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*Wilco*
*Jesus, Etc.*
*Yankee Hotel Foxtrot*
Capo On 5
[Am]Jesus, don't [Em]cry
[Am]You can [F]rely on me, honey
[C]You can [Dm]combine anything you want[G]
[Am]I'll be [Em]around
[Am]You were [F]right about the stars,
[C]Each[Dm]one is a setting sun[G][F]
[C]Tall [C/B]buildings [Am]shake, [Am/G]voices [E]escape
Singing [C]sad, [F] sad [G]songs
[G]Tuned to chords
[C]Strum [C/B]down [Am]your cheeks, [Am/G]bitter [E]melodies
Turning your [C]or[F]bit [G]around
[Am]Don't [Em]cry
[Am]You can [F]rely on me, honey
[C]You can come [Dm]by any time you want[G]
[Am]I'll be [Em]around
[Am]You were [F]right about the stars,
[C]Each one is a [Dm]setting sun[G][F]
[C]Tall [C/B]buildings [Am]shake, [Am/G]voices [E]escape
Singing [C]sad, [F] sad [G]songs
[G]Tuned to chords
[C]Strum [C/B]down [Am]your cheeks, [Am/G]bitter [E]melodies
Turning your [C]or[F]bit [G]around
[Am]Voices [Em] whine
[Am]Skyscrapers are [F]scraping [C]together
Your [Dm]voice is [G]smoking
[C]Last [C/B]cigarettes, [Am]all you can [Am/G]get
[E]Turning your [C]or[F]bit [G]around
[Am]Our [Em]love
[Am]Our [F]Love
[C]Our [Dm]love is all we [G]have
[Am]Our [Em]love
[Am]Our love is [F]all of God's money
[C]Every [Dm]one is a burning sun[G] [F]
[C]Tall [C/B]buildings [Am]shake, [Am/G]voices [E]escape
Singing [C]sad, [F] sad [G]songs
[G]Tuned to chords
[C]Strum [C/B]down [Am]your cheeks, [Am/G]bitter [E]melodies
Turning your [C]or[F]bit [G]around
[Am]Voices [Em] whine
[Am]Skyscrapers are [F]scraping [C]together
Your [Dm]voice is [G]smoking
[C]Last [C/B]cigarettes, [Am]all you can [Am/G]get
[E]Turning your [C]or[F]bit [G]around
[C]Last [C/B]cigarettes, [Am]all you can [Am/G]get
[E]Turning your [C]or[F]bit [G]around
[C]Last [C/B]cigarettes, [Am]all you can [Am/G]get
[E]Turning your [C]or[F]bit [G]around
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Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
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No Picture
Dan Average |
#1 by Dan Christopher at Jun 18, 1971 at 3:10 PM EST |
| This song is amazing. Nothing in the world puts me in a more peaceful mood than listening to this. I don't interepret it as a commentary on society, although it very well could be. The sense I get from it is...an...opening up to someone with whom Jeff shares an extremely close connection. I'm not sure about the nature of the connection (a romantic love, a relative, whatever), but it just seems to be the...thing you'd say to someone you love when something happens to make you realize how much they mean to you. Which is a fascinating idea to me: what would you say to the people who mean the most of you, if you thought you had just a flicker of a moment left with them? Well, Jeff has captured it here, to me. "Don't cry/you can rely on me, honey/You can come by anytime you want." Gosh...this song just rocks my socks. Jeff Tweedy is awesome. | |
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tim Rhythm Player |
#2 by tim cronin at Oct 12, 1972 at 6:54 PM EST |
| He's not an atheist...there are plenty of songs to back that up. I like the drug idea, though. | |
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Mark Wanna Be |
#3 by Mark masta at Sep 29, 1974 at 12:56 PM EST |
| What can you say about such an amazing album? So beautiful yet heartbreaking. This song to me represents a relationship...or many in which the only person he seems to not let down is the one he is not sure is there. GOD. | |
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No Picture
devon Average |
#4 by devon at Nov 11, 1976 at 7:36 PM EST |
| This song has special meaning to me. The first time I heard it, someone was playing it for me because of the doubts and fears that I had about our relationship. I don't think that there are any lyrics more soothing than "Jesus don't cry / You can rely on me honey." This would go on the soundtrack of my life. I love this song aside from that as well.... it will always be my favorite Wilco song. | |
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No Picture
Justin Wanna Be |
#5 by Justin Neafsey at Apr 13, 1978 at 9:41 AM EST |
| My brother suggested this meaning to me a while ago. It is a unique one. If you know anything about drug culture you might know that some people, when they use substances that can be intense, choose to have someone sober with them to watch and take care of them. They call these sober individuals sitters. Ususally people like to have sitter around when they try something for the first time, or if it is a potent hallucinogen. Jesus, don't cry you can rely on me honey you can combine anything you want This girl has a sitter who cares very much for her, but accepts that she is going to experiment with drugs and wants to take care of her while she is on them. you were right about the stars each one is a setting sun Sounds very much like something someone who was on a hallucinogenic substance would say. But at the end of the song it sounds like she either had a bad trip or an insightful one that made her want to stop using psychoactive substances. last cigarettes are all you can get turning your orbit around she's done with it all. P.S. I am not one of those people that thinks every song is about drugs. I just think this one might be, and I have provided clear textual evidence to support this claim. | |
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No Picture
MelissA Average |
#6 by MelissA at Apr 26, 1979 at 3:01 AM EST |
| Anna, this is not about the World Trade Centers. This song was written before 2001. (See the first post) Wilco is funny with words. They like to do weird stuff (For instance, "She's a jar." She's ajar. She's open), so I'm not going to say that "Jesus, don't cry" is not addressed to Jesus. If this song were about a drug-user, the narrator and the addressee get confused. Is the narrator the addict, or is it the addressee? Divican said: "you were right about the stars each one is a setting sun Sounds very much like something someone who was on a hallucinogenic substance would say." The first line throws off that interpretation. Why is the narrator agreeing with that? Is the narrator high too? Or is it the girl that's the sitter, and the narrator gets high? That doesn't make sense either. You're thinking: So, Greyshoes, what is this song about? I don't know. I don't mean to be negative toward everyone else's thouhgts, I swear. I'm just writing what I'm thinking. VegasJames laid out the literal interpretation of it (very nicely, too). Does it go deeper than that? I wouldn't put it past Wilco for a second. There seem to be a lot of images of "coming down." Buildings shake, setting suns, bitter melodies, sad chords, etc. Anyway. I hope that provokes some thoughts/innovations. Peace. | |
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No Picture
Ben Rhythm Player |
#7 by Ben Formica at Aug 6, 1980 at 5:33 AM EST |
| same here. I put in the cd planning on listening to all of it but I get stuck on this song and listen to it over and over. | |
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No Picture
chris Average |
#8 by chris ovari at Oct 21, 1981 at 10:06 PM EST |
| When I first heard this song in late September 2001, I was stunned by how much its lyrics evoked the WTC attack. Obviously Tweedy had written it beforehand, but I wonder what he meant by this song. I'm inclined to understand it, like "Ashes of American Flags," as a lament for a materialistic, decadent, and unholy society. Amid collapsed skyscrapers (perhaps metaphorical for economic markets) and human sorrow, the "bitter melodies" have a notable effect: "turning your orbit around." This, I think, turns out to be much more than "throwing you for a loop." The key is the image of "God's money," which scorns the fallen monuments to human money. "All of God's money" is not in the tall buildings which house investment banks and law firms, but in "our love," which is really "all we have" anyway. The images of sun and stars convey the ephemeral and precious nature of life. There are the lines, "You were right about the stars, each one is a setting sun," depicting each of us -- "everyone is a burning sun" -- in imminent demise. I understand this part in a positive way: while our existence is brief, it is also passionate and glorious. | |
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PunkJunky Wanna Be |
#9 by PunkJunky at Mar 7, 1986 at 5:48 AM EST |
| Divican, that's an awesome way to put it. I think that, in a way, anyone can relate to having someone watching them as they bad trip, or go through tough times, and it's those people that help us get better. | |
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No Picture
Mike Average |
#10 by Mike Murphy at Jun 18, 1986 at 7:17 AM EST |
| i think this is a lament on lost religion, on how lost everyone is on god - particularly this one person in the protagonist's life. he himself has turned on god in the face of everything around him a long time ago, but his lover still believed - she loses faith, but she can still rely on him, even as buildings and economies collapse. | |
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mat Wanna Be |
#11 by mat bar at Aug 6, 1986 at 6:35 PM EST |
| cannot stop listening to this song. is all. | |
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Dark Lead Player |
#12 by Dark Avenger at Feb 3, 1987 at 7:16 PM EST |
| "Jesus, don't cry." Sounds to me like an exasperated plea from someone at the limit of their patience with a their depressive muse. In other words: Oh, for Christ's sake would you stop? You know I won't leave you. This because it's followed by: "You can rely on me honey" as if the reliability of the speaker has come into question and needs to be proven. "You can combine anything you want." Which is to say: It's easy to put together any two different ideas to support your point (kind of like song interpretations). "I'll be around", reassuring loved one that speaker is not going to abandon them. "You were right about the stars" you know, what you said that night while we gazed at the heavens? that I disagreed with? Well, it was quite profound and it stuck with me. I appreciate and remember the things you say. "each one is a setting sun" everything is relative based on point of view. "tall buildings shake" bad things happen in this world, great plans crumble; "voices escape singing sad, sad songs" producing the pained voices in our world "tuned to chords strung down your cheek/ bitter melodies turning your orbit around." even though I don't want you to cry, when you do you not only give me local inspiration for my music, by letting your feelings out, you change your own attitude. Jeff Tweedy seems to have an on-going relationship with this depressive muse: "Cheer-up, honey I hope you can." and seems to need her for his gifts as poet/ and bed-side cheerer-upper in order to reach their potential. I hope my flippancy is not mistaken as disrespect; I am a huge Tweedy fan. "Our love is all we have", simply true. "each one is a burning sun." expresses an appreciation for the luminous brilliance of every living thing. | |
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Emdizzy foshizz Lead Player |
#13 by Emdizzy foshizzy at Feb 22, 1987 at 1:47 AM EST |
| "Jesus" at the start of the song is definitley used as an exclamation not a pronoun. Nothing better then hearing this live when Tweedy asks the crowd to sing along to "our love is all we have". What a beautiful lyric! | |
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Beaver Average |
#14 by Beaver Butt at Dec 30, 1987 at 2:33 AM EST |
| This doesn't really compare to the awesome comments that precede it, but I was looking around on iTunes celebrity playlists last night, and *many* celebrities have this on their lists. Not that it matters that celebrities listen to it, but that kinda just shows how universally appreciated this song is, and how so many people feel it and love it. I know I do. | |
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No Picture
The Masta The Muther F*ing Masta! |
#15 by The Masta at Apr 19, 1995 at 3:39 AM EST |
| This world is so beautiful that all things, all lives, all are intertwined together to rely and become dependent on the rest of the universe, at all times. | |
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No Picture
Kazza Average |
#16 by Kazza at Aug 12, 1995 at 4:40 AM EST |
| its about just how much beauty there is even if awful things are going down. like every star being a setting sun. even if all you can get is a last cigarette. | |
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Ryan Sutherland Rhythm Player |
#17 by Ryan Sutherland at Jun 21, 1997 at 12:52 PM EST |
| "strung down your cheeks bitter melodies turning your orbit around" I love that part so much. | |
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hamadi Wanna Be |
#18 by hamadi alameddine at Nov 1, 1999 at 6:56 AM EST |
| i agree that the song could very well be about drugs...as jeff tweedy had problems with them himself. and your "textual evidence" (in advanced english, are we?) is supported quite well. it is much more sentimental to listen to the others, as theirs are idealistic...and you failed to support the other parts of the song like "our love is all we have...our love is all of God's money" and the referances to buildings shaking and the world collapsing, unless you suggest that these referances would be the point of her realization that she must change, for that would make sense as a decision so monumental would be emotional...and also, songs don't ALWAYS work out when you analyze them...either way, you have an awesome point that i never would have thought of! | |
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No Picture
Quinn Rhythm Player |
#19 by Quinn I killed my last name at Jan 29, 2000 at 9:21 PM EST |
| i think that it hints on the evitable that all things good or bad must past. "each star is a setting sun" "our love is all we have" --enjoy life while got it "each one is burning sun" we too our burning stars and we have our moment and then we are gone. or it could very well be about drugs | |
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No Picture
Josh Average |
#20 by Josh Sanchez at Mar 14, 2000 at 3:48 PM EST |
| wow. what great comments. I never realized that this song is so obviously about the wtc disasters. I always listened to this song and I was struck by how nobody ever tells Jesus not to cry, and how someone should be there for him too. Especially during his crucifixion. I'm not a religoius person at all, it's strange that's the one thing I always thought of. | |
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Kenny Lead Player |
#21 by Kenny Berg at Sep 4, 2001 at 10:52 AM EST |
| Recently, i've been through alot, and this song relates alot to it. And its just beautiful, i think it can be seen in many views, and whatever works for you,it means that, like poetry, so many different takes on things | |
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Steil Wanna Be |
#22 by Steil Lionhart at Aug 19, 2004 at 3:31 AM EST |
| this song seems to be tweedy's idea of the apocalypse, the the world crumbling around him and he is saying the only thing that will be worth anything anymore wil be love. an he is also playing the most serene music over this as it happens showing that he simply could care less about it. | |
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Kyle Average |
#23 by Kyle Landers at Dec 21, 2004 at 11:11 PM EST |
| I believe it is about comforting someone who is feeling spirtually lost. "you can combine anything you want" you can take whatever you want from what any religion preaches. I think Jeff is an athiest, look at "I Can't Stand It", "Your prayers will never be answered again" and "No loves as random As God's love I can't stand it" The song is saying believe what you want to believe, I don't believe in god and that makes the world a better place, no love is as randon as God's love. You don't need to have an understanding and a definition for life and the universe, I'm here for you and the beauty of people caring for each other is wonderful enough. | |
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No Picture
The REAL Godfat Average |
#24 by The REAL Godfather at Nov 8, 2006 at 12:53 AM EST |
| Aw man, what a song. The first song ever to make me cry. It has one of the most astonishing set of lyrics I've ever seen. "Skyscrapers are scraping together" and "you were right about the stars, each one is a setting sun" stand out as two particularly amazing phrases, but really the whole thing is unbelievable. All this coupled with a beautiful melody and that heart-tugging violin. This will always remind me of warm summer nights. The sequence on YHF of Jesus Etc - Ashes Of American Flags - Heavy Metal Drummer is arguably the best three-song sequence I've heard. | |
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Robyn Average |
#25 by Robyn Paul at Jan 17, 2007 at 1:48 PM EST |
| This song is really special. I think all that needs to be said has already be said, so I'll just leave it at that. | |
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