Wilco frontman shares “real-life experiences” hearing tracks by the Replacements, Velvet Underground, Dolly Parton, Billie Eilish and dozens more
Jeff Tweedy, Wilco frontman and prolific blogger, has penned his third book World Within a Song, due out in November.
Much like Bob Dylan’s The Philosophy of Modern Song and Bono’s Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story, World Within a Song finds Tweedy writing about over 50 songs that inspired him and his music. This includes tracks by the Replacements, Mavis Staples, the Velvet Underground, Joni Mitchell, Otis Redding, Dolly Parton, and Billie Eilish.
“I want to talk about songs that gave me permission to be creative…to be myself,” Tweedy said of the book in a statement. “To say something that was hard to say. I’ll be telling stories from my life, focusing on a true-to-memory style of how it really felt to me, how I experienced things emotionally. And then I want to talk about music in the same way. I want to talk about music in a way that it rarely gets talked about. I want to talk about the world within the song.”
In the book, Tweedy will examine each song and tell “the real-life experiences behind each one, as well as what he’s learned about how music and life intertwine and enhance each other,” publisher Dutton said. The book is available now to preorder ahead of its Nov. 7 release.
World Within a Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music also includes Tweedy’s own “Rememories,” a popular feature on the Wilco singer’s Substack.
Tweedy previously penned 2018’s Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back) and 2020’s How to Write One Song. Following a string of solo shows this month, Tweedy and Wilco will once again hit the road in March in support of their latest double LP Cruel Country, with tour dates scheduled through September.
