Fake Plastic Trees

Jeff Tweedy solo in Champaign, Illinois 1.31.09

[@joshjosh320]

For the naysayers: Pick up your guitar, have a go at this song, and belt it out alone in your living room. I've done this - and frankly, Tweedy puts me to shame. Now perform it solo for a few hundred people in an impromptu setting because someone yelled "Fake Plastic Trees!" instead of "Freebird!". A commenter below noted how it "starts out as a joke and then turns into a beautiful honest tribute." Absolutely goddamned right. Comparisons/this vs. that aren't really the point. Listen to it again, and even let your mind add in the Hammond organ and strings from the original. Close your eyes. Do you get it now?! It's raw, largely unrehearsed, and beautiful.

[@Steve-uv9kb]

Haters are usually more full of shit than the average human being. Alone on stage without anything but a mic and an acoustic is as raw as it gets and its a beautiful cover. Anyone yapping on KZbin about it isnt even worth the reply you gave it

[@nickorow]

It's so great to see him express his love for this song. Jeff is the real deal. We're so lucky to get so much from him.

[@blakel9992]

starts out as a joke and then turns into a beautiful honest tribute

[@fredericgermay7776]

Not only is this a fantastic song (probably my favourite), but his cover is extremely well done. His passion for it is captured well.

[@danclem7051]

Hard not to love when a great covers a great.

[@christianrory1]

Ever notice how sincere Jeff gets? When he just jokes around with a character - it's a rare thing.

[@garrettwillcox292]

My two favorite bands - awesome

[@MrSugarnips]

This is the greatest thing of all time

[@fuckyinz]

jeff tweedy from wilco covering radiohead? that's pretty much one of the best things ever.

[@ElGiggles]

OMG...I know all about Tweedy/Wilco but never heard this song originally. INCREDIBLE cover!!! My heart just grew three sizes and even cracked a lil'...

[@beirutfan]

i loce radiohead, and wilco and i think this is absolutely amazing!

[@toren737]

tweedster really makes it his own, is the great thing

[@Nickyeyes1313]

I saw this live and it blew me away if doesn't shake you up your in a coma

[@TR-yi8up]

Love it. Impromptu and raw, yet perfect

[@Viddychuu]

It really seems like it's the first time he's ever played the song, which is extremely impressive honestly.

[@AmericanWatchdog]

Wow. I've seen him a lot and I've never seen him play this.

[@samuelannoye92]

Way the f%&# better than I thought it would be.

[@jherr328]

greatest music combination ever

[@rantsbooger]

ONE FUKIN WORD GOOSEBUMPS

[@mhenegh2]

Thanks for posting! Amazing show!

[@olssywolssy]

i really like this. he sings his heart out.

[@melissaglima]

Oh, man! He's great.

[@sporils7]

One of the highlights from a great show!

[@AaronPICAR]

Holy CRAP!!!!!! Coolest cover ever!!!!!!

[@hia10]

Jeff Tweedy covering Radiohead! Life's good.

[@smik2969]

Amen

[@miker2]

awesome. just more proof that Jeff Tweedy knows what is what.

[@SirThomasDunning]

Stunning... I love you.

[@LILTRUCKER123]

Phew. This is beautiful.

[@bigbabyjesus12]

Great. Now I have to look up something shitty so I can get this fuckin smile off my face. Thanks Jeff.

[@swill9000]

Damn. I can't believe that idiots find fault with this. This is a great musician paying tribute to another great musician. It is not supposed to be perfect here is some advice: get a guitar and try to sing this song. Impossible for 99.9 % of people. This is a beautiful version of this song.

[@humanze]

Yeah. The idiots can keep their perfect pitch, autotune, robotic crap. that ain't music. This a great interpretation of a brilliantly written song.

[@hailmaryrecordings8255]

Fuck yea! Just hearing this for the first time ... This guy.

[@thebends28037]

Thats cool a Genius' admiration for another Genius...

[@nerdyangel91]

Hits all the right notes = good cover on my book.

[@MarianneSpellman]

love it!

[@andynez1983]

The best cover i've heard is - Fake plastic trees Harry , it also has a v.funy ending.

[@andrewkline5611]

Awesome cover. Maybe we could here some Thom Yorke covers of Jeff? I mean they area only America's Radiohead, but could we maybe hear Thom cover California Stars or maybe Gun?

[@davidmckelvey2601]

Radiohead doesn't like to do covers.

[@patrickhawkinson6051]

Nobody can sing Radiohead songs like Yorke. That said, nobody can sing Wilco songs like Tweedy either.

[@MrShahid0072]

Totally.. tweedy has a damn beautiful voice for his songs

[@JavaNinja72]

Totally agree Jules. IMHO, Tweedy's vocals here surpass the acoustic version by RH. Just can't stop listening.

[@craigchastain7016]

fucking awesome.......tribute...fucking awesome.

[@KeithCharlesDovoric]

@dpthomas37 I've made similar comparisons between WIlco and the Beatles: Wilco's Summerteeth, YHT, and Sky Blue Sky could be said to be their Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, and Abbey Road, respectively.

[@slaptasticdave21]

I don't really get all the hate. If you want to hear Thom Yorke sing it listen to him sing don't listen to Jeff Tweedy and expect it to sound the same. I think Jeff did a great job with it keeping the original emotions intact. Often they are lost in covers, but this is a pretty great performance in my book.

[@bryangor]

I don't think it makes a difference what key he does it in, from the sound of the laughing at the begining of the clip it sounds like someone yelled out a request and Jeff was obliging them. Good for Tweedy for having a sense of humor and not being too uptight to play a great song by another great band. It makes me like him even more.

[@AboSaud33]

he has pretty voice!

[@loldoctor]

anyone know any other videos of jeff covering stuff? I've never heard or seen this! lovely

[@jrcenina85]

is that s'posed to be offensive? to answer your question: no. a simple "tweedy fake plastic trees" search on youtube can check the accuracy of someone's statement without having to go through all the trouble of stalking someone. but, either way, gold star to you for such a display of originality with your cut-to-the-bone comment.

[@pallaksch7]

’If I could be who you wanted....’ He doesn't hit the note with the cold brilliance of Yorke, but Tweedy truly nails it in his own way.

[@SolidSnyder]

It's near impossible to really pull off the Thom Yorke falsetto unless you are Thom Yorke. So I didn't look for how true the cover was; I looked for what it added to the song, the nuances of the differences between Yorke and Tweedy.

[@deathkampdrone]

@EgoTrippin311 - i know they're both pretty mature :) just kidding around. i grew up with radiohead, and when i turned 18 YHF came out, and then wilco simply replaced radiohead within my own little world. i don't care so much for the more electronic outputs of latter radiohead, that i personally think lacks the warmth of the bends and OKC. then again, kid a is probably my favorite radiohead album. they're both great bands, i was just being sort of autobiographical. which may be stupid on YT ;)

[@abdulaziz.9471]

i think he did a really good job there

[@LindsayJames86]

@deathkampdrone that makes no sense. other than I guess Wilco is "dad rock"?

[@TotzthePlaid]

Don't try to pass off your poor taste and opinions as fact. I'm a huge fan of Jeff Tweedy and Radiohead, and I loved hearing Jeff do one of their classics. And he did it better than most singers out there could.

[@rickydenotredame]

to those who don't care for this cover, i'm curious why. i mean, i suppose if i heard thom yorke play "via chicago," i might have mixed feelings. but, i think i'd articular them with a bit more thoroughness.

[@jrcenina85]

yeah, i don't think he rehearsed it aside from playing it more than once with 7 worlds collide :oP

[@DoylesDen]

@MrSugarnips I agree

[@thebends28037]

@apacolipps Far From a Cure fan and I was around when they were somewhat POP! You Cannot utter Radiohead and The Cure together in the same sentence. That would be like sayin Wilco is good if your a BON JOVI FAN...... Not one of those either Thank You...

[@skaterdudes2020]

he's my cousin!

[@falstaffswims]

he's dead serious. and not bad... i might have agreed with you if i hadn't grown familiar with jeff tweedy recently... this is his mannerism... if someone handed me a glass of sake for the first time today, i'd choke it down and ask "are you fucking serious?" ...for lack of a more original way to say it: taste is something you have to acquire, a lot of the time. listen to some wilco, then listen to this again. ...and anyway, anybody who loves radiohead enough to cover them's okay in my books

[@timdoyle7961]

I’m old

[@raywkilleen]

Performed

[@deathkampdrone]

Radiohead were one of my favorites when I was a kid. Thing is, Wilco stand the test of time ;)

[@jessemaes1990]

Seeing as how Jeff Tweedy obviously respects Radiohead by covering one of their songs, don't you think he would very much disagree with you?

[@TheonlyROXDOG]

Why?

[@lonelyhashbrown]

wow that is bush league

[@pattikonori1331]

Only Thom can do this... bravo tweedy anyway

[@jczother]

@thebends28037 Because you do not like the cure you dog them, Robert Smith is just as original and talented as anyone. I love Wilco, Radiohead, and the Cure. They're a great band in itself, very talented musicians, songwriting come on if you don't like the Cure, opinions are assholes. The fact is they are/were like no other very heavy and original, some of greatest lines . Sorry and thak you, but you can't take the talent out of The Cure, Wish is just an influence in my life as being there.

[@holzy4565]

with a voice like jeff's, it must've been hard to sing in thom's pitch. not bad though!

[@davefan16]

@izaakbrown No

[@Matphes]

It ain't great but he was also just playing it because someone wouldn't stop shouting it as a request. It isn't like he rehearsed it.

[@KeithCharlesDovoric]

As far as the inevitable Wilco-RH comparisons go, I feel there is much more warmth, joy and humility to Wilco's music; thus, they are more interesting and artistic than RH. The fact that Wilco have both an A Ghost Is Born and a Sky Blue Sky in their canon make them all-the-more human, running the gamut from experimentally paranoid to beautifully simple - albeit layered. Radiohead, on the other hand, is all "other-worldly", far more Britishly cold. Good, if you are a Cure fan, I suppose.

[@peterharanas]

Ha, Radiohead = best band of all-time?

[@Vrhcp83]

la PTM.. no esta nada mall.

[@EgoTrippin311]

@deathkampdrone what? Wilco and Radiohead are both as mature as eachother. and OK Computer and Kid A are much better and more "mature" than The Bends, since you're so worried about that.

[@jjrock76]

Weird. I like periods. But, apparently, you don't.

[@gearheadrumbum]

I think what you meant was "when Radiohead used to write songs that people who are not musically intellectual could understand and relate to"....

[@douglschneider]

oh my god he doesnt sing it just like thom yourke, it must be terrible.... If you dont like jeffs voice thats understandable but please dont tell me its terrible just because you dont appreciate it. If I had a dollar for every time some one told me Dylan or Prine or Tweedy or someone elses voice was terrible.... please....

[@deathkampdrone]

jeff should play his own songs, they're so much better. having said that, the bends is a pretty great album. wilco is like a radiohead for adults... :D

[@bykliebhan]

his voice sucks? thom yorke would struggle with wilco songs just like tweedy struggled with his

[@beatle608]

WIlco>Radiohead

[@jrcenina85]

this blows

[@philgarciaweir]

ah when radiohead was actually good...

[@ZwienerZ]

You really can't think this is good? I mean honestly. As a lover of music, this is awful. No disrespect to Jeff either, but this is just terrible. Please someone else tell me this is bad.

[@Mario28300]

No. No. No. No. No. Just no.

[@Wintaz2k4]

okay so someone answer me honestly, is he making fun of this song? or is he really that bad...? if so he fuckin butchered this song!! like watching a kid with downs sing it, still give him respect for covering it, but damn...