The Top 20 Jeff Tweedy Songs: #19 “That’s Not the Issue”

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“That’s Not the Issue”

Band: Wilco

Album: A.M. (1995)

Key Lyric: “Secrets, I have some too. I’ll tell you mine, before I say goodbye to you…”

Wilco’s debut album, A.M., is a slept on album. It was largely overshadowed by Son Volt’s first record, Trace, which contains the minor classics “Windfall” and “Tear Stained Eye.”

But there’s not a bad song on A.M., which, like Uncle Tupelo’s swan song, Anodyne, contains a disproportionate number of break up songs (songs that can be read as commentary on the demise of Uncle Tupelo, if you wish).

“That’s Not the Issue,” a swinging, frenetic banjo number, is a hell of a break up song. And it’s funny, too. “You’ve been sleeping….” (slight dramatic pause) “…with somebody new. That’s not the issue.”

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