By Roktima Godhuli
I Am Trying to Break Your Heart by Wilco is the perfect opener to their 10/10 rock album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot(2001). Don’t play this at the function, though; it might be a bit of a party pooper. The song starts off with a potent synth, which transforms into a disoriented state, reminiscent of waking up groggily from a midday nap. In the beginning, the unbecoming clinking, clattering, and buzzing noises incite an evocative feeling within, a place in your mind that is dull and desolate, a place you can’t go back to even if you try really hard. You still try. Underneath the glimmering layers and layers of instruments, Tweedy’s sluggish voice and lyrics are laced with misery and lament. He tries to cryptically express what it feels like when your heart is ripped out of your chest, with “ “This is not a joke, so please stop smiling. / What was I thinking when I said it didn’t hurt?” However, when he repeats, “I am trying to break your heart.” the song stares at you right in the eyes, bare and honest. There is nowhere to go but to stare back. After the refrain, the instruments take over the song and brew for a little. With the dynamic piano, the continuity in the clanking, and complementary bass, drums, and god knows what else…the sound dissolves into a brimming synth and explodes into Tweedy’s voice again. It is like the lump that is stuck in your throat right as you’re about to cry.