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After the show
You walked right past
Arms reached out
For your autograph
And as you flashed
Your backstage pass
I caught your eye
With a camera's flash
When the band came out
They stood behind you
Cymbals crashed
The lights went blue
You stood alone
In the halo's haze
Shining guitar hung on
Gold lame
And you
You were the lonely one
You were
The lonely one
When you perform
It's so intense
When the critics pan
I write in your defense
I understand I am just a fan
I'm just a fan
When I get home
I turn off the alarm
I've checked the phone
No messages on
I play the ones from yesterday
I play your song
Just to hear you say that you
You're the lonely one
You are
The lonely one
You
You're the lonely one
You are the lonely one
You walked right past
Arms reached out
For your autograph
And as you flashed
Your backstage pass
I caught your eye
With a camera's flash
When the band came out
They stood behind you
Cymbals crashed
The lights went blue
You stood alone
In the halo's haze
Shining guitar hung on
Gold lame
And you
You were the lonely one
You were
The lonely one
When you perform
It's so intense
When the critics pan
I write in your defense
I understand I am just a fan
I'm just a fan
When I get home
I turn off the alarm
I've checked the phone
No messages on
I play the ones from yesterday
I play your song
Just to hear you say that you
You're the lonely one
You are
The lonely one
You
You're the lonely one
You are the lonely one
Lyrics submitted by OwnPersonalDemon
Track duration: 04:49
"The Lonely 1" as written by Jeffrey Scott Tweedy
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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But I really love it and I play it over and over and over!!! especially the spare demo version where at the end it sounds like Tweedy says it was good, and perhaps the cello or violin player says "I screwed up."
My feeling, and it's just me transferring my own perspective, is this song is about unrequited love. Much the way the love fans have for musicians is one way.
I also see this song as about the unrequited love between a man and a woman. I'm just a fan ... he wants to be more than that.
That said, I've also felt it could be about Jay Farrar, simply from knowing how Tweedy felt about Jay.
the ironic twist is the line that says, "I play you're song just to hear you say that....You, you're the lonely one." which means that the fan listens to the wilco song "the lonely 1" which means that tweedy is both the fan and the frontman with whom his is empathizing. interesting. great song, great band.
I've checked the phone, no messages on
I play the ones from yesterday
I play your song just to hear you say that...
where (I think?) "the ones" can refer to both the messages and the songs from yesterday. The image of a person replaying his old telephone messages really empathizes the feeling of loneliness and isolation, I think. Beautiful song.
The person speaking is the Fan of some band. He/She explains the events that went down at a show. Then he/she goes home and is lonely but in order to feel better plays a song, not this song, but a song he/she heard at the show which reveals the frontman's loneliness and so the speaker can relate. Simply saying that even if you are a rock star and loved by everyone, you can still be just as lonely as the speaker in this song.
Just my opinion.