2, 2003

September 3, 2003

September 4, 2003

September 19, 2003

September 20, 2003

October 25, 2003

October 26, 2003

 

That's because she's referring to a Tweedy solo performance.

 

http://wilcoarchive.com/tweedy%2020030516.shn/

[i'm only sleeping]

 

That's because she's referring to a Tweedy solo performance.

 

http://wilcoarchive....2020030516.shn/

Thank you! Downloading right now

[Guest Speed Racer]

That whole show is probably my favorite Tweedy solo show. Panthers, My Words and You're Really Gone, and a killer solo Poor Places. I wish the fidelity was better, but you can't have everything.

[Fezzick]

I know we're all stuck relating to music as any other art - to paraphrase someone who said something somewhere: if it means something to you, great, if not just look away.

 

I agree with some others that it's fun to talk about a shared love of Wilco, and as I read some good/bad SBS comments it helped me to really see why it was I felt so damn connected to the record at the time...but let me say the album is as unique as any other - and though it may be hard to pin a work on a word I'll drop one on SBS: Reconciliation.

 

To back that slightly - from the get go: Either Way... "Maybe you still love me...maybe you don't - either you will or you won't" The whole record has a tone of being man enough to look a thing in the face and call it what it is...right up through the final track "However short or long our lives are going to be - I will live in you or you will live in me until we disappear together in a dream." Naturally I realize this over-simplification has flaws, but there it is.

 

In any case, I was in total transition, from over a decade of office work to starting some construction business and it took me from the early tides of the humid northeast New England summer out to Berkeley where I began a 6-week project that had me out in that clear blessed breeze and perpetual sun of the early bay area summer. So I had the work in my hands, the pungent smell of redwood sawdust and a burned copy of the SBS stream in my ears. Some might gag to imagine me putting that CD in at the start of the morning, and letting it run until I wrapped (after a 10-12hr day)...day after day...probably logging 3-400 full listens before I left to go back home (and see them perform them just a few weeks after the official SBS release at the Pines in Northampton, MA). The mood of it sank into my bones...the tone of those guitars and the blend of it... I loved that sometimes it let Glen have a moment or two for a brilliant riff, or Nels the chance to demonstrate his extreme and sometimes delicate virtuosity - and it's funny that the posts here about not liking certain songs tended to be the ones where they were featured more prominently. I loved feeling the blend of the band's line-up and how much it felt like a throw-back to something the late 60's or early 70's might have conjured up.

 

I've been a fan of Wilco from YHF (even though an old friend pushed and pushed even pre-Summerteeth for them, I just wasn't feeling it), and will admit that what grabbed me early on was Tweedy and his gloriously fragmented poetic nuggets...the sort that stick to your ribs. It was through those nuggets that I finally stopped in my tracks and let the music in. So I imagine it may be the case with other long-standing fans as well - and I have the same issue with certain songs - we expect a lot of him because we know what he _can_ deliver lyrically. Yet there are moments when he can say a thing and deliver a thing with a matter-of-fact frankness that is shocking (and plain) - but it forces us to fill in the void (emotionally) of the moment instead.

 

Either way, any piece of art will only ever be a glimmer of a reflection that we recognize either in the world or ourselves...for good or bad. And this record resonated in me then and now - it captured a moment for me and I will never be without those soft cool breezes, infected with ancient redwoods and the reflection that reconciliation feels ok whenever I listen to it...

 

Either Way (everything has it's plan), Sky Blue Sky (oh I didn't die, I should be satisfied), Hate it Here (have to keep my mind out of this, try not to pretend), Walken (the more I think about, the more I know it's true), Shake it Off (somewhere there's a war, sometimes there is art) - and even What Light...(just remember what was yours is everyone's from now on, and that's not wrong or right, and you can struggle with it all you like - you'll only get uptight)...it goes On and On and On...

 

Hope this was as fun to read as it was to reflect upon. SBS is worth an honest listen, which the weight of expectations can rarely uphold. And I don't mind saying (personally of course) that if I had a top 25 records (by any band) of all time, this would be in my bag on that desert island.

[caliber66]

the blend of the band

Or the "bland", if you will.

[Ghost of Electricity]

Or the "bland", if you will.

geeze, just let the giant like what he likes.

[junkiesmile]

I know we're all stuck relating to music as any other art - to paraphrase someone who said something somewhere: if it means something to you, great, if not just look away.

 

I agree with some others that it's fun to talk about a shared love of Wilco, and as I read some good/bad SBS comments it helped me to really see why it was I felt so damn connected to the record at the time...but let me say the album is as unique as any other - and though it may be hard to pin a work on a word I'll drop one on SBS: Reconciliation.

 

To back that slightly - from the get go: Either Way... "Maybe you still love me...maybe you don't - either you will or you won't" The whole record has a tone of being man enough to look a thing in the face and call it what it is...right up through the final track "However short or long our lives are going to be - I will live in you or you will live in me until we disappear together in a dream." Naturally I realize this over-simplification has flaws, but there it is.

 

In any case, I was in total transition, from over a decade of office work to starting some construction business and it took me from the early tides of the humid northeast New England summer out to Berkeley where I began a 6-week project that had me out in that clear blessed breeze and perpetual sun of the early bay area summer. So I had the work in my hands, the pungent smell of redwood sawdust and a burned copy of the SBS stream in my ears. Some might gag to imagine me putting that CD in at the start of the morning, and letting it run until I wrapped (after a 10-12hr day)...day after day...probably logging 3-400 full listens before I left to go back home (and see them perform them just a few weeks after the official SBS release at the Pines in Northampton, MA). The mood of it sank into my bones...the tone of those guitars and the blend of it... I loved that sometimes it let Glen have a moment or two for a brilliant riff, or Nels the chance to demonstrate his extreme and sometimes delicate virtuosity - and it's funny that the posts here about not liking certain songs tended to be the ones where they were featured more prominently. I loved feeling the blend of the band's line-up and how much it felt like a throw-back to something the late 60's or early 70's might have conjured up.

 

I've been a fan of Wilco from YHF (even though an old friend pushed and pushed even pre-Summerteeth for them, I just wasn't feeling it), and will admit that what grabbed me early on was Tweedy and his gloriously fragmented poetic nuggets...the sort that stick to your ribs. It was through those nuggets that I finally stopped in my tracks and let the music in. So I imagine it may be the case with other long-standing fans as well - and I have the same issue with certain songs - we expect a lot of him because we know what he _can_ deliver lyrically. Yet there are moments when he can say a thing and deliver a thing with a matter-of-fact frankness that is shocking (and plain) - but it forces us to fill in the void (emotionally) of the moment instead.

 

Either way, any piece of art will only ever be a glimmer of a reflection that we recognize either in the world or ourselves...for good or bad. And this record resonated in me then and now - it captured a moment for me and I will never be without those soft cool breezes, infected with ancient redwoods and the reflection that reconciliation feels ok whenever I listen to it...

 

Either Way (everything has it's plan), Sky Blue Sky (oh I didn't die, I should be satisfied), Hate it Here (have to keep my mind out of this, try not to pretend), Walken (the more I think about, the more I know it's true), Shake it Off (somewhere there's a war, sometimes there is art) - and even What Light...(just remember what was yours is everyone's from now on, and that's not wrong or right, and you can struggle with it all you like - you'll only get uptight)...it goes On and On and On...

 

Hope this was as fun to read as it was to reflect upon. SBS is worth an honest listen, which the weight of expectations can rarely uphold. And I don't mind saying (personally of course) that if I had a top 25 records (by any band) of all time, this would be in my bag on that desert island.

Nice post. It made me want to listen to SBS with fresh ears.

[Fezzick]

Glad you thought so - even if some others will be stuck wanting...it's amusing to see the reaction of an old-time poster here pluck out the phrase that suited them (and no doubt has been rendered before - impotent as a weary droning).

 

...cheer up - honey, I hope you can.

[caliber66]

Glad you thought so - even if some others will be stuck wanting...it's amusing to see the reaction of an old-time poster here pluck out the phrase that suited them (and no doubt has been rendered before - impotent as a weary droning).

 

...cheer up - honey, I hope you can.

If you're referring to me, I was just goofing around. Don't be so sensitive, Francis.

[TLF18]

an emotional connection to music will trump cork-sniffery every single time.

 

 

 

great line.

agree.