Songs For Your Day

When Wilco released “Sky Blue Sky” it was welcomed by mixed reviews and my loving ears/arms. For me, who was mildly familiar with the band before becoming a true fan only a few years ago, it was their first album that I could enjoy from its release date forward. I think that’s why it got a special place in my heart. Don’t get me wrong, I understand why Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was groundbreaking, and the first disc of “Being There” always makes my heart go a flutter, but Sky Blue Sky is the album that makes its way through my headphones most frequently.

Someone along the way called it “Dad rock,”  A term that was brought to discussion with one of my English professors once, himself a devout Wilco fan. Initially we both acknowledged the phrase’s derogatory intent, but by the end of our analyzation were left to wonder, “What’s wrong with that?”

Personally, I could listen to “Either Way” or “Sky Blue Sky” on repeat all day. It’s alright that Tweedy and the band stepped aside from their edginess, they’re evolving as people in life, it only makes sense that their sound would evolve as well. This progression doesn’t mean that their songs are any less catchy. I frequently get the guitar solo of “Either Way” stuck in my head, and unlike a lot of songs, I’m alright with it remaining stuck there. It’s a song you can wake up to while the sun sneaks through the blinds in lazy blue and white hues. The whole album is great to write to [as I am currently] or daydream to, or sing to yourself while you make dinner, even while you drive on back country roads to the place that you call home. – Laura Celeste