I Am Trying to…

Why? Because he does his homework. He lives what Chuck Klosterman refers to as an “overtly normal” life (which makes me feel really boring), he doesn’t pursue oblivion, he occasionally succumbs to the stereotypical rehab lifestyle of a rock cliché. In other words, he’s basically been rocking for the last 21+ years. You know, normal stuff.

So why does Jeff Tweedy call me up and tell me to ‘hang in there’? 

Because in 2001, him and his league of extraordinary gentlemen (let’s call them Wilco) created what may very well be the lyrical and melodic hardcore version of the Bible. Long story short, in the midst of debauchery, their record label decided that this masterpiece, strikingly named Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, was too subpar for their proud asses. 

“That sucks,” you say.

Yeah, it sucked. It sucked when their label, Reprise Records, recorded and produced YHF, released them from their label, then decided to give them the rights to the album free of charge. It also sucked when Wilco took their music (which they knew was totally rocking), streamed the entire “subpar” album on their official website, and watched as hundreds of thousands of fans flocked to their feet. 

You know what else sucked? When not ten months later, an affiliate of the same major record that dropped Wilco from their label came crawling back to them, only to commercially release the album that would eventually sell nearly 600,000 copies.

That sucks. 

But not for Wilco, no; they knew their shit didn’t stank. It was AOL Time Warner that it sucked for, the fools that let them go in the first place and in the long run, got the short end of the stick. And sticking it to them is exactly what Tweedy and the boys did, with integrity and a rocking attitude that said, “If you’re going to play stinky, we can play ball, too.”

Now that’s what I’m talking about.

“Hang in there, Kid.”

“Thanks, Tweeds.”

And he rides off in his minivan.