Jeff Tweedy - "New Madrid" (LouFest 2010)

Jeff Tweedy performs "New Madrid" at LouFest (08/29/10), flubs a word or two of it, and laughs afterward, admitting that his his mind slipped because he realized (among other things) how close we were to New Madrid. The New Madrid fault line runs through Uncle Tupelo's hometown of Belleville, Illinois, which is about 15 minutes from St. Louis.

Although historically New Madrid has experienced some of the strongest recorded earthquakes in the US, Tweedy found humor in the events surrounding Mr. Iben Browning's predictions of a massive earthquake that would strike the New Madrid fault in December 1990. New Madrid's lyrics "they all come from New York City" and "roll your trucks in at dawn" refer to the national news media (TV trucks) that came to St. Louis and New Madrid in the days before Browning's predicted earthquake date. The line "rivers burn then run backwards" is about some perceptions that the earthquake could make the Mississippi River literally backwards. So the song seems to be about a love interest with the songwriter's memories of the earthquake fiasco ("all my daydreams are disasters"). There is also a fountain in the center of the main intersection in Belleville, which might be where the two walked to see what all of the media commotion was about ("walk with me to the fountain, and hold onto my arm").

After Tweedy's explanation, I yelled "play more Tupelo". Tweedy either misheard me or heard someone else call out that he needed to pay his tab at Cicero's. He responded, "Pay my tab at Cicero's? I don't owe anybody at Cicero's. They owe me." As everyone laughed, he added, "they're just lucky I didn't send them my rehab bill." Cicero's Basement is the St. Louis bar where Uncle Tupelo began to play regular shows and first gained a devoted following.

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• New Madrid
• Jeff Tweedy
• Uncle Tupelo
• LouFest
• St. Louis
• Cicero's

[Philby62]

Lovely song.

[iknw2rth]

It was one of the sweetest moments in my life, the whole concert. My last date with my amazing teenage daughter before she went off to college. I loved that everyone was singing along to to so many of the songs. Jeff Tweedy lovefest!!

[bigskydeadhead]

one of the best songs ever in the history of ever



[jackhitts08]

Highlight of the night.

[ch473]

awesome concert!

[thecoleorton]

what a great treat!