Wilco, the acclaimed, label-less band whose album "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" is currently in limbo, is giving away one of the album's key tracks through the Internet.
The group's official website (http://www.wilcoweb.com) had been streaming the entire album for several weeks, but it has now posted a downloadable MP3 of the track "Ashes Of American Flags." The file can be found under the site's "Road Case" section.
More than one critic who saw the band on their recent tour noted that the song has a special resonance in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. The song ends with the line "I would like to salute the ashes of American flags/And all the fallen leaves filling up shopping bags"/Before dissolving into white-noise dissonance (see full lyrics below).
The motive for posting the song now isn't specified, although it may be that, given that "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot's" official release isn't expected until the new year, "American Flags" is being circulated because its elegiac tone makes it timely for a country still reeling from the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, as well as the current military campaign in Afghanistan.
The same section of the site is also streaming a live show recorded Oct. 6, 2001 at The Pageant in St. Louis, as part of the band's recent tour, which the site jokingly refers to as the "Who's Got 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' Tour" -- a reference to the fact that advance copies of "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" have leaked out and exchanged hands via the Internet and through fan circles.
The disc was recorded as part of the band's pact with Reprise Records but was rejected by the label, which triggered the band's departure. The group has reportedly been fielding offers from a number of other labels but has also entertained the notion of distributing the record themselves.
Meanwhile, Wilco fans who have been awaiting "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" may soon have another new Wilco disc on their shopping list.
A website devoted to "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" -- documentary filmmaker Sam Jones' chronicle of the making of "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" -- says a soundtrack record is being discussed to coincide with the film's release.
The website (www.wilcofilm.com) has posted brief rushes from the production, showing the group recording the disc, as well as a trailer for the project, which is half-way completed and is expected to have a theatrical release before moving to DVD.
"There is also discussion of a soundtrack to accompany the film that will contain new, unreleased songs, live performances and acoustic recordings
made during the filming," the site says.
The trailer posted at the site includes scenes of Wilco recording a substantially different arrangement of "Ashes Of American Flags."
Here are the lyrics to "Ashes Of American Flags":
The cash machine, is blue and green
For a hundred in twenties and a small service fee
I can spend three dollars and 63 cents
On diet Coca Cola and unlit cigarettes
I wonder why we listen to poets and nobody gives a f--k
How high and sorrowful this machine begs for luck
All my lies are always wishes
I know I would die if I could come back new
I want a good life with a nose for things
A fresh wind and bright skies to enjoy my sufferings
A hole without a key if I break my tongue
Speaking of tomorrow, how will it ever come
All my lies are only wishes
I know I would die if I could come back new
I'm down on my hands and knees every time the doorbell rings
I shake like a toothache when I hear myself sing
All my lies are always wishes
I know I would die if I could come back new
I would like to salute the ashes of American flags
And all the falling leaves filling up shopping bags
