new (old) song: Cold Confession

[stip]

From the tsis review:

Cold Confession: This is a wonderful song. Elements of the raw vulnerability of 4/20/02 (but turned into something worthwhile), the themes and desolation of the Untitled spoken word piece (but without its self-indulgence), and perhaps the scope of All or None, but given the personality that it so desperately needed. It’s a personal, intimate, song—tentative, but not lost. Boom’s keys (and Jeff’s bass) give the song a warmth that contrasts nicely with the chilliness of the song. It feels like a winter wind. This is what the weather was like away from whatever fire Strangest Tribe was recorded in front of.

Eddie is the star here, and it’s nice to have a showcase song for him. He is perfect here, barely held together—like spiderweb cracks on a pane of frosted glass. It feels real without the affectations that (for some people) mar a song like The End. The music helps understate him. If this song was starker OR lusher it would have been too much.

I haven’t been able to sit down with lyrics yet, but what I can make it sounds good—clearly a song about trying to right yourself after a devastating loss. Full of water metaphors, which, even if overused, Eddie tends to write effectively. But oddly enough, it doesn’t FEEL like a water song. I don’t picture the ocean. Nevertheless, it all builds quite nicely to the centerpiece lyric: “And to himself/a memory clear/a cold confession that only/that only he could hear,” before launching into what passes for an appropriately understated bridge.

An advantage this song does have over some recent Eddie songs is that it is a song about loss, rather than the fear of loss. It’s an easier sell, since it is more natural to relate to the experience of having lost something, instead of having to imagine what someone else possesses. But to the song’s credit, it avoids catharsis, without wallowing in its loss (where thumbing my way and all or none lose me). Instead we get a much darker resolution. He is united with what he lost (either in reality or fantasy, but it doesn’t matter), and finds no comfort there. Whatever came between them is still there. There’s a wall now, and there is no way it won’t keep them apart. And the song winds down on that realization—the illusion of the happy ending that isn’t fooling anyone.

This is a great song, and we’re lucky we have it. I think it is easily better than most of S/T, although I understand not including it. S/T is an album full of grand gestures, spleen venting, and combat. This is too understated for that record. Still, at least we have it now.

[E.H. Ruddock]

That was quick. Good job stip.

[stupidmop]

5 glorious stars.

I think, think its my favourite song since the binaural material. Time will tell .

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

LOVE IT

[dprival78]

think stone may have written this, including lyrics?

i haven't paid attention to the actual words yet, but the delivery and vocal melody is a little stoney in spots

[Sigerson]

What a pleasant surprise. I can only hope this ends up on the new album but then again, the production will probably kill it :\

[nyquillyn]

This is really something special. Eddie sounds vulnerable without being schmaltzy. So much air to breathe in this song. Looking forward to driving through the desert at midnight with this one playing.

[---]

brethren, don't sleep on the rhythm section on this one

[---]

i'm liking this one more and more. it feels good for a pearl jam song to reward multiple listens again.

[philpritchard]

i'm liking this one more and more. it feels good for a pearl jam song to reward multiple listens again.

I feel the same way. I like a few of the other new ones a lot, but I feel like I'm listening to them because they're enjoyable and I'm getting to know them a bit better. With Cold Confession, I'm listening to it over and over because the second it ends I can't wait to listen to it again.

[---]

With Cold Confession, I'm listening to it over and over because the second it ends I can't wait to listen to it again.

Yep.

To the extent I've re-listened to S/T, Backspacer, and the new stuff, it feels like a chore. An investigation. "There has to be something on here worth finding, right? I'll listen to it again, and maybe I'll find it." These two new tracks, it's totally different. It's discovery for pleasure rather than discovery for rationalization. "God, there's so much going on here I want to listen to it again so I don't miss anything!"

[yofismom]

Love it! Speechless.

[warehouse]

this song shits on anything off of backspacer in a huge, huge way

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

to me the music on this one sounds like Binaural but the vocals i would pretty close to Parachutes, so maybe the song was written somewhere around Binaural but not recorded until the Avocado sessions
thats probably obvious but figured i through it out there

[BurtReynolds]

oh what could have been ...

[Strat]

Such great fucking tone and choices in layering.

Yes.

[dprival78]

could 2013 eddie sing like this?

his jaw would probably become dislocated.

[---]

i dug let it ride more than this one initially, but i think i may be revising that sentiment. the last two-and-a-half minutes are spectacular.

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

could 2013 eddie sing like this?

his jaw would probably become dislocated.

poor ed

[Thurman Murman]

Love it!

I would say that i probably like the last 2 albums more than your regular RM'er, but this is just so much more of what i want out of the band at this stage. What a wonderful discovery!