CHICAGO (CBS) — Songs about pickles seem to be few and far between. And pickles are often mentioned as an afterthought in song lyrics.
Jimmy Buffett made a point of singing in “Cheeseburgers in Paradise” that he liked his cheeseburgers with a large kosher pickle and a cold draft beer, but the pickle in question would have to wait until other condiments and accompaniments were mentioned. In a famous song by Arlo Guthrie, “pickle” is the first noun to appear in the lyrics, but Guthrie makes a point of letting everyone know that he doesn’t want a pickle, he wants to ride his motorcycle.
Pickles might seem like a more natural subject for children’s music. In one memorable example, from the early 1980s album “This Lil’ Cow,” Chicago musician Fred Koch makes pickles sound like something to drool over when he asks “Mr. Nickels” to pass one at the end of the collaborative sandwich-building song “Please, Louise.” But the pickles also come last in that song, after the bread and butter, the cheese and ham, and so on.
And there are a few songs — both for children and the general public — that feature pickles as their main subject. Dinosaur Jr. had “The Pickle Song,” with its catchy harmonies and juice harp hook. Children’s entertainer Jim Cosgrove also recorded a song called “The Pickle Song,” with a Raffi-esque vibe. Chumbawamba had a piano and reed organ waltz called simply “Pickle.” And in 2000, a personal friend of the author of this story, Noah Ginex, recorded “The Pickleman” with musician Chris Corsale about a pickle man who arrives in a minivan at exactly 4:38 p.m.
But that’s about all, right?
Jeff Tweedy, of Wilco fame, disagreed in a recent viral video.
In a new social media video posted by Daisies Chicago, a popular Midwestern pasta-focused restaurant located at 2375 N. Milwaukee Ave. in the Logan Square neighborhood, Tweedy told executive pastry chef and partner Leigh Omilinsky that all of Wilco’s songs — every single one of them — are actually about pickles.
To celebrate Wilco’s 30th anniversary, which was formed in 1994, and to honor the band’s Illinois roots while saying something “timeless and classic that really says Wilco,” Omilinsky asked Tweedy for advice on a croissant collaboration idea. Tweedy suggested pickles.
Pickles? For Wilco? Why pickles?
“You know, every song I’ve ever written is about pickles,” Tweedy dryly told a disbelieving Omilinsky in the video. “I never joke about pickles. It’s all out there. ‘She’s a Jar?’ Jar of pickles.”
While Omilinsky stood by in disbelief, Tweedy claimed in the video, among other references to pickles, that “I’m the Man Who Loves You” was written as a tribute to a pickle, and that “Hot Sun” was inspired by fermenting cucumbers in the hot sun to make pickles.
Finally, Omilinsky thought she’d finally identified a Wilco song that surely couldn’t have anything to do with pickles — there was no way, she said, that Tweedy could have written “California Stars” with pickles in mind. Tweedy pointed out that he didn’t write “California Stars” — Woody Guthrie did — but Tweedy said that Guthrie, while he may have been the father of an aforementioned musician who prefers motorcycles to pickles, “really liked kosher dills.”
While the video and this story are largely a joke, the DILL-CO pastry is real and is actually a collaboration between Daisies’ Omilinsky and Wilco’s Tweedy. As the video notes, the croissant features cream cheese with dill and pickle powder and a pickle spear inside, along with pickle clips, pickle powder, and giardiniera on top.
The DILL-CO is a limited edition project. It debuted Friday at the Daisies’ Logan Square café and will be available until the end of the month or until they sell out. All proceeds benefit Nourishing Hope Chicago, formerly Lakeview Pantry, a nonprofit that provides food, mental health, and social services to those in need.
Daisies also reports that Tweedy will perform a free acoustic solo set at the “Chicago Live!” performing arts festival at Navy Pier.
