Open Mind (solo acoustic version)

+ Chit-Chat Check-In #85: Cosmically Correct

Audio transcript

I’ve been thinking about the different songs we can play for our Deep Cuts set at Solid Sound, going through the Wilco catalog and relearning songs that we haven’t played a whole lot. This song, “Open Mind,” came up.

I think it’s a beautiful recording, and the arrangement is lush and sweet. But I know why we don’t play it often. My phrasing of the lyrics is clunky. “I could base my whole existence upon the cherry strands in your gold hair.” That’s a lot to say, Jeffy!

Sometimes you go back and listen to songs and reevaluate. And in some ways, it’s nice to know you can do better. In other ways, it feels a little bit like you let one get away.

Anyway, I like being reminded of songs that somehow slipped through the cracks. Some of them are quite challenging to relearn, if you can imagine. I don’t know why—it’s like a different person wrote them. Which is, I think, cosmically correct.

If you’re going to Solid Sound, or even if you’re not, are there Deep Cuts, less well-known Wilco songs you’d like to hear? Let me know in the comments. 

OxO—Jeffy

I gave myself a neckache looking at the eclipse. Not as bad as the time I threw my back out dipping a chip.

This Week in Wilco, Etc.

2003 / May 1: Wilco plays a 27-song set at the Orange Peel in Asheville, NC, including “Bob Dylan’s 49^th Beard,” “When the Roses Bloom Again,” and “Pick Up the Change.”

2020 / May 2: On The Tweedy Show #40, Jeff plays “Cold Slope,” “King of You,” and “Casino Queen,” among others, and debuts the song “Bad Day Lately.” 

2011 / May 5: Wilco is on the bill of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans. They play a 19-song set that includes “Bull Black Nova,” “Hoodoo Voodoo,” and “You Never Know.”

Open Mind (solo acoustic version)