As yesterday was Neil Young’s 74th Birthday, it seems a given that this week’s Song Spotlight should shine upon Wilco’s cover of one of the legendary Canadian singer /songwriter’s finest compositions:
“Broken Arrow” (Neil Young)
Wilco debuted their majestic cover of Neil Young’s “Broken Arrow,” a psychedelic track that first appeared on the classic 1967 album Buffalo Springfield Again, at a MusiCares tribute to Young in early 2010, then went on to perform it throughout their tour into the summer of that year.
In a Rolling Stone feature about the MusiCares event, Jeff Tweedy told Shirley Halperin, “We rehearsed this song for two days. The guys in our crew said it was the first time they’d ever seen us rehearse in three years.” He added that they had selected “Broken Arrow” because it is “really episodic and strange, and when you hear it, it’s pretty obvious that Wilco has taken a lot from this one song.”
Wilco’s version, which you can watch right above, faithfully recreates the song’s “Mr. Soul intro, the “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” organ bit, the trippy, start-stop arrangement, and the jazzy clarinet- and drum-driven ending. Even the original’s concluding heartbeat sound effect gets its due.
After performing it around twenty times in 2010, Wilco retired “Broken Arrow” from their repertoire. Tweedy gave a clue as to why when he denied a request for it at his Annual Benefit For Education solo show at the Vic Theatre in Chicago the following April, explaining, “It’s like got a million parts.”
This is an edited excerpt from Wilcopedia by Daniel Cook Johnson, published by Jawbone Press (www.jawbonepress.com). Order your copy here.
More later...
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