Discussing
Wilco's pursuit of 'Whole Love'

This was my introduction to Wilco so I wasn't going to comment but since there seems to be silence so far...

I read the poetry from this Album and only this album "Whole Love" and listened to a couple of songs posted to youtube. - Loving It!

I can't say I entirely follow the justification that Tweedy doesn't believe in God. The album poetics follow a classic journey starting with "Art of Almost" where he expresses an almost naive belief in "true love" and having all the time in the world. "Tomorrow I’ll have all the love I could ever ache..." It moves through various interpretations, heartaches and growths in love. "Born Alone" almost belongs in Caryn's blog post below and is certainly a spiritual awakening but I see it, as you say, as a cry against hypocrisy rather than the Deity. The penultimate song brings us to the Title Track that takes on the Homeric metaphor of the captain lashed to the mast so he can hear the sirens. By that point in the journey the album has grown in awareness to overcome the innocence of its beginning track. All pride is washed away and all that is left is humble hope that the singer will know when the time is right to show his "Whole Love". 

The last song "One Sunday Morning" (For Jane Smiley's Boyfriend) has the added tag which gives it the feeling of an epilogue and has been confirmed by Jane Smiley as resulting from a discussion with her partner. While it sums up a poignant human journey that on a spiritual level, it mirrors the journey toward a deep understanding of the complexity of love taken by the the rest of the songs, I would be wary to assign the spiritual views of the last song to the songwriter's personal life. 

I think it is important to note the writer chose "It's your God I don't believe in" not "I don't believe in God". The son in the song has a problem with his father's religion. Losing your faith in Religion is not always the same as losing your faith in God. (As they say... Been there. Done that. Bought the t-shirt!) I think that is part of the point of the song along with the regret that the religious differences came between the son and the father.

Thanks, Guest. Good points. I wanted to really dig more into Sunday Morning and others, but had a word count limit ;) Hard to fit all thoughts on a project this thick in 600 words!