"i'm always in love" jeff tweedy (2-28-99) lounge ax, chicago
i really love wilco. i mean, really. i have a hard time talking about it but i try anyway and most people get this kind of wary look in their eyes when i bring up jeff tweedy because, well. yeah. but this live, solo acoustic version of "i'm always in love" from 1999 -- it physically hurts me. i don't know quite what. maybe it's the simple chords and the way they grow quiet and then loud again, or maybe it's jeff's voice, on the scratchy side of a warm echo. maybe it's that this song, which was so beautiful and upbeat and charming on "summerteeth," suddenly seems so much more earnest and soft, like "if this is only a test, i hope i do my best" makes me just want to cry. that's about it, really.
