Videos by American Songwriter
“Promising”
Album: Chelsea Walls soundtrack (2002)
Key Lyric: “I promise you and you promise me, not to admit defeat.”
in 2001, Jeff Tweedy provided the soundtrack to the Ethan Hawke vehicle Chelsea Walls. We don’t recommend renting it. But you should pick up a copy of Tweedy’s soundtrack, if for no other reason then to own a copy of “Promising.”
Accompanying himself on an acoustic guitar, with a few short, taut verses, Tweedy nails the whole “let’s stay together” thing. It’s built on a single, shaky promise, one that has the ability to endure eternally.
The Chelsea Walls soundtrack also includes the hauntingly beautiful “When the Roses Bloom Again,” from the Mermaid Avenue sessions. The song was left off the final albums when it was discovered that Woody Guthrie hadn’t actually written the lyrics.
According to WilcoBase, Tweedy has only performed “Promising” live nine times. The first was in 1994; the last was in 2007.
Bonus trivia: In the film, actor Robert Sean Leonard sing Wilco’s “The Lonely 1.”
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