I'm not trying to hold ILM as being the bastion of music appreciation, my point is simply that music fans who have no particular investment in Pearl Jam or Pearl Jam fandom are really enjoying this song.
I don't think comparisons with those records are really going to help. I don't think this will be a seismic artistic shift, nor do I expect it to have any real cultural resonance beyond being another chapter in the history of the band.
If it's a solid album full of good, interesting songs, then I'd consider it to be a roaring (and entirely unexpected) success.
These is something about the way he sings the line "Could'a held me up, rather than tearing me down. Drown in the river" that gives me a sad feeling. Ed's voice sounds really sad and desperate, its been so long I forgot what he could stir up with just this quality, more obviously done on songs like All Or None.
Birds in Hell wrote:It's a small sample but this song has prompted universal acclaim (and delighted surprise) from music fans that I know*, both personally and elsewhere on the internet. People really, really dig it.
I don't recall any song from the previous albums making a dent on these kinds of people at all.
(* People who are passionate about a wide range of music, not Pearl Jam weirdos.)
Maybe the current state of mainstream music is just so bad (you like... my hair.. gee thanks... just cut it) that anything not awful is a revelation.
"The fatal flaw of all revolutionaries is that they know how to tear things down but don't have a f**king clue about how to build anything."
theplatypus wrote:I like the lyrics except for "I'm in love with clairvoyants 'cause they're out of this world," but even a line that unspeakably stupid sounds like it fits with this song's kookiness
That's the line that I don't like.
I think “out of this world” is meant to signify that clairvoyants live in another mental reality - one much better than the hellscape we’re currently living in.
Yeah that was my interpretation: it must be nice to be blissfully ignorant.
It might strike you as odd but that was my interpretation as well and even then I think it's a poor lyric.
Imagine if this clunky line was replaced with “stand back when the spirit comes" with the same melody
This was really good. I was particularly interested in the outro. I think this provided one example of how Pearl Jam may handle it live... Between the drum parts and the outro vocals, Matt is going to be a busy man on this song:
Birds in Hell wrote:It's a small sample but this song has prompted universal acclaim (and delighted surprise) from music fans that I know*, both personally and elsewhere on the internet. People really, really dig it.
I don't recall any song from the previous albums making a dent on these kinds of people at all.
(* People who are passionate about a wide range of music, not Pearl Jam weirdos.)
Maybe the current state of mainstream music is just so bad (you like... my hair.. gee thanks... just cut it) that anything not awful is a revelation.
Just bought it. She just bought it. The song is about filling the forever-empty inside with rampant consumerism.
Anders wrote:I do not have a «neoliberal assessment of geopolitics», so please stop writing that I do.
Birds in Hell wrote:I'm not trying to hold ILM as being the bastion of music appreciation, my point is simply that music fans who have no particular investment in Pearl Jam or Pearl Jam fandom are really enjoying this song.
I said this to my pal last night. From what I can see online, it’s split the hardcore Pj pals I have online into about 70/30. With the 70% loving it.
But what it’s really gonna do is get them a whole new flood of listeners. I’ve seen people who actively can’t stand the band saying it’s brilliant and who knew they were capable of that?
Habitman wrote:This was really good. I was particularly interested in the outro. I think this provided one example of how Pearl Jam may handle it live... Between the drum parts and the outro vocals, Matt is going to be a busy man on this song:
This is a little too “rock”. Not what I would expect from PJ.
There's the dog. You can't fake that stuff. Confess with your mouth.
People who hammer on about this song being too 80’s or synth pop are really over blowing that sentiment. It’s almost as if they haven’t listened to any other music in recent years, or rather, they were 80’s music fans who legit stopped listening to anything but pearl jam come 1993.
. have you been working on it since 10 o’clock last night?
