Waldo's Views: Wilco Countdown to Austin Shows

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Wilco Countdown to Austin Shows

We are now 5 days from the first of back to back Wilco shows in Austin at Stubbs. Man I can't wait. The next song in the countdown is "The Late Greats" from the 2004 album A Ghost Is Born as well the 2005 album Kicking Television: Live In Chicago. Here are the lyrics:

The greatest lost track of all time:

The Late Greats' "Turpentine"

You can't hear it on the radio

You can't hear it anywhere you go

The best band will never get signed

K-Settes starring Butcher's Blind

Are so good, you won't ever know

They never even played a show

You can't hear 'em on the radio

The greatest singer in rock and roll

Would have to be Romeo

His vocal chords are made of gold

He just looks a little too old

The greatest lost track of all time:

The Late Greats' "Turpentine"

I can't hear it on the radio

I don't hear it anywhere I go

The best song will never get sung

The best life never leaves your lungs

So good, you won't ever know

I never hear it on the radio

Can't hear it on the radio

This song is in a way about the state of music and the industry in the fact that some of the best songs and bands never get heard because they dont fit the industry's way. I think this is the reason I like this song because that is the way I feel about the music industry. Alot of the best musicians will never be known by the masses because they don't or didn't fit a mold. A few artists that come to mind are Gram Parsons, Townes Van Zandt, and John Prine.

Take a listen to a portion of "The Late Greats" as performed here earlier this year at Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa