LogFAQs > #956641862

76. Wilco Jesus, Etc. (2002)
from the album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efq95Pfqt5U

Key lyrics:
Our love is all of Gods money
Everyone is a burning sun

Though the apparent 9/11 references were entirely incidental, the song being written before that day, Jesus, Etc. perfectly captured the spirit of America in the following years. This is Americana at its most melancholic, picturing skyscrapers packed together while the people inside could not feel further apart. The narrator comforts someone overwhelmed by this idea, of a place so dense yet cold. And his words are comforting, positing each and every one of us as a sun, first setting but then burning. Though we may feel as though we are drifting alone, we burn bright enough to make it through.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot captures a band in transition. Though Wilco started as an alternative country band, Jeff Tweedy wanted to push the group in bold new directions. The resulting album feels like a tour of possibilities, somehow managing a unified sound while each individual part takes a distinct direction. Jesus, Etc. is the sad violin song of the bunch, and its success is one of simple beauty. Wilco took an underutilized instrument and crafted a bold song around its potential in an uncommon style. All a great song needs sometimes is the right instrument.

The key to Jesus, Etc. is how ordinary the violin sounds with the rest of the instruments. Much of the popular music that uses this instrument is doing so to create an elevated sound, to suggest something classical. The part in Jesus, Etc. is clearly written by a guitarist, focused more on forming a central riff. This down-to-earth structure captures the violin in a rare light, causing the whole song to shine with it.

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My top 100 games (with write-ups): https://foolfantastic.com/top-100-video-games-project/