Lenten Listen #12: Wilco - Summerteeth

Wilco is one of a handful of artists who could be considered the best of the past two decades and this 1999 album, arguably their best (along with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot) is all the proof you need. Like Radiohead, Wilco’s sound cannot be rationally pigeonholed. At times they seem to embrace their place among the alt-country elite, while at other times they seem to be grasping in a multitude of other directions, from Sgt. Pepper’s era Beatles to surf rock.

On this particular album, I like to consider the opener, “I Can’t Stand It,” and it’s lyrics steeped in religious frustration. I’ve been reading through the Old Testament since last Fall in my EfM studies and one of the things I’ve noticed is the seeming arbitrary nature of God. This song brings that out.

You know it’s all beginning
To feel like it’s ending
No love’s as random
As God’s love
I can’t stand it.
I can’t stand it.

About these ads