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Related: About this forumWilco - Misunderstood
Label: Reprise Records 9 46236-1, Reprise Records 1-46236
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 15 Oct 1996
Genre: Rock
Style: Alternative Rock, Acoustic, Country Rock
Misunderstood
Band: Wilco
Album: Being There (1996)
Key lyric: When youre back in your old neighborhood/the cigarettes taste so good/but youre so misunderstood.
https://americansongwriter.com/the-top-20-jeff-tweedy-songs-1-misunderstood/
Misunderstood is the alpha and omega of Wilco songs, the holy grail. Some may prefer Jeff Tweedys more surrealistic masterpieces over the relative simplicity of Misunderstood, the six-and-a-half minute dirge that kicks off Being There. But its the song that best sums up the Wilco ethos, and created the inroads for the bands later sonic and emotional triumphs. Before the stunning accomplishments of Summerteeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, there was this song to make you believe in the power of this band. And if you were listening right, it was all about you. Its a song that identifies with the outsider and the downtrodden. In brief brush strokes, Tweedy paints a picture of a dreamer being choked to death by encroaching age and the dullness of small town life. His youthful ideals have all morphed into memories, except for one; he still loves rock and roll. Hes got little to do, a lack of concrete goals, and a fortune inside of his head that wont come out. The girl he loves, hes hurt, but he doesnt know why. Pretty much everything sucks.
In the last verse, Tweedy brings the punk rock attitude and left over hurt, hurt thats been brimming under the surface in the preceding verses. Id like to THANK YOU ALL FOR NOTHING, he explodes. Id like to thank you all for NOTHING AT ALL. The tantrum over, the guitars fall out of tune and the song crawls to its conclusion, followed by the balm of Far Far Away, the sound of truck stops at dawn which coaxes you into the rest of the record. Its a brilliant one-two punch on a five star album, the bands first of many. All of the characters in the songs that follow Choo-Choo Charlie with the pretty good band in Monday; the jaded lover he addresses in Outta Site (Outta Mind) you can imagine inhabiting the same world as Misunderstood.
Musically, Misunderstood has been compared to the Velvet Undergrounds long-form freakout Heroin for the cathartic ride it takes you on. Its a stroll through two seasick chords, with intermittent squalls of violence, where guitars and drums rain down on you like a panic attack. The arrangement makes the song, and took Wilco from being just another traditional roots rock band to being Wilco for the first time. The rest of the album was a more evolved version of the Uncle Tupelo sound the songs utilized the same guitar licks and piano parts as the Rolling Stones, Big Star, etc. Misunderstood was something else entirely. It was avant-garde roots rock. The bands penchant for restless experimentalism starts here. The sonic balance was achieved by everyone trying on someone elses instrument drummer Ken Coomer played guitar; bassist John Stirratt played violin, multi-instrumentalist Max Johnston handled bass duties, and Jay Bennett played the drums.
The thank you all ending, which Tweedy has honed into a weapon in concert, is seemingly aimed at the unfair world and the people who populate his old neighborhood. It could also be read as an angsty comment on his career so far, after his difficult years in Uncle Tupelo in the shadow of Jay Farrar, and the disappointing reception of Wilcos debut album. According to Greg Kots book Learning To Die, the line you know youre just a mamas boy was something Farrar said to Tweedy the day Uncle Tupelo broke up. After years of having his songs be considered lightweight in comparison to Farrars, Tweedy knew he had to step up to the plate and write something amazing. Misunderstood was that song. In a way, the refrain was also a way of letting the fans know that he didnt care what you thought of the bands bold new musical direction. Whether you were coming along for the ride or not, Tweedy was going to do what he wanted to do, regardless. And thats what hes done ever since.
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Wilco - Misunderstood (Original Post)
Celerity
Feb 16
OP
Cheezoholic
(2,034 posts)1. This is the definitely the one that set the hook in me
And I'm a picky SOB when it comes to music