Since I did the Car Songs post and obbverse recommended Black Nova, I’ve been listening to Wilco much more. I first heard of Wilco when I heard the song “Secret of The Sea” which was on the album Mermaid Avenue Volume II. This song was on the first volume.
Mermaid Avenue was a collaborative album by the band Wilco and the British singer-songwriter Billy Bragg. It features previously unpublished lyrics by the legendary folk musician Woody Guthrie. The album was released in 1998 and is named after the street in Coney Island, New York, where Guthrie lived. There were 3 albums in all.
I can’t imagine the pressure Bragg and Wilco felt doing this. Having the legendary Woody Guthrie lyrics in front of you and writing melodies around them. They brought in a new generation of fans to Woody Guthrie. In this song, Jeff Tweedy wrote the music around Guthrie’s lyrics. Many of these lyrics were written in the 1930s – 1940s and finished in 1997.
The project was started by Woody Guthrie’s daughter, Nora Guthrie, who wanted to breathe new life into her father’s huge collection of unpublished lyrics. She invited Billy Bragg to set the lyrics to music, and Bragg, in turn, invited Wilco to join the project. They did a fantastic job on these albums.
The album was well-received by critics, who praised Bragg and Wilco for their ability to honor Guthrie’s legacy while bringing his lyrics into a modern musical context. Mermaid Avenue was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.
The album peaked at #34 in the UK and #90 on the Billboard 100 in 1998.
Billy Bragg: I hate to draw comparisons, but it’s what Dylan and the Band were doing in the Basement Tapes. They took those old folk songs, that had deep roots, and they messed around with them and made a great record. We were able to apply that same idea to these songs, although we were perhaps more radical, because we had the whole history of rock music between when Woody wrote the songs, and us, whereas Dylan was quite early on in that tradition. That’s the trick with these Woody Guthrie compilations, is not to be too reverent to the material. Don’t worry about Woody’s words – they’re going to work. Bring yourself in – do what you think he would do. Do what you think you should do. Meet him half way.
There’s a hundred different ways to write a song. And every way is the right way, as long as you end up with a song. Some of those songs that Woody wrote, who knows what tunes he had for them? Maybe we were miles off, maybe we were close, I don’t know. But ultimately it’s what the guy was saying that matters – not the way he was saying it. And what he was saying is preserved. We were fortunate enough to put a frame around his artistic endeavors.
At My Window Sad and Lonely
At my window sad and lonelyOft times do I think of theeSad and lonely and I wonderDo you ever think of me?
Every day is sad and lonelyAnd every night is sad and blueDo you ever think of me, my darlingAs you sail that ocean blue?
At my window, sad and lonelyI stand and look across the seaAnd I, sad and lonely wonderDo you ever think of me?
Will you find another sweetheartIn some far and distant land?Sad and lonely now I wonderIf our boat will ever land
Ships may ply the stormy oceansAnd planes may fly the stormy skyI’m sad and lonely but rememberOh, I will love you ’til I die
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