Either Way, by Wilco.
This song leads off Sky Blue Sky, and wishing I could play every song on that album is part of what led me to buy an electric guitar again a few years back, along with various Pavement-and-Wilco compatible bits of gear, like the little Orange amp over my shoulder. I can’t play the Side With The Seeds solo yet, but at least I could handle a somewhat simplified version of this one.
Misunderstood, by Wilco.
This song took more tries than expected, playing in open G, as instructed by the most interesting transcription I found online, which was based on a solo live performance, and not the live performance we listened to in the car earlier tonight, where Jeff sings “nothin’” 36 times. (Honestly checking back to the 6+ minute original album version, I really don’t think I’ve ever heard it? Or not in years? I’ve only heard live versions for a long time.)
Wilco (The Song), by Wilco.
And lo, he recorded the sixth Wilco song in the eighth month, depending on how you count the Billy Bragg tune, and it was alright.
Kinda neat how the chords to the verse in this song are the reverse of Handshake Drugs, I think? Yep, that’s the kind of thing you notice, 216 days into a 365 day project.
Proud that I got the timing pretty much dead on.
What Light, by Wilco.
Believe it or not, it’s been a couple months between Wilco songs? Seems unlikely, I know, but according to my (spreadsheet) records, it seems true.
This song is one I’ve probably sung in exactly two places: This basement, and the car. Well, maybe a variety of cars, since I guess this dates back to our Honda Civic days in Santa Cruz? Before that car — the “loss leader” at the used car sale in the mall parking lots, the car that let them say “as low as $4,700” although that seems steep even now for a 6-year-old Civic DX two-door with no air conditioning, not that we needed any in Santa Cruz — anyway, yes, before that car, we took the bus and/or bicycled where we needed to go.
The Honda, weirdly though, had a six CD changer, in the trunk. This meant investing in a spindle of blank CDs and a box of slim jewel boxes which we still have not used up, some 17 years after buying the car. Sky Blue Sky might’ve been one I bought early on, anyway, and never pirated on a torrent or anything, because we seem to own a copy on CD.
Also this song is borderline Sesame Street material, and that just makes me love it more. (Oh, and there’s nothing more confusing to me than an “A#” in the chords where a “Bb” would be quicker for my brain to process.)
Whole Love, by Wilco.
A fourth Wilco song? Blame it on the marigolds. Seriously, I was looking at the (still dormant) garden out back and trying to remember what was in this one pot, and I remembered it’s the marigolds, and, as ever, this song popped into my head.
A bunch of weekend layers, including a couple electric guitar tracks, and a (successful?) desperate attempt to add some harmony at the end by transposing one of the backup tracks up a few steps. Feels like I got lucky! Also managed to mess up the part at the end where there’s a little mini key change that I missed.
Late Greats, by Wilco.
This is the third Wilco song in this project. Honestly 3 of 59 isn’t bad, I think. It’s a wonder I haven’t tried like eight Fleet Foxes songs yet.
Sunday afternoon project, but the guitars are obviously both me. Not really attempting anything too fancy, but this one was fun to play. (Dropped D and a capo to play it in F? OK, Jeff/Nels/Jim O’Rourke, whatever you say.)
Handshake Drugs by Wilco.
Alright, fine, it’s day 19 and I’m repeating artists. In the end it will probably be fun (albeit predictable) to see who I play most often. Wilco will be high on the list. Handshake Drugs is a simple little thing but a few words are doing a lot of work.
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart by Wilco.
I had a hard time picking a song today. I kept trying to go back to things I know well, but kept getting frustrated trying to finish before dinner or bedtime, and in the end I recorded after the kids were done for the night, and layered on all these other fun things in my dark office up too late.
I heard the story of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot before I got into Wilco. But I knew the Uncle Tupelo records from long before that. And then I heard some live recordings, and Heavy Metal Drummer was my gateway.
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart holds a special space, though maybe not as emotional a space as the whole Sky Blue Sky album, but still.
Oh, and when I do a silly minor middle-of-Via-Chicago thing with the drums, that’s because the dog scratched at the office door and I had to let her in. (She didn’t come in. It wasn’t time for work.)
Still trying to learn how to get the keyboard timing right with the software instruments.