pappas wrote:what's the point of ripping the youtube video in FLAC format. isn't it already going to be compressed when uploaded to youtube? Or do the HD videos uploaded there also get lossless audio?
I'm not sure of the answer re: the audio quality of HD videos but, if the audio were lossy, there's little sense further degrading the quality by transcoding the capture down to MP3.
Think of mp3s as photocopies and FLAC/lossless as clones.
Capturing a photocopy of a lossy stream will further downgrade the quality, so the only way to preserve the highest quality possible is to make a bloated clone.
Disclaimer #1: In some cases it's possible to demux (i.e. extract) lossy audio without compromising quality. However, if you want to make edits (like cutting, normalising, increasing volume) the only way to do so non-destructively (i.e. without making a further 'photocopy' when you save your edits) is to do with a lossless clone.
Disclaimer #2: There are some programs out there that claim to be able to cut/edit mp3 and aac without re-encoding, but I've never found one that works effectively. Prove me wrong children! Prove me wrong...
Reading through all the pages now and surprised how many people are talking about a 'narrator'. Maybe it's just me but this seems to be coming from Eddie, and it seems to be very personal. In addition, there was confusion over the 'mistakes' that could send her to another man...doesn't Eddie have/had a drinking problem and a smoking problem? Perhaps when he hears those sirens and looks at his family it puts into perspective everything he has done to himself and is doing. I mean I think back to when he used to do giant stage dives and climb the ceilings and risk his life, and all the things he's done to jeapordize his health. Now he hears the sirens of ambulences, and looks at his wife, and all he can think about is how he doesn't want to leave her.
Eddie's 48 years old. The things he did back in the 90s must feel like a lifetime ago to him. He was a different person then. It's hard for me, at 21, to totally put myself in Eddie's shoes, but even so I think that he does an amazing job of making me see how he feels from a middle-aged point of view, far removed from where you were in your reckless youth, and now thinking about how your past decisions will effect your future. It's especially interesting because he has so much to live for now, when before he was much darker. I also think these lyrics are not ambiguous at all...I read a take on the lyrics online and I hear those. As someone said "reach across the bed" not bend, he's reaching across the bed to his wife. And another change that nobody mentioned as far as I could see was it's "The slightest bit of light and I can see you clear." A lot of these lines that sounded like metaphors when written in the lyrics, I think were just misheard. These aren't ambiguous lyrics, this is a very clear scene. Eddie's in bed with his wife (or possibly a child, I dunno how old his kids are)..he wakes up at night, and he hears sirens. It scares him because it makes him think of his mortality, and he looks over and makes sure he and his family are safe, and then looks at them and when looking at their face the love makes his fears go away.
It's a bittersweet song. There's a fear of death, and a growing maturity and awareness that comes from reaching middle age and having so much to live for after living wildly before as well as an acknowledgement that you're in that period of your life where you might have to worry about being in that ambulance. But there's also such a strong love that it beats the fear. The fear is still there though. So while I wouldn't call it happy, it's at the least hopeful, yet still melancholy. Very grey.
cutuphalfdead wrote:I haven't paid attention to anything today. What's this talk of a video and a 10c download?
- there's a video of the band playing the song live (in a studio, anyway)
- if you pre-ordered the album through 10C you can download Sirens in MP3/FLAC from pearljam.com
Oh, and I like the song; that's clearly news.
You like this shit?
About 96% of Spenno's brain is made up of wailing, unmusical guitar feedback and deliberately abrasive white noise, but there is a very vocal portion of that 4% that is responsible for his seemingly anomalous embrace of songs like "Sirens" and TV shows like "Gilmore Girls" and "Bunheads." It rises to the surface without much sense of consistency but does so sternly and demands to be seen, not unlike a Whack-a-Mole. For that reason Spenno is one of my go-to RM'ers; I never miss a thread wherein his name appears in the "last post" column, much the same as I can never walk through a Chuck E. Cheese's without making a pit stop at Whack-a-Mole.
pappas wrote:what's the point of ripping the youtube video in FLAC format. isn't it already going to be compressed when uploaded to youtube? Or do the HD videos uploaded there also get lossless audio?
I'm not sure of the answer re: the audio quality of HD videos but, if the audio were lossy, there's little sense further degrading the quality by transcoding the capture down to MP3.
yeah i figured that was the reason after i posted this
in either case, would be awesome if TenClub released that version in lossless as a bonus track or something with the album. I prefer it to the other version.
Based on this, pretty sure I'm really going to enjoy this song live
Rusted Sign wrote:I think this song is indicative of my place. Back when I was fantasising about being 'tissue man' every time Bridget Fonda sneezed (from any hole really), I would have hated this song. I arrived late in the album game, so my first encounter with cheddar Vedder was probably Nothingman, which got Munstered out of the of party by songs like Last Exit and Not For You. These days, whilst I still love stinky Bishops Finger, rocking, ball sweat tracks, I've surrendered to the mild, sandwich filling slices of music that sustain me through the quieter, more reflective aspects of my adult life. Cheese references aside, I can connect with a song like this more than I can with a track like Mind Your Manners. I still want to be that kid, spazzing out to dirty punk, Dairylea gargling in my throat, trying to recreate the agnst of a bunch of angry strangers. In all honesty though, that dickhead died a long time ago, and what's left is a thirty-something music fan who appreciates songs that move him on a more intimate level. Case in point, that last sentence was written in a cunty third person perspective, and I don't care. Like I don't care that I love this song. Or that 'he' loves the song. I might be a cunt for liking this song, but sometimes a cunt is a warm, safe, cheesy place to be. And I'm fine with that.
I admire your honesty.
Last edited by dimejinky99 on Thu September 19, 2013 9:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
Lounge Lizard wrote:I can already picture the crowds going "Ah-Ah! Oh-Oh!" at live concerts and it cracks me up
Like they already do to "doo-doo-doo" in Black, or whatever else to a thousand other PJ songs? Yeah it's going to be AWFUL.
RisingTides wrote:There is more kindness on the internet than we would care to admit to ourselves. Sometimes we are so afraid of falling victim to a ruse, we miss out on actual opportunities.
Lounge Lizard wrote:I can already picture the crowds going "Ah-Ah! Oh-Oh!" at live concerts and it cracks me up
Like they already do to "doo-doo-doo" in Black, or whatever else to a thousand other PJ songs? Yeah it's going to be AWFUL.
hey, watch that sass man, watch that sass...
RisingTides wrote:There is more kindness on the internet than we would care to admit to ourselves. Sometimes we are so afraid of falling victim to a ruse, we miss out on actual opportunities.
mikejasond wrote:So I dont have time to go through 63 pages so what are people's opinions on the interpretation of this?
From reading the lyrics it seems that it's about him lying in bed and hearing sirens at night...and now he fears the day when they will come for him (or his family as well.) And how he looks at how much he's changed since his wild youth, and how much he now has to lose, and how he doesn't want to leave this life or leave his family or have them leave him, but if it were to happen for them to know how much he loves them. Basically the song is about how something as mundane as a siren can call attention to our mortality once we reach a certain point in our lives. "I hear the sirens more and more in this here town" I interpret not as they actually are being heard more, but he just notices them more and more. Something that never would have meant anything to him when he was younger now suddenly has a whole different meaning.
And I love that. So much. It's not a simple love song. It's something that only a guy in his 40s would write or think about. And I find it a really powerful insight into Eddie Vedder's now much more mature mind. I like that this song isn't trying to be youthful or wild. It's Eddie Vedder reflecting on where he is now in his life, and the tone of the song reflects it.
Personally I think the meaning is beautiful unless I'm interpreting it wrong.
mikejasond wrote:So I dont have time to go through 63 pages so what are people's opinions on the interpretation of this?
From reading the lyrics it seems that it's about him lying in bed and hearing sirens at night...and now he fears the day when they will come for him (or his family as well.) And how he looks at how much he's changed since his wild youth, and how much he now has to lose, and how he doesn't want to leave this life or leave his family or have them leave him, but if it were to happen for them to know how much he loves them. Basically the song is about how something as mundane as a siren can call attention to our mortality once we reach a certain point in our lives. "I hear the sirens more and more in this here town" I interpret not as they actually are being heard more, but he just notices them more and more. Something that never would have meant anything to him when he was younger now suddenly has a whole different meaning.
And I love that. So much. It's not a simple love song. It's something that only a guy in his 40s would write or think about. And I find it a really powerful insight into Eddie Vedder's now much more mature mind. I like that this song isn't trying to be youthful or wild. It's Eddie Vedder reflecting on where he is now in his life, and the tone of the song reflects it.
Personally I think the meaning is beautiful unless I'm interpreting it wrong.
that seems right
It really is quite a simple yet deep sentiment. You've nailed in mikejasond. There are some clunkier lyrics and a couple that I could do without but overall, and coupled with Ed's delivery, it's beautiful.
It's almost more Pearl Jam for how emotionally naked it is. This is the stuff that embarrassed people about Pearl Jam from the beginning.
RisingTides wrote:There is more kindness on the internet than we would care to admit to ourselves. Sometimes we are so afraid of falling victim to a ruse, we miss out on actual opportunities.
A couple of people days ago mentioned that it really struck them, especially as parents. Maybe the ice is thawing. Parenthood does weird shit to you emotionally.
RisingTides wrote:There is more kindness on the internet than we would care to admit to ourselves. Sometimes we are so afraid of falling victim to a ruse, we miss out on actual opportunities.
There's sort of an ambient reluctance in some parts of the community to just admit they like it and it may have even made them feel something they didn't think Pj were capable of making them feel anymore. Couple of my friends, certainly.
LetMeSleep wrote:A couple of people days ago mentioned that it really struck them, especially as parents. Maybe the ice is thawing. Parenthood does weird shit to you emotionally.
it does. and I dont think this is a song about kids or anything. i just find i am far more open to these kinds of sentiments because of them
mikejasond wrote:
From reading the lyrics it seems that it's about him lying in bed and hearing sirens at night...and now he fears the day when they will come for him (or his family as well.) And how he looks at how much he's changed since his wild youth, and how much he now has to lose, and how he doesn't want to leave this life or leave his family or have them leave him, but if it were to happen for them to know how much he loves them. Basically the song is about how something as mundane as a siren can call attention to our mortality once we reach a certain point in our lives. "I hear the sirens more and more in this here town" I interpret not as they actually are being heard more, but he just notices them more and more. Something that never would have meant anything to him when he was younger now suddenly has a whole different meaning.
I didn't get this after the three listens last night (don't want to beat this to death already), but that makes more sense than what I initially thought. I figured that line was more about everyone around him getting older and breaking down, 'town' being used in place of 'close friends and family', and his fear of it happening to him. But I like your idea of his fear causing him to be more aware of them vice more of them making him fearful. As people age and gain things they are scared to lose they certainly become more aware of those who have lost, largely because the recognize the inevitability of it happening to them. Good call on that.
Oops. A couple of Internet venues, like Antiquiet, have taken my lyrics from this site apparently and they're wrong. Can we amend them, stip?
RisingTides wrote:There is more kindness on the internet than we would care to admit to ourselves. Sometimes we are so afraid of falling victim to a ruse, we miss out on actual opportunities.
LetMeSleep wrote:A couple of people days ago mentioned that it really struck them, especially as parents. Maybe the ice is thawing. Parenthood does weird shit to you emotionally.
it does. and I dont think this is a song about kids or anything. i just find i am far more open to these kinds of sentiments because of them
No I don't think that either but it would have been nice if it was a bit more ambiguous so that leap could be made. It's clearly about a partner and when it is too obvious (2nd verse), I don't feel the song as much. Those lyrics force me out of the moment, albeit momentarily.
harmless wrote:Oops. A couple of Internet venues, like Antiquiet, have taken my lyrics from this site apparently and they're wrong. Can we amend them, stip?
post what you want me to put there. I haven't been tracking that closely
