Day 5 – Woody Guthrie’s Revenge
The continuing adventures of “Eric’s Trip Around the Sun”. One final trip with the iPod.
If I am Jeff Tweedy and a knock comes on my door about a potential to write songs using the lyrics of Woody Guthrie, my response would be simple: “Fuck Yeah!!”
There is no doubt that up until this point that Tweedy’s work in both Uncle Tupelo and Wilco was still on the up-and-up. His role as a lyricist in Uncle Tupelo was a part time job that his colleague seemed to abhor. Lyric-writing in Wilco, I think, took notice with ‘Being There’.
What came out of it was a host of songs that focused on a concept of America that had been sorely forgotten in the mainstream. While Billy Bragg, his cohort on the Mermaid Ave. project focuses on more culturally significant topics, Tweedy, on the other hand directs his energies to a host of religious themes.
‘Airline To Heaven’, feels like it was a song that was played by an opening act of a traveling Faith Healing Revival show, however, there are lyrics that suggest otherwise, suggesting faith rather than religion. The essence of the song is the energy it provides, exhibiting and almost innate sense to clap along while using lyrics from Guthrie, using technology i.e. airline plane as it’s reference and something deeply personal as its calling point.
It is something that is regrettably forgotten too much whereby we put a value on sins, we popularize the preacher and forget the inner peace we might receive from faith.
• Menomena – Air Aid
• The Besnard Lakes – Alamogordo
• Pink Floyd – Alan’s Psychaedelic Breakfast
• Elvis Costello and the Attractions – Alison (Live)