Please Tell My Brother

Jeff Tweedy is currently one of the most prominent American songwriters. Tweedy fronts the group Wilco, which has seven studio albums to date, comprising of 90% or more Tweedy written songs. Before Wilco, he was in the band Uncle Tupelo, one of the most influential bands in the 'Alt-Country' or 'Americana' or whatever you want to call the genre to which it was influential. Tweedy also has been in and is involved in multiple other groups like 'Loose Fur,' and 'Golden Smog.' In between doing all the work with Wilco and these other groups he still finds time to go out and play full solo tours. Needless to say, the man is prolific. There is no doubt in my mind that within twenty years Jeff Tweedy will be commonly mentioned in the same breath as Seeger, Dylan, and Springsteen. He will have a spot in the canon of American songwriters. Today we are going to take a look at one of my favorites from Jeff Tweedy's solo repertoire, "Please Tell My Brother"

"Please Tell My Brother" by Jeff Tweedy



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSOUrws_ZQ4


"But wait!," you say, "This is a Golden Smog tune. It's on 1998's Weird Tales." You are correct, and here's a link to it: http://vimeo.com/3466571. I chose the live version because it is how I was introduced to the song. I knew this song before I knew that Golden Smog was a band. Also, if you listen to the Golden Smog version, well, it's just Jeff Tweedy and an acoustic guitar, so it's really solo Tweedy anyway.

I wanted to give a view into what a Jeff Tweedy solo show is like. Last time I talked about the intimacy that Sam Beam projects through his music. It is a very personal, one on one kind of intimacy. Tweedy shows have a whole different kind of intimacy happening. He is active with the crowd. This is evident at the beginning of the video where you hear him respond "ok" to a member of the crowd and everyone laughs. He creates an air of close knit community and makes one feel like they belong there with everyone else. Tweedy turns concert halls into bonfires.

Our tale begins "Please tell my brothers I love them still over the mountains on their phone bill. I should call more often, but I know I never will. Please tell my brothers I love them still." Our protagonist is far from home. He is over a mountain away, and whether it is physical or metaphorical, it still represents a nearly insurmountable distance.

We continue "Please tell my sister I miss her too, my nieces and nephews and their swimming pools. When I think about her, her skies are blue. Please tell my sister I miss her too." Our narrator is separated from more than just his brothers. He is separated from his entire family. Where is he? What is he running from? As listeners we know that he has separated himself because of the line "I should call more often, but they know I never will." It is up to him to call home, but he can't for some reason. Something from his past is haunting him.

"Please tell my father I love him still. Head for the cooler and drink your fill. Forget the railroad and all those bills. Please tell my father I love him still." Dad, it's ok. Forget your troubles. Forget what happened. Grab a beer, relax. More than anything I wish I was there having one with you, but I just can't.

Now, at the end of the song, we finally get to hear to whom our protagonist is talking; to whom he is asking to check in on his family. "Listen dear mother I miss you the most, and as I travel from coast to coast I feel your love and I feel your ghost. Listen dear mother I miss you the most." Our protagonist is haunted by his mother's ghost. For some unexplained reason he feels guilty and has removed himself from his family and can not go back, at least not yet, not until he himself can come to terms with whatever happened.

There are so many Tweedy penned songs to choose from, why choose this one? There is no lack of sadness and turmoil in his repertoire, so why pick something so simple and benign by comparison? In a word: Lonesome. This is one of the most lonesome and alienated songs I have ever heard. The character is so separate and lonely. He wants nothing but to be with his family, but he can't. The part that hurts is that his absence is self imposed,

and he knows it.

As always feel free to comment or suggest songs here or send me an email at suicidesongs@communistdaycarecenter.net