Company In My Back Chords Guitar Tab

A Ghost Is Born Tabs:

Company In My Back......Wilco...tabbed by AVH
*CAPO 3RD FRET
intro: A..strummed 4 single times..finger picked
A
I attack with love, pure bug beauty
Emin
I curl my lips and crawl up to you
A
I attack with love, pure bug beauty
Emin
I curl my lips and crawl up to you
D
And your afternoon
G              A
And I've been puking
Emin
I move so slow, a steady crushing hand
D          A
Holy shit there's a company in my back
Emin
I move so slow, a steady crushing hand
D                                 A
Holy shit there's a company in my back
A
Hide your soft skin, your sorrow is sunshine
Emin
Listen to my eyes
A
Hide your soft skin, your sorrow is sunshine
Emin
Listen to my eyes
D                          A
They are hissing radiator tunes
Emin
I move so slow, a steady crushing hand
D                      A
Holy shit there's a company in my back
Emin
I move so slow, a steady crushing hand
D                                 A
Holy shit there's a company in my back
A
You learn so slow, old radiant beauty
Emin
I'll curve my flight
A
You learn so slow, old radiant beauty
Emin
I'll curve my flight
D
Under your bended knee
D
And I will always die
D
I will always die
D
I will always die
D                   A
So you can remember me
Emin
I move so slow, a steady crushing hand
D                     A
Holy shit there's a company in my back
Emin
I move so slow, a steady crushing hand
D                                   A
Holy shit, there's a company in my back
A
There's a company in my back
END WITH 8 SINGLE STRUMS WITH FINGERPICKED A CHORD

Source: http://www.guitarmasta.net/w/wilco/360676.html

Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques


No Picture Kornowski - Wanna Be	#1 by Kornowski - Im не русский, Бог Черт возьми! at Oct 2, 2007 at 1:50 AM EST
	I personally love the music, beat, and lyrics of this song. It always struck me, and still does. Now it means more to me, because I feel like he's talking about how he really cares about this person, but maybe he is afraid to commit. Maybe it's just personal experience shining through on my part. It's a beautiful song.

No Picture Christian Wanna Be	#2 by Christian Chavez at Oct 3, 2007 at 5:39 AM EST
	i absolutely agree. you know how when you start really liking a song and you're doing something like maybe homework or playing a game or talking online or something and it comes on you just STOP and sigh and life is wonderful...for this song it never went away...i'll always stop and sigh...and it will always make my life beautiful ...

No Picture James Wanna Be	#3 by James Makowiecki at Oct 4, 2007 at 1:14 PM EST
	I think the meaning has something to do with the Record Company Reprise Records during Wilco's upheaval after recording YHF. But that's just my theory

No Picture sY Average	#4 by sYsTem oWnS rOx at Oct 4, 2007 at 3:21 PM EST
	Listen to my eyes/They are hissing radiator tunes I've yet to get a solid meaning on this one...like many of the songs on AGIB, but I think these two lines go together. He's telling her to look into his eyes, which are hissing radiator tunes---he's giving her a very cold look.

No Picture James Wanna Be	#5 by James Pigott at Oct 5, 2007 at 3:24 AM EST
	Don't flies puke out the last thing they sucked up with their mouths when they land on a new object?

No Picture Joe Average	#6 by Joe Miller at Oct 5, 2007 at 12:22 PM EST
	This might be weird or crazy... BUT I feel like pure bug beauty could be a couple of things. Like, beauty that most people would overlook, or something dirty almost. Maybe because I imagine some sensual yet animalistic sex involved in this scenario. But I mainly think it's about beauty overlooked. Well, that part of the song at least. :)

No Picture Badass	#7 by Nirvana at Oct 7, 2007 at 10:21 AM EST
	Also the "I've been puking" line could be drawn from Jeff's troubles with migranes. I just got "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart: A Film About Wilco." There's one part where poor Jeff is throwing up in the bathroom at The Loft, and he explains about his migranes. He said they were so bad as a kid that sometimes he'd have to be taken to the hospital because he was so dehydrated.

No Picture Michael Average	#8 by Michael Vanderveen at Oct 8, 2007 at 9:24 AM EST
	i think this is my new favorite song. i don't understand the lyrics though, i don't even see what "there's a company in my back" means. anyone have some insight?

No Picture jordan Average	#9 by jordan mcm at Oct 8, 2007 at 2:53 PM EST
	i dont think its about a relationship at all... political? urban sprawl... hell i dont know, but im fairly sure it aint about a girl and boy

No Picture Bryant Wanna Be	#10 by Bryant Matthews at Oct 8, 2007 at 4:59 PM EST
	Hmmm...this song has been growing on me, but it's quite cryptic like a lot of Tweedy's lyrics. I keep trying to decipher the words each time I hear them. "a company in my back" -- what the hell does that mean? Well, here's my best interpretation at this point in time. This is a song about waking up hungover ("I've been puking") next to a lover. He slowly enters wakefullness in a Chicago winter hearing the radiator "hissing radiator tunes" and clumsily tries to shift his weight in bed "I move so slow, a steady crushing hand" only to discover with a foggy brain ("Holy shit") that he has "company". Someone is right there with him, spooning maybe? "company in my back" I like the bug metaphor to convey how small he feels compared to her in these moments, but how he curled his lips and crawl up to her hours before, and "will always die" like bugs do, so he can be remembered. What do you think...am I way off base? It is a cool song, I do like to let it wash over me, but I also think that every songwriter writes words that mean something.

No Picture Shredmaster Average	#11 by Shredmaster Will at Oct 10, 2007 at 4:45 PM EST
	SweetBlondie, I think that "company in my back" is kind of like he's not alone anymore and there's a huge weight on his back. you know what I mean? I think that the whole concept of him not being alone anymore is scary to him.

No Picture Tim Rhythm Player	#12 by Tim Hanson at Oct 13, 2007 at 8:10 AM EST
	This song is actually based on a poem he wrote about combat... I can't beleive I forgot the title. Basically, the song is based on an argument between a man and a woman, where she is yelling at him and starting the fight subtly. "How can you say you never said combat?" is one of the lines, and certain lines are cut out and put into this song.

No Picture Sam Average	#13 by Sam Ordway at Oct 13, 2007 at 6:46 PM EST
	Well, if I look at this song from a more literal standpoint, then I think it's about making love while on drugs. Jeff Tweedy had an addiction to painkillers, and it's evident in this song that the result of his addiction is showing through while he's making love. "Listen to my eyes They are hissing radiator tunes" A sign of addiction to painkillers is red, glazed eyes. "A company in my back" probably refers to the actual addiction. Painkillers also cause changes in personality and behavior, which explains this: "You learn so slow, old radiant beauty I'll curve my flight " It's hard to enjoy something like making love if you're addicted to a drug. I think by him saying, "I'll curve my flight", he's referring to an attempt to "curve" away from the changes in his personality that were caused by his addiction, so that he can enjoy the love-making process the way it should be. The rest of the song is self-explanatory of the fact that he's making love. Anyway, this song is brilliant.

No Picture caleb Wanna Be	#14 by caleb at Oct 13, 2007 at 11:55 PM EST
	i truly think this is one of the best songs ever written

No Picture mike Average	#15 by mike duncan at Oct 14, 2007 at 4:27 AM EST
	This song makes me realize the extent of Jeff Tweedy's genius. I’ve read numerous interviews with Jeff Tweedy where he states that one of the things that he loves about being a songwriter / artist, is that his art doesn't end with him. It's completed by the listener. Every song has a different meaning to anyone that hears it. He deliberately leaves holes that make it difficult for the listener to grasp what he is explicitly talking about. By doing so the story is lost but the emotion stays and takes a different form within each listener. Anyway I'm telling all that because I just heard an interview with Jeff Tweedy where he said that this song is written from the point of view of a bug encroaching upon a picnic. The bug is so attracted to the female that he is willing to risk his life just to get close to her. Read the lyrics it makes sense. The real point of the song is all the different takes on this page.

No Picture J_ROC Lead Player	#16 by J_ROC at Oct 15, 2007 at 12:10 AM EST
	I agree with the above, yes, it works on a relationship level, and the idea of spooning is lovely, though perhaps a little whimsical. I always assumed that "company in my back" was a suble referral to the band being unceremoniously dropped from Reprise Records after YHF, and Tweedy's stubbonness in changing his methods to facilitate commercial success. The holy shit realisation that there's a (record) company pushing him down, quashing his talent (a steady crushing hand). Now i look at it, the other lyrics do seem to refer to the songwriting process, he moves so slow, and the company wishes to rush him, concerned about spiralling costs. He attacks his work with love, he'll "curve his flight"; honing his art. Perhaps the old radiant beauty is the album itself, which he nurtures vainly in the hope we "will remember" him for it, and could better words ever be found to describe the album than "your sorrow is sunshine"? For indeed it is. What is the connection with "radiant" and "radiator"? the words are far too similar (and radiator far too random) for it to be a coincidence.

No Picture ToRRi Average	#17 by ToRRi L at Oct 15, 2007 at 6:21 PM EST
	I think "company in my back" means that he is about to be crushed, like a "steady crushing hand". What this song really is about, if taken literally, is that the fly is willing to sacrifice its life to be with the woman. Taken out of context, the singer is willing to die for this woman he loves. The first Wilco song I like!

No Picture Dylan Rhythm Player	#18 by Dylan Fitzgerald at Oct 15, 2007 at 6:43 PM EST
	This song was written from Jeff Tweedy's Poem: Pure Bug Beauty. Published in his book of poems (and I'll not say which poems) Adult Head. Pure Bug Beauty Jeff Tweedy I attack with love folded, my wings crawl up to you and your afternoon I’ve been puking you move so slow a steady crushing hand over my body a company in my back hide your soft skin your sorrow in sunshine listening to my eyes they are full of bloodful tunes you learn so slow old fleshy beauty I curve my flight under your bent knee I will always die so you can remember me

No Picture tom Average	#19 by tom jenkins at Oct 17, 2007 at 3:32 PM EST
	Some of that would make sense, but what does a company in my back mean? a company of ants???

No Picture Daniel Average	#20 by Daniel Rainbolt at Oct 18, 2007 at 8:13 AM EST
	such a crazy song, so many oxymorons happening

No Picture Alex Average	#21 by Alex P at Oct 18, 2007 at 6:14 PM EST
	the 'Old Radiant Beauty" part comes from his poem: Singing Combat.

No Picture Average	#22 by Fig at Oct 18, 2007 at 8:52 PM EST
	NorthWriter is correct. I'm pretty sure this one is about Tweedy's struggles with migranes.

No Picture Håvard Average	#23 by Håvard Banne at Oct 20, 2007 at 1:14 AM EST
	It's alright, I can never control the situation either.

No Picture Mauricio Average	#24 by Mauricio Avendaño at Oct 21, 2007 at 10:06 AM EST
	This must be one of the best songs ever... It's so spiritual... I don't think it is possible to actually completely interperet these lyrics into the exact way Jeff Tweedy wrote them... But I can try... The "Comany In My Back" represents reinforcements, be it drugs, friends, blood or anger. The way he moves so slow means he isn't quite ready for anything, and he keeps crushing down on those he loves because he is too timid and scared. Some of these lyricss are just wacky and strange. I don't believe "I will always die" represnts anything.