Jeff Tweedy Explains How Wilco Writes A Song
By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Dec 3, 2015 7:13PM
Song Exploder is one of our favorite music podcasts. It launched in 2014 and invites musicians ranging from obscure indie pop-rockers to famous soundtrack composers to come on the program and detail—part by part—how they construct a particular piece of music. The most recent episode features Jeff Tweedy (and a guest appearance from son Spencer) to break down "Magnetized" off Wilco's most recent release Star Wars.
Perhaps the most surprising reveal during the episode is the fact that Tweedy's lyrics to many songs develop after the music, often beginning as a series of "mumble tracks" instead of starting as lines taken from a notebook full of lyrics. It allows the songs to reveal themselves.
Tweedy says, "I just trust that some meaning will come out of this process. And that something I want to say is going to be harder to conceal when I get my ego out of the way and I'm not trying to direct all meaning."
Tweedy goes on to detail how the rest of the song comes together, including Spencer's guest drumming on the track—unsurprisingly difficult to distinguish from full-time drummer Glenn Kotche's style since Kotche taught the younger Tweedy to play drums.
The second most surprising thing is that for as much as Wilco seems to be a studio band obsessed with detail, this episode demonstrates how each member comes to a song with their own specific contribution, with the end result being something fashioned far more out of instinct and feel than out predetermined destinations.
Listen to the whole episode below.