Wilco – How To Fight Loneliness

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  My Opinion:despite of being a great tendency or anything, i only can heard this song as being ironic. a criticism to the blindness about the need of being happy. you just can't be happy all the time. nobody can. but if you turn on the tv, probably you will find a happy lady with a happy smile shining her white teeth to say meaningless things. it doesn't matter what you say if you're smiling. no! it does. sometimes we just are sad for some reason, and we have this right. happiness is not all in life. sometimes, we need to suffer, as when we're in mourning, though we don't want to. we just can't hide our true feelings in the happy smoke of fake smiles. that's what i feel when i heard this lyric.

  Flag juliob612on July 16, 2012   Link

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  Song Meaning:It's not a straightforward "guide" for fighting loneliness, that's for sure. I think it's about feeling alone and unable to connect to people, among your friends or other people. You pretend you're having fun, you talk and laugh and act like it's all fine, but inside you're feeling completely and utterly alone and never able to open up to anyone.
  
  "And the first thing that you want will be the last thing you ever need" - forgive me everyone for bringing up this topic, but I think this is about suicide. The first thing that a miserable and lonely person might want, and obviously the last thing they'll need.

  Flag howtofightlonelinesson February 20, 2012   Link

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    Spot on in my opinion. Agree with everything, especially with the "And the first thing that you want will be the last thing you ever need" line meaning.
    
    Some people say this song is mostly sarcastic, but I don't think it's actual sarcasm, it's just bitterly stating the obvious, so literally that it can actually fool people.

    Flag andersontckon August 04, 2012  
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  My Interpretation:My interpretation of this song is that it teaches you how to disguise your feelings and emotions,by smiling and pretending to be always fine.In the verse that says : ''smile all the time'',it means that by smiling,people can pretend to others that they're happy."fill your heart with smoke" is that people(and yourself) wont be able to see your real feelings,because you fog them with "smoke"."And the first thing that you want,will be the last thing you ever need" this last part of the song( or guide,whatever) it says that the ''reward'' for following the lyrics as a guide is that the love one(or any other thing) will be the last thing you will ever need to be happy,but then again,its all a big lie,because deep inside,you know that you need it,but you already got so down because of it,that you dont have anymore strength to deal with it or to get it back.You just simply can't.Im sorry for my bad english,im from Brazil,and I felt the need to share my definition of this "sad but true" song.Thnx

  Flag godinhofon May 22, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:This song is my anthem.
  Gotta love Wilco.

  Flag XNeverMindon March 01, 2011   Link

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  My Interpretation:I could be wrong, because I don't speak native English, but in my point of view the metric is misleading and lyrics maybe should be read this way:
  
  How to fight loneliness? Smile all the time.
  
  Shine you teeth til meaningless, sharpen them with lies and whatever's going down will follow you around.
  
  Thats how you fight loneliness: you laugh at every joke.
  
  Drag your blanket blindly, fill your heart with smoke and the first thing that you want will be the last thing you ever need.
  
  Thats how you fight it: just smile all the time...
  
  This way the act of smiling could be seen as a way to contrast the self destructive behavior that comes out from loneliness.
  It's like a way to say, "Take it easy, because if you will indulge in that mood you will only make it worse".
  
  I don't know if it's correct but I like to see it that way :)

  Flag ribaon June 02, 2009   Link

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    This made the meaning more cohesive, a poem. I like it this way :)

    Flag k8buckneron November 13, 2012  
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  General Comment:I love this song, particularly, the line "the first thing that you want, will be the last thing you'll ever need." I definitely like the distinction between want and need. How the thing you want can be thing that's actually contributing to your loneliness. For anyone's who's ever had their heart broken, and has found themselves in that stage where they are pining for the ex, but realizing that it's futile and that missing them is actually just making the rut harder to get out of. oh. no. said. too. much. But seriously, this song is great. I think the addition of this song in the Martha Stewart mix was very much intentional. It has that tears of a clown quality that I think Martha is totally very self aware about.

  Flag Forknspoonon February 16, 2009   Link

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  General Comment:i think hes being sarcastic..
  i mean really people do this but
  you know what faking it is eventually gonna wear you
  out and you wont be able to hide the pain of lonliness.
  i honestly think the is bitter sarcasm cause i mean com on he makes it sound so sarcastic when hes saying "smile all the time".. in the end over and over..

  Flag fake_it1621on October 05, 2008   Link

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  General Comment:There seems to be a great tendency on this website to interpret lyrics as ironic, or to say "this song is an indictment of phoniness." Often that is just the listener hearing more than is there and imposing his own insecurities and judgments.
  
  I think the song is meant to be taken literally. This song is about how to fight loneliness: deny it. Smile all the time, laugh at every joke you hear, get out where the action is, surround yourself with people, and act cool. Everyone does this, and it works and doesn't work at the same time - which I think is what the song is saying. You'll still be lonely but you'll get through it - or, you'll get through it but you'll still be lonely. He's not saying this is the way to *beat* loneliness. Nor is he backhandedly judging people for doing this, as loneliness were some sort of rare weakness or wallowing in misery some species of virtue. I think he is simply describing how he (and all of us) deals with something he (and all of us) experience sometimes. The "first thing that you want will be the last thing you ever need" line could be taken literally or ironically: I think it just means that you'll be distracted (for better or worse) from what you needed and couldn't get by superficial desires. Finally, I would also add that the line is not "shine your teeth to meaningless" but "shine your teeth 'til meaningless."

  Flag NavinRon June 21, 2008   Link

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    I agree, it's also about people mentally replacing "want" with "need" when they feel trapped by loneliness.
    
    -Try Buddhism+

    Flag labrat777on September 02, 2012  
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  General Comment:Fake happiness and maybe someday you'll believe it.

  Flag hoping_alwayson June 12, 2008   Link

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  General Comment:Manson's beard hit this thing nail on the head.
  It's such a satirical song, it's beautiful. Like, people will do anything to stop being lonely, that they actually do this stuff, but out of context, it's so, so wrong.

  Flag talflickon May 18, 2008   Link

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