I don't agree, I think this song puts a sustained, centralized focus on Eddie's lyrics in a way that few if any other PJ songs do, and generally speaking I just don't think the writing is good or imaginative enough to withstand that level of focus. The line about the butterfly is a good example -- I feel like I've heard variations of that metaphor a million times, and while there's nothing to say that someone shouldn't identify with that sentiment, I am surprised that anyone would single it out as an example of strong or particularly creative writing. That's how I feel about a lot of the writing here -- metaphors that feel so familiar and easy that they ultimately come across as less powerful than if he were to just come out and literally say the thing he's trying to pretty up.McParadigm wrote:It’s just so much smaller a deal than a thousand other lyrical farts over the years that it feels nit picky.
I tend to like Eddie's lyrics best when they sneak up on me, and usually when they're a little obscure -- when I've already fallen in love with a melody, without really realizing what he's singing, and then one day I perk up and hear it and think, "Wow, I can't quite pin it down, but something about that's pretty good." There are some moments in the in-between parts of this song (feels weird to call them choruses) that are like that ("Floodlight dreams go drifting past/All the lines we could have had"), but the verses aim for something that I think is just slightly out of Eddie's reach. The song is a miss for me in that regard. Everything else about it I really enjoy -- the bridge sections, the outro, both musical concepts I wish took up more of the song's running time.
