Women Sing Westerberg

Here’s a comp that does what it says on the tin.  Longtime Mat fans may remember that after the breakup, Paul Westerberg announced that he would be doing some collaborations with other artists.  

In the early 1990’s, he cowrote songs with the Goo Goo Dolls, Joan Jett, and Johnette Napolitano (for her Pretty & Twisted album).  The latter two songs can be heard here, along with covers of The Replacements and songs from Paul’s solo career.  

One of the last things Paul has released (a decade ago) was another collaboration:  The I Don’t Cares was his duo with Juliana Hatfield, and their version of “Born For Me” is here as well.

There were three versions of “It’s A Wonderful Lie” to choose from.  Mary Lou Lord and Christina Martin have recorded it. I chose the version by Puss N Boots, the trio of Sasha Dobson, Norah Jones and Catherine Popper.  

Two versions of “Swingin Party” are included, because the covers seemed different enough in style and mood.  “Androgynous” has also been covered a number of times.  I didn’t quite have room enough for the version by Miley Cyrus, Joan Jett and Laura Jane Grace.

It has been almost a decade since new songs appeared on Soundcloud and Bandcamp.  I wonder what Paul has been doing. Does he sing around the house?  Pick up the guitar, or plink at the piano?  Has he retired from playing and writing music?  Or does he have a dry wood garage full of unreleased material – enough to rival Prince’s archives at Paisley Park?  

He’s old enough now for Medicare.  Maybe he earned enough from the reunion tour, the reissues, and the royalties that he doesn’t have to "whore his past" anymore.  There's a theory that Paul agreed to the comeback tour in order to pay for his recent divorce and raise funds for Slim Dunlap's medical care.  Slim and Paul's ex-wife Laurie Lindeen both died in 2024.  Paul may have socked enough away to fund his own retirement.

So is he done with music? Will he have any involvement with the upcoming Mats biopic?  Who knows?  Not me.  Who cares?  Not many.  And do any of us deserve the answers?  Not likely.  But we can still grab our favorite lampshades and enjoy the swingin' sounds of Wimmen Singin' Westerberg.

We could do a lot worse.