Wednesday Wilco Song Spotlight: “You Never Know”

This week’s Song Spotlight shines on the first single from the band’s seventh studio release, Wilco (The Album):

“You Never Know” (Jeff Tweedy)

In the fourth episode of the popular 60s-set AMC TV series Mad Men, first broadcast on August 9, 2007, Roger Sterling - a senior partner at the fictitious ad firm Sterling Cooper, perfectly played by John Slattery - ponders, ‘Maybe every generation thinks the next one is the end of it all.’ *

In Wilco’s bright, poppy “You Never Know,” Jeff Tweedy offers a similar sentiment. “Come on children / You’re acting like children / Every generation thinks it’s the end of the world.”

This song was considered by many to be a tribute to the post-Beatles solo work of George Harrison, with Justin Gerber of Consequence Of Sound likening the “I don’t care anymore” refrain to the hallelujahs of “My Sweet Lord.”

It briefly reached the #1 spot on the Billboard Adult Album Alternative chart in the summer of 2009, and was released as a seven-inch single, backed with the non-album B-side “Unlikely Japan.”

A nearly identical version of the song appears on the charity album The Sun Came Out by the Neil Finn project 7 Worlds Collide. The two-CD set, which also features contributions by Johnny Marr, Ed O’Brien, Sebastian Steinberg, Phil Selway, Lisa Germano, Don McGlashan, Bic Runga, Glenn Richards, KT Tunstall, and fellow Finn brothers Tim and Liam, was a benefit for Oxfam, a charitable organization focused on ending global poverty.

With Neil Finn, best known as the front man of the Australian pop rock band Crowded House, providing additional fuzz guitar, Wilco recorded the 7 Worlds Collide version of ‘You Never Know’ in December 2008 at Roundhead Studios in Auckland, New Zealand. It was released on August 31, 2009, two months after Wilco (The Album).

* This bit overlaps with a Wilcopedia (The Blog) post from last year entitled Mad Men & Wilco: That's Right, There Are Connections (10/10/19).

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

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Mad Men & Wilco: That's Right, There Are Connections

What does the acclaimed AMC show Mad Men (2007-2015) have to do with the acclaimed rock band Wilco? Well, let me tell you. First, we’ll start with Mad Men’s star, Jon Hamm, who plays ad exec Don Draper. Hamm has said in interviews that he’s a big fan of Wilco, as well as Son Volt and their antecedent, Uncle Tupelo.

In 2009, Hamm submitted a playlist for iTune’s “Celebrity Playlists” that included the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot track “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.” He provided commentary for the track: “This is my favorite song from my favorite band. Hands down. There are a lot of things Wilco does well, and they do all of them on this song.”

Hamm also picked Uncle Tupelo’s “Screen Door,” of which he said, “There is a simplicity to this song (and this song) that disguises its innovation and depth. The fact that this band produced two equally kickass bands is testament to just that.”

Over the years, Hamm has had a number of other connections to his favorite band. Wilco’s “A Shot in the Arm” appeared in the 2011 film, FRIENDS WITH KIDS, in which Hamm co-starred with Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott, and Jennifer Westfeldt.

Hamm posted a video via Twitter in 2016 in which he encouraged his internet audience to go to their local independent record store to listen to Wilco’s album Schmilco. You can watch the video here.

In 2018, the actor moderated “Let’s Go - A discussion of music and other topics with Jeff Tweedy and Jon Hamm,” during which Hamm admitted to being a Wilco groupie. 

But Hamm’s piece de resistance has to be earlier this year when he appeared at the Solid Sound Festival to perform a piece entitled “Fishing” aided by Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche.

Hamm’s co-star, John Slattery, who portrays Draper’s collegue, Roger Sterling, has also often extolled the virtues of Tweedy and company. He also posted an iTunes playlist which contained two Wilco tunes: “You and I,” of which he wrote, “just saw the song sung live at the Wiltern, and it was like I was the only one there. Is that weird?”

“Impossible Germany” was Slattery’s second choice: “I always wondered if this lyric came from a list of tour dates. Impossible: Germany; unlikely: Japan. Nels Cline is amazing.”

Also notable in the world of Roger Sterling, there’s a moment In the fourth episode (broadcast: August 9, 2007) of Mad Men, in which Roger, Senior Partner at the ficticious ad firm Sterling Cooper, ponders that, ‘I don’t know, maybe every generation thinks the next one is the end of it all.’

In Wilco’s ‘You Never Know,’ the first single off of Wilco (The Album), Jeff Tweedy sings a similar sentiment: “Come on children / You’re acting like children / Every generation thinks it’s the end of the world.” 

In Time Magazine (August 24, 2009), Slattery praised Tweedy and company’s then newest release:

“Wilco (The Album) is another brilliant offering from the best band in the biz. They take the poetry of lead singer Jeff Tweedy and make it rock. They never repeat themselves, and they take chances. They’re students of music and sound and poetry.”

Elisabeth Moss, who portrayed secretary-turned-copywriter Peggy, also posted a playlist alongside Hamm and Slattery’s that contained a few Wilco songs. Sadly though it’s been removed by iTunes so I can’t tell you what they were. If anybody knows, please drop me a line.

That’s all for now. I’m going to go see if I can make any other connections between Wilco and TV shows. 

Daniel Cook Johnson's Wilcopedia: A Comprehensive Guide to the Music of America’s Best Band is available for order here.

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