A Very Starship Casual Hanukkah, Part I

J. J. Cale, Meat Puppets, Killing Joke, Randy Travis… and "Silent Night"

Chit-Chat Check-In #105 • Transcript

Hello, this is your Captain speaking.

I’m in the process of packing the Starship Casual for our semi-yearly West Coast jaunt, to play some shows at Largo and visit some family.

It happens to be Christmas and Hanukkah, and I’ve recorded a fair amount of covers. I’m gonna celebrate by putting eight songs up—five now, and three later.

The first song is “Silent Night.” One of the rare Christmas songs not written by an American Jew, but by Christian Germans in the early 1800s. Written for guitar because apparently the organ had been flooded. I guess a pastor wrote the lyrics and he took it to a guy who knew how to write music, and he wrote a melody for guitar.

I’ve always been touched by the image of people traveling across the desert to meet a baby. That just seems really whimsical and sweet. “Let’s go meet this baby.” Whatever you believe, I think that that’s a cool tableau. I’m gonna use the word “tableau.” Look at that. I don’t even care if it’s wrong.¹

The last song today is “Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart” by Randy Travis, written by Hugh Prestwood, who wrote other hit songs like Crystal Gayle’s “The Sound of Goodbye.”

Randy Travis’s voice is undeniable. Back in Uncle Tupelo days, listening to country music and liking it when country music sounded like country music even though it was modern, Randy Travis seemed like he could’ve sang hit country songs in any period.

Remembering this song now, it’s pretty amazing how much I feel like I took something from it. I hear it in the last Uncle Tupelo record, in “No Sense in Lovin’.” I hear it in a lot of things on A.M. Maybe not in a way people would notice, which is the fun of it. I think one of the lovely things about music is you don’t have to get permission to be moved by something and inspired to make your own shit, even if that something theoretically wasn’t made for you.

I’ll write more about the other three songs below. Meat Puppets’ “Climbing,” “Requiem” by Killing Joke, and “Wish I Had Not Said That” by J. J. Cale. Like I said, a Hanukkah extravaganza. A Very Starship Casual Christmas.

I wish you a happy, peaceful holiday. Carry on. OxO—Jeffy

Is this suit too wrinkled? Susie says yes. I say it’s marginal.

This Week in Wilco, Etc.

2023 / December 23: Jeff shares a cover of Mitski’s “My Love Mine All Mine” on Starship Casual.

1994 / December 27: Jeff appears at Lounge Ax in Chicago for what may be his first-ever solo show.

2017 / December 28: Jeff’s 19-song show at Largo in Los Angeles is later officially bundled and released with the next night’s 23-song show for Roadcase #70.

Silent Night