Weed Whacker

Mark Kozelek

The first time I heard this song I was living in a cheap Klamath Falls hotel room making a film called Phoenix, Oregon. It was the spring of 2018 and I was lucky enough to be working with Kevin Corrigan — who happens to be a friend of Kozelek’s. Funny how sometimes a song can transport me to a time and place. I can’t hear this without thinking of Kevin and Klamath Falls and feeling the grind of a making this movie all over again.

Something about this song makes me smile and feel good though. It inspires a lazy, care-free feeling in me and it was just what I needed before walking to set every day — to combat the stress and pressure of making a movie. I probably played this song a hundred times over those four weeks.

It’s another story song and I love how Kozelek tells it — and it’s a long one with some crazy, uncensored details. It almost gives you a sense of what it feels like to live in Kozelek’s head. The contradictions. The happiness and sadness. The happy days and the worries. All of it is taken out in the hot sun, by dancing around in his backyard with a cathartic weed whacking session. Very cool video too, worth a look at the creative animation. The Spotify quip is priceless and you gotta love the anecdote of him hearing his own music playing in the town coffee shop and having a surreal conversation about it. 😊❤️