I enjoyed that this morning in Tennessee. Thank you. I just put a Replacements nod in a thing I wrote. I was talking about how you can't copyright a title. I always loved that they put out an album called "Let It Be," but of course my favorite is "Tim." Piece of cake. Easy as pie.
Love this—thanks, John. I love it ALL, but I'm actually a person who prefers Paul's solo work to the Mats, or at least finds them equal. 'Stereo/Mono' in particular—I think 'Mono' is one of the great rock and roll albums of all time.* Those records are an absolutely pure distillation of his art, his muse; there's not a single concession in any aspect of any of it. (To my ears, at least.)
* If I got one desert island disc, it'd be 49:00. Everything I love about music and art, in one single MP3. ;-)
That’s such a kind comment Matt. Thanks. Haven’t really heard all of 49:00, I need to. Did you like Trouble Boys”? I also did a review of a Replacements show. It’s on my post about my alternate life as a rock critic. It was a helluva show.
I've always thought the AAA title refers to the alliteration of the 3 words ... not going to do "A"nything for "A"nyone, "A"nymore. Alcoholics Anonymous is commonly referred to as AA. I really enjoyed reading your post!!
Tom: Thanks, pal. It could be. Paul leaves things open to interpretation. Why I thought AAA was the diet pills, leaving her in the parking lot, don't wanna say anything to anyone anymore. I don't think it was about his car not starting. hahaha.. I had such a remarkable influx of Replacement/Westerberg fans, I wrote about "Come Feel Me Tremble" yesterday and attached a link if you haven't seen it. Appreciate the kind words
Well, he did a few. He did one on Alex Chilton, too. But I thought here he was referring to Prince. Either way, not too many high school dropouts are writing for the New York Times. Thanks for the note
He did two, one about Alex Chilton following his death in 2010 and the one in your Substack, which ran in 2013.
His 2013 editorial references the dead man, who was Alex Chilton, not Prince. I'm not sure who put Prince into your text, but it should be taken out or at least replaced with "[Alex Chilton, on whose death Westerberg wrote a column in the NY Times]".
I’ve always been particularly enchanted and intrigued by the track “AAA,” which is certainly every bit as lyrically skeletal as you say, so I appreciated hearing your take on it. (I’ve read a LOT about Westerberg over the years and I’ve never seen anyone else take a stab at interpreting this one, nor have I myself ever really been able to make its few lines cohere into an intelligible scenario.) For whatever little it’s worth, the line you hear as “All I know,” I always heard as “All night long.” That’s just how I heard it from the get-go and it never occurred to me it might be anything else …. until I read your piece.
It’s funny, my (probably wrong) interpretation of “AAA” was to first think of the car service (“triple A”) that will tow or jump start your car for you if you’re a member. Hence the “leave you in the parking lot” bit, as if the singer is walking away to leave the other person by themselves with the car, waiting for AAA to come.
Hahaha.. As a Triple A member for a long time, I'm embarrassed to admit I never thought of that. Somehow, I don't think waiting for a car service would be emotionally moving enough to inspire a song but with Paul Westerberg, you never know. Seemed to me to be more about being done with relationships, communication, "ain't gonna say anything to anyone anymore" that kind of thing. But who knows? Thanks for writing, William. I still remember the lovely note you wrote about my piece on Chekhov. Thank you!
Muchas gracias!!!
I enjoyed that this morning in Tennessee. Thank you. I just put a Replacements nod in a thing I wrote. I was talking about how you can't copyright a title. I always loved that they put out an album called "Let It Be," but of course my favorite is "Tim." Piece of cake. Easy as pie.
John, your piece has generated a lot of comments on a Mats Facebook group where I shared it: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19y4JZbkcK/?mibextid=wwXIfr
PS. Paul once offered me a lyric suggestion. I refused it.
I had written the line "You came into town with your high beams on"
and Peter Jesperson (or others) thought I was talking about erect nipples.
I was not. Paul suggested I say "high beams off." I changed it to "sirens."
You came into town with your sirens on. Works fine, kept the melody.
Love this—thanks, John. I love it ALL, but I'm actually a person who prefers Paul's solo work to the Mats, or at least finds them equal. 'Stereo/Mono' in particular—I think 'Mono' is one of the great rock and roll albums of all time.* Those records are an absolutely pure distillation of his art, his muse; there's not a single concession in any aspect of any of it. (To my ears, at least.)
* If I got one desert island disc, it'd be 49:00. Everything I love about music and art, in one single MP3. ;-)
That’s such a kind comment Matt. Thanks. Haven’t really heard all of 49:00, I need to. Did you like Trouble Boys”? I also did a review of a Replacements show. It’s on my post about my alternate life as a rock critic. It was a helluva show.
I've always thought the AAA title refers to the alliteration of the 3 words ... not going to do "A"nything for "A"nyone, "A"nymore. Alcoholics Anonymous is commonly referred to as AA. I really enjoyed reading your post!!
Tom: Thanks, pal. It could be. Paul leaves things open to interpretation. Why I thought AAA was the diet pills, leaving her in the parking lot, don't wanna say anything to anyone anymore. I don't think it was about his car not starting. hahaha.. I had such a remarkable influx of Replacement/Westerberg fans, I wrote about "Come Feel Me Tremble" yesterday and attached a link if you haven't seen it. Appreciate the kind words
Fantastic article John! Long live The Mats!
I'm curious how he wrote an op-ed for the Times which mentioned Prince's death, but 3 years before Prince actually died.
Thanks Shawn
Well, he did a few. He did one on Alex Chilton, too. But I thought here he was referring to Prince. Either way, not too many high school dropouts are writing for the New York Times. Thanks for the note
He did two, one about Alex Chilton following his death in 2010 and the one in your Substack, which ran in 2013.
His 2013 editorial references the dead man, who was Alex Chilton, not Prince. I'm not sure who put Prince into your text, but it should be taken out or at least replaced with "[Alex Chilton, on whose death Westerberg wrote a column in the NY Times]".
I’ve always been particularly enchanted and intrigued by the track “AAA,” which is certainly every bit as lyrically skeletal as you say, so I appreciated hearing your take on it. (I’ve read a LOT about Westerberg over the years and I’ve never seen anyone else take a stab at interpreting this one, nor have I myself ever really been able to make its few lines cohere into an intelligible scenario.) For whatever little it’s worth, the line you hear as “All I know,” I always heard as “All night long.” That’s just how I heard it from the get-go and it never occurred to me it might be anything else …. until I read your piece.
It’s funny, my (probably wrong) interpretation of “AAA” was to first think of the car service (“triple A”) that will tow or jump start your car for you if you’re a member. Hence the “leave you in the parking lot” bit, as if the singer is walking away to leave the other person by themselves with the car, waiting for AAA to come.
Hahaha.. As a Triple A member for a long time, I'm embarrassed to admit I never thought of that. Somehow, I don't think waiting for a car service would be emotionally moving enough to inspire a song but with Paul Westerberg, you never know. Seemed to me to be more about being done with relationships, communication, "ain't gonna say anything to anyone anymore" that kind of thing. But who knows? Thanks for writing, William. I still remember the lovely note you wrote about my piece on Chekhov. Thank you!