Ashes of American Flags (2002) Wilco

MUSC-21600: The Art of Rock Music Prof. Freeze Ashes of American Flags (2002) Wilco LISTEN FOR • Acoustic guitars, relaxed tempo of country music • Singer-songwriter vocals • Collages of electronic noises in interlude, coda CREATION Songwriters Jeff Tweedy (lyrics, music), Jay Bennett (music) Album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Label Nonesuch 79669 Instrumentation Lead vocals, electric guitars, acoustic guitars, bass, drums, piano, synth strings, various electric sounds Producer Wilco Recording The Loft (Chicago); 2000–1; stereo Charts Album 13 MUSIC Genre Alternative rock Form Contrasting verse-chorus. A four-measure vamp is used throughout the song to slow the action and introduce each verse, and unmeasured atmospheric sounds appear as a kind of contrasting bridge and as a segue into the next track on the album. Key D major Meter 4/4 MUSC-21600 Listening Guide Freeze “Ashes of American Flags” (Wilco, 2002) LISTENING GUIDE Time Form Lyric Cue Listen For 0:00 Vamp (4) • Bell tree percussion, a piano vamp (short, repeated pattern), sustained guitar, and high strings open the track, getting louder in anticipation of the verse. 0:17 Verse 1 (8) “The cash machine” • Vocals enter, singing melody based on vamp. • Melodic guitar, acoustic guitar, drums, and bass enter. • Heavy dream beat, acoustic guitar, intimate vocal quality give a country feel to song. 0:45 Vamp (4) • Notice how the melodic guitar plays a call and response in the left and right channels. • Listen also for the sonic “wind” sounds. 1:00 Pre-chorus (4) “I wonder why” • Based on the second half of the verse. 1:14 Chorus (4) “All my lies” • Listen to the irregular snare drum pattern, which is odd for a chorus section. 1:28 Vamp (4) • Back to acoustic guitar, wind, and sustained electric guitar. 1:43 Verse 2 (4) “I want a good life” • The instrumentation of this verse is completely different. Now featuring flute sounds before the entrance of a rhythmic acoustic guitar in bar 5. 2:11 Chorus (4) “All my lies” • Much smaller instrumental combination for this presentation of the chorus. 2:25 Interlude • The beat stops, leaving a cavernous space filled with wind and other, atmospheric and electronic noises. 2:40 Pre-chorus (4) “I’m down on my hands” • As before, but with a new piano melody in the right channel. 2:54 Chorus (4) “All my lies” • With a new chorus of synthesizers harmonizing the vocal melody. 3:09 Vamp (4) • Presented without the piano. 3:23 Verse 3 “I would like to salute” • Presentation of just the first half of the verse. 3:38 Coda • Unmeasured, the atmospheric sounds gradually eclipse the beat, evolving into an experiment in avant-garde noise. (The track leads seamlessly into the next song on the album.) 2 MUSC-21600 Listening Guide Freeze “Ashes of American Flags” (Wilco, 2002) LYRICS The cash machine is blue and green All my lies are always wishes For a bundle of twenties and a small service I know I would die if I could come back new fee I could spend three dollars and sixty-three I’m down on my hands and knees cents every time I hear a doorbell ring On Diet Coca-Cola and unlit cigarettes I shake like a toothache I wonder why we listen to poets when every time I hear myself sing nobody gives a fuck How hot and sorrowful, the machine begs All my lies are only wishes for luck I know I would die if I could come back new All my lies are always wishes I would like to salute I know I would die if I could come back new the ashes of American flags And all the fallen leaves We want a good life with a nose for things filling up shopping bags the fresh wind and bright sky to endure my suffering I’m a hole without a key if I break my tongue Oh, speaking of tomorrow, how will it ever come? SOURCES • John Covach and Andrew Flory, What’s That Sound, 4th ed. (New York: W. W. Norton, 2015), 563–64. 3 .

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