time traveling with [wilco]

i don't go to wilco concerts to listen to the music...

i go to time travel.

i discovered wilco in the fall of 2002 with their album "yankee hotel foxtrot."  i was twenty one, in college and had just switched majors into architecture.  i was at an age where i started to feel like i was thinking for myself. my tastes, style and preferences on everything were changing.  in a way, i felt i was shedding the shell of my youth and looking ahead to a whole new adult life in front of me.  it was new, it was confusing, it was exciting and a little scary.  yhf couldn't have been a more perfect album to discover during this time.  i've been a fan of wilco ever since hearing the opening song to that album "i'm trying to break your heart" and they've been a huge part of my life soundtrack since.

when i go to a wilco concert and they start playing my favorite songs, i'm immediately transported in time and taken back to different spots along my adulthood timeline.

when i hear "jesus etc." i'm taken back to late nights in studio working on architecture projects with my best friends.

when i hear "heavy metal drummer" i think of my friend beth when she lived in chicago, talking to her on the phone about relationships and getting her female perspective on any crazy situation i was dealing with.

when i hear "humming bird" and "handshake drugs" i think about living in san diego away from friends and family.  i think of my co-worker scott and how after discovering i liked wilco as well, he gave me a bunch of old wilco albums and other bands like uncle tupelo, golden smog and loose fur to listen to.

when i hear "either way" i think of my first break-up.

when i hear "impossible germany" i think of living in my very own apartment by myself.

when i hear "sky blue sky" i think about walking in downtown wichita.

when i hear "one wing" i'm taken back to friday nights hanging with friends at lucky's.

when i hear "art of almost" i think of taking one last trip to kansas city before moving away from the midwest.

when i hear "if i ever was a child" i think about planning my wedding and picking music for the reception.

i realize none of these memories mean anything to you and they're not suppose to; they're mine, but maybe you have different songs from different bands that take you back in time...and that's what makes music absolutely magical. it really is the best form of time travel i know.  all you have to do is put on headphones and press play.

thank you wilco for being the doc brown to my marty and helping me go back in time whenever i hear your music.

box full of [lyrics]

words cannot express how much i love wilco.

or maybe they can......

the other night some friends and i enjoyed a hot summer evening concert in kansas city enjoying wilco.  as i stood listening, being filled with the memories their songs always stir, i discovered almost every song had a lyric or phrase i would sing along to. words put together so beautifully they stick out as a beacon in a sea of beautiful lyrics and waves of wonderful melodies.

instead of a set list, i've put together a lyric list; one phrase from each song played that night. although it's just a few words from longer lyrics, they begin to show the emotion jeff tweedy and wilco fill their songs with and the reason i enjoy them so much.

-the hope i had in a notebook full of white, dry pages, was all i tried to save                

-i looked like someone i used to know and if i ever was myself, i wasn't that night

-i need a camera to my eye, reminding which lies i have been hiding

-i curl my lips and crawl up to you

-i have all the love i could ever ache and i leave almost with you, art of almost almost... almost...

-i'd always thought that if i held you tightly you'd always love me like you did back then

-you were a blessing and i was a curse i did my best not to make things worse for you

-did i catch you in the flashes?

-remember to remember me standing still in your past floating fast like a hummingbird

-the footprints of the lovers that come here to love, by the tides washed away forever more (cover)

-unlock my body and move myself to dance

-all i can see is black and white and white and pink with blades of blue that lay between the words i think on a page i was meaning to send her

-music is my savior, and i was maimed by rock and roll.

-you were right about the stars, each one is a setting sun

-sadness is my luxury

-but this is what love is for, to be out of place, gorgeous and alone, face to face

-all my daydreams are disasters, she's the one i think i love (cover)

-don't forget the flowers someday, i know i will

-so i'd give this world just to dream, a dream with you on our bed of california stars (cover)

-i can't find the time to write my mind the way i want it to read

-i've been young, i've been old, i've been hurt and consoled heart of coal heart of gold so i'm told

-what you once were isn't what you want to be any more

-true love will find you in the end this is a promise with a catch only if you're looking can it find you 'cause true love is searching too but how can it recognize you unless you step out into the light? (cover)

-you have to learn how to die if you want to want to be alive,

-for your sparkling cocky smile i've walked a million miles begging you to come and wed me in the spring (cover)

 -give back my tv, it don't mean that much to me, while you're giving back my things, give me back the key to my heart (cover)

-there's something there that you can't find honest when you're tellin' a lie. you hurt her but you don't know why. you love her but you don't know why

nearly midnight [lawrence]

there are only a few artists i'd travel two and a half hours to see on a random tuesday night; neko case is one of them.  not only because i've enjoyed her music for several years, but hearing her perform live is nothing short of magical.  in an era of auto tuning and twerking, it really is amazing to watch a live performance from someone with honest talent.

neko was on tour promoting her new album, which holds tracks already climbing up the list of my favorites. although we didn't share the eye-locking moment we did back in 2007 it was still an amazing show, and i'm thankful cameras take significantly better photos than they did six years ago.  if you've never heard of her, please check her out.  i'm partial to the song "hold on, hold on", but if you stumble upon her new album first, check out "night still comes," "local girl," or "ragtime," a few of my favorites from the new album.