Jeff Tweedy Coal Oil Fire

You got a broken soul and a dusty heart

- Jeff, sorry, I'm sorry to stop you.

I'm just, what's up with these lyrics then?

That dusty, dusty road?

- What was that first line again?

Got a broken soul

- Just say it, say it to me.

- I've got a broken soul and a dusty heart.

- Are your family Okies?

Did they experience the Dust Bowl or?

- No, they're like upper management.

It's not literal dust.

- But Jeff, here's the thing about folk music.

Take someone like Woody Guthrie.

What a hard life he had.

His sister died in a coal oil fire.

His mom went crazy.

His dad was burned as well in a coal oil fire,

and then he ended up drowning later on.

And if your heart is not literally brimming with dust,

let's sing about something else.

- Right.

Press record.

Got a dusty heart and a broken road

- Hey, Jeff.

- Yep.

- Were you in a coal oil fire?

- Coal oil?

Coal oil?

Coal fire?

- No.

- We just wanna know, what have you lived

and where did you grow up?

- I grew up in the suburbs.

- Were there any coal oil fires there?

- Bonfires, when our football team won.

- Now, I've asked you this a lot

and I know you think I'm gonna say coal oil,

but do you know someone who was in a coal oil fire?

- Canola oil, maybe?

- No.

- Press record.

Like a crooked train, I'll tear the world apart

- Forget about the crooked train,

unless you've been on a crooked train,

which would be problematic.

- The smoke alarm ran out of batteries one time.

It beeped for like a week and we couldn't find

where it was coming from exactly.

You could never predict when it was gonna happen,

but it would just...

Beep, beep.

It's like a very, very, very long silence

just to where you think, okay, maybe it stopped.

- Right.

- And so you just relax a little bit and then...

Oh, I like you.

Press record.

Stop record.

Press record.

Stop record.

Press record.

Stop record.

Press record.

And we're good.

Press record.

Batteries went out in the smoke alarm one day.

I had no way of knowing we're in harm's way.

I had no way of knowing we're in harm's way.

I had no way of knowing we're in harm's way.

I had no way of knowing we're in harm's way.

I had no way of knowing we're in harm's way.

I had no way of knowing we're in harm's way.

I had no way of knowing we're in harm's way.

I had no way of knowing we're in harm's way.

I had no way of knowing we're in harm's way.

I had no way of knowing we're in harm's way.

We had no way of knowing we're in harm's way

That couple I know used this as their wedding song.

No way.

Yes, it was beautiful.

But terrified

Beep! Beep!

Thank you, guys.

Beep!

We'll talk to you after the show about something,

even though you're performing.