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Wilco How To Fight Loneliness Guitar Tab

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Band - Wilco
Song - How To Fight Loneliness

Bbdim is, low E to high E: x1202x

Bm A6 G F#

Bm A6
How to fight loneliness
G F#
Smile all the time
Bm A6
Shine your teeth 'til meaningless
G F#
Sharpen them with lies
Em A
And whatever is going down
Em A
Will follow you around
Bbdim Bm D
That's how you fight loneliness
G F#
You laugh at every joke
Bm A6
Drag your blanket blindly
G F#
Fill your heart with smoke
Em A
And the first thing that you want
Em A
Will be the last thing you ever need
Bbdim Bm
That's how you fight it

Bm A6 G F#
Em A Em A Bbdim Bm

D G
Just smile all the time
Just smile all the time
Just smile all the time
D G A Bbdim
Just smile all the time

Bm A6 G F#
Doo-dup...

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Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
 
 
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Charlie
Average
#1 by Charlie Fletcher at Feb 23, 1970 at 11:13 PM EST
hey trasta, I think it means that whatever fun and excitement is going on in the world around you will gravitate to you when you smile and play along, and that allthe lights, sounds and people may help to drown out te lonliness, even if it's just superficially
 
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Cicely aka Icic
Badass
#2 by Cicely aka Icicles and CSkank Shankle (if u stalk me i will shoot you.) at Oct 3, 1972 at 12:46 AM EST
i just found out something pretty damn funny: this song is on a cd entitled "martha stewart living- quiet time". it's a collection of songs that are meant to be nice and relaxing. so martha stewart is misinterpreting a song about putting on a fake happy face to the world. the irony...
 
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Steven
Average
#3 by Steven Daniel at Nov 17, 1975 at 9:34 AM EST
the saddest song these ears have ever heard.
 
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Mikel
Average
#4 by Mikel A. at Jan 13, 1976 at 12:41 PM EST
wow... this song is really drags you down! so sad. I enjoyed the Martha Stuart story.... the presence of a song denouncing "fake attitudes" and empty smiles in a Martha Stuart CD is indeed ironic.
 
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jim
Professional
#5 by jim d.f at Nov 27, 1980 at 2:26 PM EST
Y'know for a song supposedly about fighting loneliness, it's awfully sad.
 
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D.J
Wanna Be
#6 by D.J Mortensen at Dec 31, 1984 at 7:04 AM EST
i love this song. and i love how it's in the movie "girl interrupted." yay.
 
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Alex
Average
#7 by Alex P at Jun 14, 1987 at 1:30 PM EST
LateNiteBedroomPop: I doubt he was disputing its relaxing tone as much as pointing out the irony of a song of this subject being on a Martha Stewart-related product.
 
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Berenice
Average
#8 by Berenice Issaris at Jan 24, 1988 at 7:49 PM EST
god i love this song so much, everything about it is beautiful. I agree with what everyone else said and I don't think its about drugs at all. I think the "fill your heart with smoke" line is a way to say fill your heart with lies...as in the old sayings smoke and mirrors and blowing smoke up your a$$.
 
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!Ace
Rhythm Player
#9 by !Ace Youngs at Apr 13, 1988 at 12:34 AM EST
It's all in the title, how many people will do just about anything to avoid being alone. Sad song.
 
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Jimmy
Lead Player
#10 by Jimmy Chezz at Jul 20, 1989 at 2:27 AM EST
the song is beautiful and the words are insightful. they're pretty self-explanatory, though, and yet striking nevertheless..."just smile all the time" by itself seems so positive...and yet it's such satire
 
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Micke
Lead Player
#11 by Micke Nordin at Dec 6, 1989 at 2:09 AM EST
I believe "the first thing you ever want, will be the last thing you ever need" is reffering to.. The first thing you ever want is to harm yourself.. But that's the last thing anyone would ever need. But I think this song is deeper then just ... self harm.. you know? Lonliness is such an obscure feeling.. though everyone, deep down inside bares it. We just don't like to admit it.. admit that we need someone else.. or we need to harm ourselves.. Wonka Bar
 
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Average
#12 by vix at Apr 7, 1996 at 5:04 PM EST
i believe its about drugs, and some person that has meaning to the artist, is destroying themselves with drugs or something as they "fill your heart with smoke," because they believe its the only way to "fight loneliness"
 
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ben
Lead Player
#13 by ben Tee at Oct 13, 1998 at 12:41 AM EST
i agree with pj10.. and i definitely dont think this is about drugs at all.
 
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Dustin
Wanna Be
#14 by Dustin Cogburn at Mar 19, 1999 at 8:25 PM EST
And whatever is going down Will follow you around That’s how you fight loneliness what does that part mean?
 
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Snap! Crackle!
Average
#15 by Snap! Crackle! Josh!! waldenmaier at May 31, 1999 at 5:36 PM EST
You can try and fight loneliness...but its still always going to be there, in my case anyways. I absolutely love this song, and a lot of people can certainly identify with it thats for sure.
 
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KELSO
Wanna Be
#16 by KELSO Is a COOL kid at Jul 8, 2000 at 6:58 AM EST
& i don't think martha stewart is that dumb. this song is actually relaxing... just in a very melancholy way.
 
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Subhash
Average
#17 by Subhash Shady at May 21, 2002 at 10:26 PM EST
Can this be any more true? I'm probably not the only one who feels that I've been living a lie.
 
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Trevor
Average
#18 by Trevor fun with drugs at Jan 20, 2003 at 8:31 PM EST
i dont think the smoke reference is literal. its more like hes saying theres smoke instead of substance in your heart, theres ghosts of emotion instead of the real thing. the whole song is about pretending to be happy for the appearance of it (shine your teeth to meaningless, sharpen them with lies). if you know anyone like this, then this song just makes a lot of sense
 
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Batmanuel
Badass
#19 by Batmanuel at Apr 23, 2005 at 12:42 PM EST
this is such a bittersweet song
 
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DUMBASS
Average
#20 by DUMBASS Thomas at Nov 28, 2006 at 7:33 PM EST
How to fight loneliness Smile all the time Shine your teeth to meaningless And sharpen them with lies (I think that this verse is an explanation of how fake many people act. Even though they are very lonely because they don't believe they have any true friends, people smile and pretend they are happy. Shine your teeth to meaningless could be interpreted as "Make yourself seem so absolutely perfect that it doesn't even matter anymore." Sharpen your teeth with lies could mean "Tell lies about people who don't like you so that you seem "better" then them".) And whatever is going down Will you follow around That’s how you fight loneliness (I think this verse means "Get yourself involved in everybody's business so that you can become the center of attraction") You laugh at every joke Drag your blanket blindly Fill your heart with smoke (Laughing at every joke, is trying to get everyone to like you, and dragging your blanket around blindly could mean telling lies about other people (Blankets cover things up) but you end up affecting other people who you have no intention of hurting (The blanket covers them up too). Filling your heart with smoke is metaphoric, probably intended to mean that the person pretends not to have any deep emotions.) And the first thing that you want Will be the last thing you’ll ever need That’s how you fight it (The first thing the person wants is an army of "friends", but what they really want is one good friend to be there when they are hurt and to help them with their life.) Just smile all the time Just smile all the time Just smile all the time Just smile all the time (Self-explanitory) All in all, this is a great song, very sad, and very touching. The moral of the story is... Having one good friend is better then having one million acquaintences.