Sky Blue Sky

I know I just started this project today, but I've been blessed with a perfect opportunity to get a buncha tracks out of the way, and fast. A friend cancelled post-work plans at the last minute, and I was left at home with a free evening, a half-bottle of wine, and the DVD from the Deluxe Edition of Wilco's most recent studio album, Sky Blue Sky. In it, Jeff and the band talk in great detail about the making of the record in between footage of the album's recording sessions from the band's Chicago loft. It's great - and not only do I get to enjoy it, my blog gets a quick couple of songs crossed off its list. Woohoo!

First up...
SONG: Sky Blue Sky
ALBUM: Sky Blue Sky
TRACK: 4

Tweedy makes this one easy. He admits in his DVD interview that the whole song is a snapshot portrait of a moment from his teenage years. In recent press, he's stated that he tried to be more "direct" and less "impressionistic" with Sky Blue Sky than with previous records. He aimed to tell send simple stories with plain language. This track is his attempt to convey a memory of being stuck in small-town traffic on a rainy day, forced to wait as a homecoming parade slogged through the drizzle. From a subtle past-tense perspective (in likes like "The old buildings downtown, empty so long ago"), he describes the scene in great sensory detail.

The turning point comes in the last line of the second verse: "So happy to leave what was my home". This sentiment, expressed with such finality, puts a point on Tweedy's memory of his experience. He's glad he left. But when the chorus kicks in, he begins to reflect and contemplate:

With a sky-blue sky
This rotten time
Wouldn't seem so bad to me now

OK, maybe things weren't so bad, it was just a shitty day. Jeff seems to mellow on it. But he takes it a step further in the second half of the chorus:

I didn't die
I should be satisfied
I survived, that's good enough for now

That's a far cry from "I'd like to thank you all for nothing/I'd like to thank you all for nothing at all" (from "Misunderstood"), and it speaks volumes about how Jeff Tweedy feels these days. But it doesn't always take lyric analysis to figure that out. Like I said, Jeff makes it easy for you. I quote from the opening lines of the DVD:

"The world is so mysterious and so terrifying right now...it just felt weird to write puzzles and disjointed, non-sequitur kinda lyrics. I think now is a good time to sit down and sing people some motherfucking songs. That's what I want. Just someone to sing me a song, y'know?"

Amen, Tweedy.