82. Dead Man vs. Yellow Ledbetter

[stip]

Dead Man vs. Ledbetter

[JuanHamm]

Dead Man. I just listened to it on the drive home today.

[stip]

Granted Dead Man doesn't play to very much of what I love about Pearl Jam, but Yellow Ledbetter is a next level song. It is quite possibly Eddie's best sounding performance, amazing guitar line, and there is a breathtaking clarity to the performance - everything is so clean, precise, and exactly what it needs to be without ever feeling like anything but the unburdening of someone's soul. The lyric's don't matter. This might be one of their purest emotional moments. And if it loses to Dead Man I will burn this god damned forum to the ground, I won't. But it would be no less then this place deserves.

[The Town]

I went years and years between listening to Yellow Ledbetter. I thought it was overplayed. And probably it does get played ad nauseam.
But fuck me when I listened to it again and payed attention to the studio recording... the production is :drool:

[tragabigzanda]

Dead Man is infinitely more interesting to me

[Strat]

Dead Man is infinitely more interesting to me

this tracks


I love both of these songs for very different reasons. Will have to return to this after some contemplating

[tragabigzanda]

Dead Man is infinitely more interesting to me

this tracks


I love both of these songs for very different reasons. Will have to return to this after some contemplating

Honestly if I’d never heard Little Wing, I’d probably hold YL in higher esteem.

[Strat]

Dead Man is infinitely more interesting to me

this tracks


I love both of these songs for very different reasons. Will have to return to this after some contemplating

Honestly if I’d never heard Little Wing, I’d probably hold YL in higher esteem.

I mean....i think thats pretty reductive. They are different beasts though cut from a similar cloth.

Ledbetter is way more catchy and pop.

[VinylGuy]

very hard one.

I went for Ledbetter

[PHATJ]

I like Dead Man but this shouldn’t be close. Ledbetter is special.

[Higgs]

YouTube on-play popped YL from MSG in front of me last week. I've since rewatched it twice. Forgot how good a song it is.

[digster]

I'd go with Yellow Ledbetter, though I'm honestly not sure if it's the better song. I think that song, more than pretty much every other PJ track, is impossible to divorce from what it is and does as a live song. I've actually always liked the 'predictability' for lack of a better word, of that song closing shows, so there's a lot of warmth for the song wrapped up in that. I don't know if it holds up entirely as a song (I mean, I never seek it out on its own), but I'll go with it for now.

[Bammer]

Granted Dead Man doesn't play to very much of what I love about Pearl Jam, but Yellow Ledbetter is a next level song. It is quite possibly Eddie's best sounding performance, amazing guitar line, and there is a breathtaking clarity to the performance - everything is so clean, precise, and exactly what it needs to be without ever feeling like anything but the unburdening of someone's soul. The lyric's don't matter. This might be one of their purest emotional moments. And if it loses to Dead Man I will burn this god damned forum to the ground, I won't. But it would be no less then this place deserves.

*than

[JuanHamm]

Guys, yellow ledbetter isn't going to win this whole tournament. Let Dead Man have it's moment.

[Birds in Hell]

Easy vote for Dead Man.

I don't think Little Wing and Yellow Ledbetter are hugely similar musically. There's definitely an influence, but it's not anything close to a direct rip. That said, I can't stand what Mike's doing on the song, which sinks the whole thing. That thin, wiry, bluesy Stratocaster tone is like nails on a chalkboard - especially those percussive hits that play up the reverb. Awful stuff.

[epilogue]

I'd go with Yellow Ledbetter, though I'm honestly not sure if it's the better song. I think that song, more than pretty much every other PJ track, is impossible to divorce from what it is and does as a live song. I've actually always liked the 'predictability' for lack of a better word, of that song closing shows, so there's a lot of warmth for the song wrapped up in that. I don't know if it holds up entirely as a song (I mean, I never seek it out on its own), but I'll go with it for now.

What's really interesting and frankly frustrating for me is that I don't like what it IS live but I'm fucking in love with what it DOES live.

The studio version of LY though (such as it is) is pure aural gold. Like sapphire and diamonds in my ears. I never tire of it even though I don't usually think of it as a top 10 Pearl Jam song. They just have so many brilliant songs.

Dead Man is totally fine. I like it but I don't think it's closer to LY

[stip]

agree with Joe’s yl thoughts above

[wease]

What's really interesting and frankly frustrating for me is that I don't like what it IS live but I'm fucking in love with what it DOES live.

You’re that ready for the show to end?

[epilogue]

What's really interesting and frankly frustrating for me is that I don't like what it IS live but I'm fucking in love with what it DOES live.

You’re that ready for the show to end?

Nah. It's more about the energy it creates in the room every time.