Let's Go (So We Can Get Back): A Memoir of Recording and Discording with Wilco, Etc.

by Jeff Tweedy

think that’s why I often don’t bother with lyrics for a long time, because I don’t want them to get in the way of the emotion coming from the instrumental track. In fact, one of the primary ways I write lyrics is to sing and record vocal sounds without words—vowels and consonants that sound like what I hope the lyrics will sound like. I call them “mumble tracks.” I’ve gotten pretty good at making it sound like I’m singing actual words. So much so that a lot of times when I play people a track at this stage, they’ll think they’re listening to finished lyrics. I keep them mixed really low, so they’re almost a struggle to hear, but just loud enough to make out the rhythmic phrasing and melody. I almost always prefer to have a finished track before I commit to a lyric. So having a mumble track in place is an easier way to keep working without losing sight of the bigger picture. To translate a mumble track, typically, I might take a rough mix out to our cabin in Michigan and sit around for hours listening without trying to think too much, just writing down the first words that pop into my head that fit the meter. Once I’ve transcribed everything line by line, I’ll take a look at what I’ve got. The lyrics at that stage are often pretty meaningless and nonsensical—though sometimes they’re not, which fascinates me. The next steps after translating are to add however many more rounds of revisions and reshaping it takes until something coherent begins to come across. Usually, there ...