Wednesday Wilco Song Spotlight: “Box Full Of Letters”

The cover for the CD-single of Wilco's “Box Full Of Letters” (Reprise, 1995) 

Welcome to the latest entry in the Wednesday Wilco Song Spotlight in which an excerpt about a choice track by the band from my book, Wilcopedia, is featured. So let’s get right to it:

“Box Full Of Letters” (Jeff Tweedy)

Jeff Tweedy: vocals, guitar

John Stirratt: bass, vocals

Max Johnston: Dobro

Ken Coomer: drums

Brian Henneman: guitars

Wilco’s first single, which appears as the third track on A.M., is a sprightly jingle-jangle of a song concerning a couple splitting up their belongings before going their separate ways, as sung by Jeff Tweedy in a matter-of-fact manner.

Many fans and critics felt the song referred to Jay Farrar, Tweedy’s estranged former partner in Uncle Tupelo. There was a well-documented falling out when that band dissolved, so the assumption does seem apt, but the song’s strength lies in its flexibility; it is relatable to anybody who’s had bittersweet feelings about a breakup.

In an interview with Chuck Taggart of the Chicago Reader, published a week before A.M.’s release, Tweedy said the song shouldn’t be seen as being about his estrangement from Farrar because “it’s just a straight pop relationship song,” before adding, “Jay and I didn’t share records.”

As Wilco’s style developed, such straightforward songs as “Box Full Of Letters’ became a thing of the past. It still pops up in the band’s setlists, but like the rest of the material on A.M., it’s a signifier of a very different era - an era during which Wilco were an alt.country concoction very much in the shadow of Uncle Tupelo. Despite this, it remains one of their catchiest and most enduring songs.

Wilco made their television debut performing “Box Full Of Letters” on Late Night With Conan O’Brien on June 9, 1995; they also made a video for the song, which featured on the popular MTV animated series Beavis & Butt-Head. 

A spare, slowed-down version of the song, featuring only Bennett and Tweedy and recorded live at C’est What in Toronto, Ontario, on November 20, 1996, would appear on the Summerteeth And Sum Aren’t promo CD in 1999, and was later included on the Alpha Mike Foxtrot: Rare Tracks 1994-2014 box set.

Although Wilco have taken lengthy breaks from playing “Box Full Of Letters’ live, with no documented performances of it at all during 1997–2000 and 2003–2007, it continues to be a go-to audience favorite, and in recent years has been played regularly, including at almost every show the band played during 2015–2017.

This is an edited excerpt from Wilcopedia by Daniel Cook Johnson, published by Jawbone Press (www.jawbonepress.com). Order your copy here.

More later...