Song of the Moment: Swallowed Whole

General Pearl Jam discussion.
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Rate Swallowed Whole

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Total votes: 153

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daft twat
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by daft twat »

i'm getting the into the wild comparisons. and sleeping by myself will be on this record. and future days.

i like backspacer a lot, but it still doesn't feel like a proper pearl jam album. it feels like a band stuck between too many songs for an ep and not enough for an lp with a couple of ed songs thrown in to make up the difference. it looks like lightning bolt is going to suffer from that same disjointed feeling.
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by LetMeSleep »

daft twat wrote:i'm getting the into the wild comparisons. and sleeping by myself will be on this record. and future days.

i like backspacer a lot, but it still doesn't feel like a proper pearl jam album. it feels like a band stuck between too many songs for an ep and not enough for an lp with a couple of ed songs thrown in to make up the difference. it looks like lightning bolt is going to suffer from that same disjointed feeling.
I concur, Twat, I concur.
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harmless
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by harmless »

Yeah, I'm worried about that too. But Yellow Moon is sandwiched between SBM and FD, so let's see if that track lifts their weight a bit.
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by stip »

so far these songs flow quite well together, surprisingly well given the mishmash of styles.

And plenty of songs on into the wild felt like they could have been pearl jam songs with just a little tweaking. Hell, Unthought Known could have been a pearl jam song with just a little tweaking. But they didn't tweak it very much
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by LetMeSleep »

stip wrote:so far these songs flow quite well together, surprisingly well given the mishmash of styles.

And plenty of songs on into the wild felt like they could have been pearl jam songs with just a little tweaking. Hell, Unthought Known could have been a pearl jam song with just a little tweaking. But they didn't tweak it very much
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by harmless »

The only totally successful ballad-type song on Backspacer is The End.
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by Gern Blansten »

I'm really starting to like this one....going to be a great live song
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by BoltofLightning »

This song has grown on me like no other. The closer I listen, the more this sounds like Riot Act era PJ (think Cropduster mixed with Get Right) with more soaring vocals. I am on board.
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by Wendy Carlos's Twin »

I didn't realize Gern Blansten was here. I really enjoy your comedy, Gern.
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by Gern Blansten »

Wendy Carlos's Twin wrote:I didn't realize Gern Blansten was here. I really enjoy your comedy, Gern.
thanks! :haha:

Very few people recognize me.
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by harmless »

This song is feeling a bit darker than it was; the message seems to be "I could die here." It's kind of about wanting oblivion, the ultimate reality of release, instead of a religious afterlife. It's not the simple tree-hugging stuff. Religion talks about getting "right with God" before your death, baptism and stuff. But for Ed, that "penance" can simply be breathed in from the wind.
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by stupidmop »

harmless wrote:This song is feeling a bit darker than it was; the message seems to be "I could die here." It's kind of about wanting oblivion, the ultimate reality of release, instead of a religious afterlife. It's not the simple tree-hugging stuff. Religion talks about getting "right with God" before your death, baptism and stuff. But for Ed, that "penance" can simply be breathed in from the wind.
I reminds me of can't keep that way.

This is actually growing on me a little . 'I could be the sun' lyrics and all though theres still a kids tv show feeling i cant shake. . And i don't like how ed sounds here. The bridge is my least favourite part, i love the bit of music before it, and hate the solo after it.
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by harmless »

stupidmop wrote:
harmless wrote:This song is feeling a bit darker than it was; the message seems to be "I could die here." It's kind of about wanting oblivion, the ultimate reality of release, instead of a religious afterlife. It's not the simple tree-hugging stuff. Religion talks about getting "right with God" before your death, baptism and stuff. But for Ed, that "penance" can simply be breathed in from the wind.
I reminds me of can't keep that way.

This is actually growing on me a little . 'I could be the sun' lyrics and all though theres still a kids tv show feeling i cant shake. . And i don't like how ed sounds here. The bridge is my least favourite part, i love the bit of music before it, and hate the solo after it.
What? You hate the solo? :shock: I like it. I also love the bridge (even its church hymn feeling, which is deliberate I think). But I do think the lyrics are somewhat at odds with the music and yeah, I've mentioned the Pixar feeling before. But that's fine with me; I just like the idea of darkness snuck into songs that you might hear played at McDonalds. If Pearl Jam are going to do this, they may as well throw themselves in and do it well... The "I could be the sun" just means, I guess, I could be the source of my own energy and the "God" of my own universe. Kinda thing.
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by harmless »

And I guess if you see the whole thing as this desire to be "Swallowed Whole" into oblivion, the artwork then supports that.
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by harmless »

I guess the whole theme speaks to LB as well.
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by philpritchard »

harmless wrote:
stupidmop wrote:
harmless wrote:This song is feeling a bit darker than it was; the message seems to be "I could die here." It's kind of about wanting oblivion, the ultimate reality of release, instead of a religious afterlife. It's not the simple tree-hugging stuff. Religion talks about getting "right with God" before your death, baptism and stuff. But for Ed, that "penance" can simply be breathed in from the wind.
I reminds me of can't keep that way.

This is actually growing on me a little . 'I could be the sun' lyrics and all though theres still a kids tv show feeling i cant shake. . And i don't like how ed sounds here. The bridge is my least favourite part, i love the bit of music before it, and hate the solo after it.
What? You hate the solo? :shock: I like it. I also love the bridge (even its church hymn feeling, which is deliberate I think). But I do think the lyrics are somewhat at odds with the music and yeah, I've mentioned the Pixar feeling before. But that's fine with me; I just like the idea of darkness snuck into songs that you might hear played at McDonalds. If Pearl Jam are going to do this, they may as well throw themselves in and do it well... The "I could be the sun" just means, I guess, I could be the source of my own energy and the "God" of my own universe. Kinda thing.
This one didn't hit me as instantly as a couple of the other songs have, but I'm sold. I love the way it builds and grows... it's a nice song until the solo, then it just comes on strong from the solo to the end.
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by harmless »

This is the first time in ages that I've felt a PJ bridge fitted into the surrounding song perfectly.
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by Norah »

harmless wrote:fitted
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by philpritchard »

cutuphalfdead wrote:
harmless wrote:fitted
:lol:
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by harmless »

Just Googled it, apparently you can use "fitted" but in the context of tailoring or D.I.Y etc, i.e. the tailor fitted the trousers by shortening them. So either way I was wrong and ugh.
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