10 Best Wilco Songs

This is an alternative version of the A Ghost Is Born track of the same name. It originally featured on The Wilco Book, an “exploration of the artistic statement presented by the band” according to Wikipedia, which was released in 2004. 

The book, which features photos, artwork and commentary from the band about their craft, also included a 12 track CD of unreleased material, including this. More recently it got a more widespread release on last year’s four CD rarities collection, Alpha Mike Foxtrot.

This take of Hummingbird strips away most of the album version’s instrumentation - but keeps its strongest aspect, the melody, intact - replacing it with a nagging strummed guitar, an insistent kick drum and a hammered dulcimer. The latter two are courtesy of drummer Glenn Kotche, and it almost seems as if this reworking of the song is designed solely to show off his exceptional percussion skills.