Song of the Day 6/5: Wilco, “Cruel Country”
The genre now known as Americana was once known as alt-country, and Jeff Tweedy’s band, Uncle Tupelo, helped set the template by injecting pop-punk energy into country rock. That band split after four albums, and Tweedy formed Wilco in 1995. His music since then has ranged over broader territory, but with his new album “Cruel Country,” Wilco’s 12th, he puts the country front and center; the “alt” is delivered by the lyrics.
El Somnambulo featured “Falling Apart” latest monthly rundown of his favorite tunes, but its upbeat tempo and wry lyrics might give a wrong impression — most of the tunes of the 21-song LP are slow, even mournful, and a few are surprisingly political.
On the title track, Tweedy sings,
I love my country like a little boy
Red, white, and blue
I love my country, stupid and cruel
Red, white, and blue
On “Hints,” the chorus repeats,
There is no middle when the other side
Would rather kill than compromise
The whole album is posted on YouTube, but be warned — critics of all stripes have proclaimed the nearly 75-minute opus as too long.
Actually “Americana” has become a catch all for many fringe genres like roots blues and country, folk, Blue Grass and a few others I’m forgetting. I love it, it keeps the old styles alive and vibrant to some extent.
Puts me in mind of this one from 2005:
My church and my country could use a little mercy now
As they sink into a poisoned pit
That’s going to take forever to climb out
They carry the weight of the faithful
Who follow them down
I love my church and country, and they could use some mercy now
Mary Gauthier “Mercy Now” (2005)
Did you say ‘Mary Gauthier’?
New song from her new album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWSa–oIYRo
Yep. That Mary Gauthier. One of the best songwriters of the last couple of decades. Check out her 2018 release “Rifles and Rosary Beads,” songs written by Gauthier along with combat veterans and their families. Powerful stuff.