All Of My Spirit Leaked Like A Cut

Wilco “Normal American Kids”

“Normal American Kids” is not the fun sort of nostalgia where you make a version of the past that flatters you and is edited carefully so you only get the fun bits. This is Jeff Tweedy, a man on the edge of 50, remembering what it was like to be a teen in the early ‘80s and…well, I don’t think he’s embarrassed, per se, but it’s not exactly flattering to realize how much of your formative experiences were driven by fear and anxiety. The young Jeff of “Normal American Kids” is a sullen stoner who needs to distance himself from the “normal” kids, and spins feelings of alienation and confusion into an elitist pose. This is a beautiful song, one of the loveliest of Tweedy’s impressive career, but it really gets under my skin because I was that sort of kid too. Not a stoner, but definitely someone who built an identity around opting out things. You get older and realize that being “normal” isn’t the worst thing you could be, but it’s hard to shake reflexive cultural elitism and feeling like you don’t belong anywhere once it’s burned deep enough into your mind. I think that’s where Tweedy is coming from here – he’s tracing a line from his youth to the present, and finding a peace with how things have been and how he’s turned out.

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