Having Been Is No Way To Be

Jeff Tweedy has been dogged by crippling migraine headaches since childhood. By the early 2000s, he was trying to regulate his use of prescription painkillers, but was unable to stop their use for more than a month or so. His health problems all came to a head during the making of Wilco's 2004 A Ghost Is Born album, when he entered a rehabilitation clinic to receive treatment for an addiction to the painkillers. This song finds him reflecting on his addiction battle.

Tweedy claims during this song that some of his fans wish he still used drugs. Now the people say What drugs did you take? And why don't you start taking them again? But they're not my friends Tweedy told Mojo: "That's fixating on their own selfish desire to have things not change even at my expense. They'd rather have a record that they like than have someone be healthy. That's f---ed up man."