Adult Head

Rating:
Summary: Tweedy is a lyrical genius
Review: Although I haven't read the entire text of this book yet, I have read several excerpts from it and have been a Wilco fan for several years. Just from listening to Tweedy's lyrics in his songs, you can tell he has a natural penchant for poetry. His words are very down to earth, heartfelt, and offer a glimpse into our souls. I recommend checking out this book along with Wilco's Cd's. All of them are great, especially Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and Summer Teeth. If your sick of the same old cliched poetry and music, check this out and I guarantee you'll be pleased. Here's one of the poems from the book that I got off of zoopress.org, the publisher's website.

The Black Hours
- GMH

are almost gone
the night is dissolving
in a cup of god lifted
to toast the lightning
lightly tapping
high-pitched as it hums

and as your spine shines
with your soul, a shiver,
a fist so clear and trying
to climb into the unlit sky
you can see
there's so much less to this than you think

your mind's a machine
that's deadly and dull
it's never been still
and its will has never been free
it's almost dawn
and it's snowing again

I have never seen so much night

The imagery is always intense, and when a poem reads like a well-crafted song it's only more enjoyable to read. Definitly check this one out.

Rating:
Summary: pretty good, but not the best poetry ever
Review: anyone who loves wilco can tell you just how much depth and verve are contained in jeff tweedy's imaginative and evocative lyrics. with that said, I must say I was most disappointed with the poems in this book that stay closest to "A Ghost is Born" lyrics. "I'm a Wheel" has never been, and will never be, my favorite wilco song. but the music at least provides a key distraction from the lyrics of this song, which are dull and devoid of meaning. if Jeff Tweedy wanted to include any of his lyrics verbatim in a volume of poetry (which, while pretensious, is certainly within his rights) I'd say that honor should go to songs from earlier albums, like "Jesus Etc." (YHF) or "Via Chicago" (Summerteeth).

it's in the poems that branch away from song lyrics that he comes closer to capturing the elusive essence of good written poetry. I found the "Prayer" sequence particularly moving, and there are many more examples where Tweedy seems to be getting it right.

overall, what a volume like this shows is the difference between a good song lyric and a good written poem is. good song lyrics are general enough that the listener can feel as though every line depends on, and is relevant to, his or her own life. by contrast, good poetry is intensely personal and meaningful, however detached it may be from the events it describes. for my money, a singer-songwriter as talented as Jeff Tweedy is could write a fantastic volume of poetry--but this isn't it. this is pretty average, but I gave it an extra star because I happen to really like Wilco and Tweedy.

Rating:
Summary: The Map Is Not the Territory
Review: It's about time Jeff Tweedy who has written engaging rock songs for the past twenty years for Uncle Tupelo and Wilco put out a book of poems. Lyrics from such songs as She's a Jar prove themselves to qualify as poetry. Most rock lyrics on a white page without the embellishment of a crooning voice or a pounding four-piece band can be as painful as waking up next to someone you met in a strobe light club. Somehow the daylight against the white sheets shows unforgiving truths. This has never been the case for Jeff Tweedy.

His first book of poems Adult Head holds up as a masterful book of poetry. One of the most rewarding aspects about Adult Head is that these poems are not obvious and explicit. Reading these poems feels like being immersed into the subconscious or tapping into those nebulous dreams we remember for a short while after waking up. They are cerebral poems that lend themselves to contemplation with such lines as "let's wear momentum/how honor pulverizes this now/like nothing else/it's happening/so loosen your body/to me."

Jeff Tweedy holds his ground in the realm of contemporary poets. He synthesizes influences from the imagery Williams Carlos Williams to the surrealism of Burgess to avant-garde rock lyrics of Thurston Moore.

Even though this collection isn't a masterpiece, there is something hindering in each crafted poem, they give the anticipation of one to come.

Fans of Tweedy's music and lyrics may be pleased to find that his sardonic humor continues. "For you to kiss my black eye even though I caught it from you," recalls the domestic turmoil in the Summerteeth album. Also some complete poems will be put to music in Wilco's upcoming album a Ghost is Born.

Jeff Tweedy gave a reading at the AWP conference in the Palmer House Chicago just a few weeks before he checked himself into a rehab center. Shielded underneath a grungy army coat, a sock hat, and dark horn rimmed glasses he adjusted his mike for a ten-minute reading. With his raspy singer's voice he spoke, "this is my first time reading in front of a group. And let me tell you how thrilled I am to do it in a roomful of writers." His self-deprecation was unfounded after he got through such gems like "Another Great Thing", "Damen Avenue," and "Hell". Adult Head introduces a new career for Jeff Tweedy as a poet.

Rating:
Summary: Jeff Tweedy is a Writer
Review: It's about time Jeff Tweedy who has written engaging rock songs for the past twenty years for Uncle Tupelo and Wilco put out a book of poems. Lyrics from such songs as She's a Jar prove themselves to qualify as poetry. Most rock lyrics on a white page without the embellishment of a crooning voice or a pounding four-piece band can be as painful as waking up next to someone you met in a strobe light club. Somehow the daylight against the white sheets shows unforgiving truths. This has never been the case for Jeff Tweedy.

His first book of poems Adult Head holds up as a masterful book of poetry. One of the most rewarding aspects about Adult Head is that these poems are not obvious and explicit. Reading these poems feels like being immersed into the subconscious or tapping into those nebulous dreams we remember for a short while after waking up. They are cerebral poems that lend themselves to contemplation with such lines as "let's wear momentum/how honor pulverizes this now/like nothing else/it's happening/so loosen your body/to me."

Jeff Tweedy holds his ground in the realm of contemporary poets. He synthesizes influences from the imagery Williams Carlos Williams to the surrealism of Burgess to avant-garde rock lyrics of Thurston Moore.

Even though this collection isn't a masterpiece, there is something hindering in each crafted poem, they give the anticipation of one to come.

Fans of Tweedy's music and lyrics may be pleased to find that his sardonic humor continues. "For you to kiss my black eye even though I caught it from you," recalls the domestic turmoil in the Summerteeth album. Also some complete poems will be put to music in Wilco's upcoming album a Ghost is Born.

Jeff Tweedy gave a reading at the AWP conference in the Palmer House Chicago just a few weeks before he checked himself into a rehab center. Shielded underneath a grungy army coat, a sock hat, and dark horn rimmed glasses he adjusted his mike for a ten-minute reading. With his raspy singer's voice he spoke, "this is my first time reading in front of a group. And let me tell you how thrilled I am to do it in a roomful of writers." His self-deprecation was unfounded after he got through such gems like "Another Great Thing", "Damen Avenue," and "Hell". Adult Head introduces a new career for Jeff Tweedy as a poet.

Rating:
Summary: The Map Is Not the Territory
Review: Oh, dear. Why, oh why must these great musicians write terrible poetry? I will forgive Dave Alvin, and David Berman's Actual Air is actual, viable, vital work. But this puerile foray into the gentler genre is bad news for Wilco boys everywhere. Better than Ally Sheedy's book; however, I'd rather read some real poets and listen to Master Tweedy whine prettily over a soundtrack...

Rating:
Summary: Poetic Breakthrough
Review: This was an intimate and great read. I couldn't put the book down and that doesn't happen often at all for me with poetry books. Each poem took me further into the twisted psyche of the writer. When I first started reading the poems I must admit I didn't think much but than lines like "the best way/to feel your blood is to lie";" o, and then the blood will pound/discoteque-esqe" jumped out at me. Some of Tweedy's stanzas remind me of zen phrases,simple thoughts that speak a heavy truth, "the best laughs/never leave your lungs/and the best life/is art/never made." Best of all, these poems are more enjoyable with each reread.