Misunderstood

SONG: Misunderstood
ALBUM: Being There
TRACK: disc 1, track 1

While this site is still in its early stages, I might as well try out all the writing techniques I can think of. With this in mind, I will attempt to "liveblog" this song. I will cue up the track and begin writing as soon as it begins. Whenever possible, I'll try to note the timing. And awaaaaaay we go..

Opening sounds - tribal tom toms and feedback static. Goodbye alt-country! Here comes something new...

0:35: A bed of noise is split by cymbals and...backwards cymbals? Madness!

0:45: Ah, acoustic guitar. Jeff sounds so bittersweet. I detect a weird little wobbly effect in his voice. Nice how the organ subtly sneaks in. Jay may be a douche, but he can play a fine piano.

1:50: The song hangs in the air for a moment. It lands with a splash of feedback.

2:02: Jeff's singing about still loving rock and roll. Staying up late in the night, staring at a picture of me in the dim light of the alarm clock.

2:39 Here, he quotes "Amphetamine" by Peter Laughner, from early punk band Rocket from the Tombs. The feedback noise has returned, shifting and shaping the mood of the song with tension. Wilco would go on to use some of the same techniques one album later in "Via Chicago".

4:13 Jeff moans with the self-pity of the angsty artist, singing about being a "mama's boy", "unemployed", and of course, "so misunderstood". He can't get out what he needs to express - the "fortune inside his head". It "turns to lead" like a reverse Midas.

4:22 ::involuntarily drums on desk::

4:35: Oooh! That screechy upper register rips your ears off as the cymbals and guitars crash all around you, as if to say "THIS IS DEFINITELY NOT ALT-COUNTRY!"

5:10: Jeff's eerie high-pitched scream sounds even weirder in unison with his low, laconic, whatever-dude slacker-singing. I get excited every time I hear him shriek NOTHIN' NOTHIN' NOTHIN' twenty times on the live record, Kicking Television. So good.

6:28: What a weird fade-out. The backwards cymbals aren't in time with the guitar, there's no sense of finality, it just hangs there. But somehow it all ends on the same conclusive cymbal crash.

And now, some parting thoughts: This song is a clear statement of purpose. Tweedy is stepping out from under Jay Farrar's shadow, casting off the yoke of "country", and deliberately breaking boundaries (drummer Ken Coomer recalls, "Jeff was a bigger punk-rock fan than a country fan. It led to things like us all switching instruments on 'Misunderstood,' where I'm playing guitar"). It sets the tone for the rest of the band's efforts.

On top of being a perfect album-opener for Being There, this song contains many elements that would feature prominently in Wilco's unique sound. Jeff introduces his audience to the upper register of his voice, a technique he'd use to great dynamic effect throughout the rest of his career. As noted above, the squalls of noise would appear in "Via Chicago" and many other incarnations, while the song structure is very similar to "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart". Finally, as a testament to the lasting quality of the song, it's still a barn-burner when performed live.