Something I've been thinking about doing over the past few months is pulling out an album review every now and again for the rrf crew. Now I know that the faithful readers of this blog have been pining for me to tell them about an album that is six years old but lets just see where this takes us, shall we faithful?
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is an album that is pregnant with depth, honesty and real creativity. Jeff Tweedy's lyrics from front to back on this album display the state of a man's heart as he cries out for something deeper- something that will last.
The album starts out with the melancholy song "I am trying to break your heart", which showcases Tweedy's talent for singing real depth into somewhat obscure text. I am trying to break your heart chronicles the loss of relationship as his insecurities doom what could otherwise be a healthy relationship. This song, coupled with the album's final song, the sedated "Reservations", really plums the depths of a self-destructive personality which doubts the truth in even his closest relationships. Reservations begins with the question "How can I tell you it's me I don't like?" and refrains with "I've got reservations about so many things but not about you".
The album has breaks in its seriousness with the light "Kamera" as well as "Heavy Metal Drummer" which both celebrate the quirkiness of life that allow us to look back on youth as a time of relative levity:"I miss the innocence I've known; playing Kiss covers beautiful and stoned". The album rocks on "I'm the man who loves you" with some characteristic musical breakdowns which, for me, set Wilco apart as a special and unique band which is not afraid to do something different musically.
The middle songs on the album "Jesus, ect.", "Radio Cure", "Pot Kettle Black" and "Poor Places" have Tweedy literally singing his guts out about issues from his relationship with Jesus to a consideration of the difficulties of poverty.
The song that sticks out to me over and over again as I listen to this album is "War on War". This is a song that needs to be heard to be understood, but here's the refrain "You have to lose; you have to lose; you have to learn how to die; if you wanna wanna be alive." For people who follow the God-Man who told us to take up our cross daily and follow him, these words should ring in our ear. We have to die if we want to be alive.
The gospel of Christ is just this. We have to die if we want to be alive- this is not a call that is completely foreign to those who are in touch with the reality of their own lives. The difference as followers of Christ is that we have the command to do just what we know needs to be done- to die. And we follow the One who died for us so that we might really be alive.
This album, in addition to being the product of genius musically, is alive with the gospel if we just listen.
1 comment:
Casey, those are some pretty deep observations I must say. Jordan Emmans lead the music today where actually felt the warmth. While looking at your profile, I notice similarities to Jordans myspace. He cut a CD and we bought one, you would love it. You should go to myspace.com/the jordanemmansband
later ...pops
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