167. Alone vs. Thumbing My Way

Post by **stip** » Tue March 30, 2021 12:17 am

Alone vs. Thumbing My Way

Post by **stip** » Tue March 30, 2021 12:24 am

easy vote for alone - what a great song that gets kind of buried in the murderer's row of hard hitting songs on Ten and Vs. Thumbing My Way is fine, but it never quite gets to where I need it to. I think Eddie struggled a bit on the slower songs on Riot Act, which was already such a downbeat album.

wease · Post by **wease** » Tue March 30, 2021 12:56 am

Alone. So very easily.

Jaeti · Post by **Jaeti** » Tue March 30, 2021 12:58 am

Weird matchup. Two songs I like just fine but don't blow me away. I listened to Riot Act a week or so ago and just now listened to Alone. This is a tossup, really, but I'm going with Thumbing My Way.

tragabigzanda · Post by **tragabigzanda** » Tue March 30, 2021 1:02 am

man did i used to hate TMY. I like it now. A lot.

Strat · Post by **Strat** » Tue March 30, 2021 1:45 am

Thurman Murman · Post by **Thurman Murman** » Tue March 30, 2021 1:47 am

Thumbing My Way. For all the love i have for very early Pearl Jam Alone is the one track that just never resonated with me.

Strat · Post by **Strat** » Tue March 30, 2021 1:52 am

Alone rules and i love the guitar riff. Just classic early stone.

Thumbing My Way, however, is rather timeless due to the lyrics and melody and a lovely performance from Ed.

VinylGuy · Post by **VinylGuy** » Tue March 30, 2021 2:40 am

its Thumbing My Way for me. Ed´s tired but hopeful vocals, the melody, the band..is a beautiful song.

knee tunes · Post by **knee tunes** » Tue March 30, 2021 2:53 am

Post by **epilogue** » Tue March 30, 2021 3:04 am

VinylGuy wrote:its Thumbing My Way for me. Ed´s tired but hopeful vocals, the melody, the band..is a beautiful song.

LetMeSleep · Post by **LetMeSleep** » Tue March 30, 2021 3:20 am

Alone

PHATJ · Post by **PHATJ** » Tue March 30, 2021 3:57 am

These are both just middle of the road PJ for me. Leaning towards Alone this time.

Leatherhead · Post by **Leatherhead** » Tue March 30, 2021 4:12 am

Alone is great. I'm maybe the only one here that prefers the Lost Dogs version, but I love both. Thumbing My Way has never connected with me much.

Anders · Post by **Anders** » Tue March 30, 2021 5:57 am

VinylGuy wrote:its Thumbing My Way for me. Ed´s tired but hopeful vocals, the melody, the band..is a beautiful song.

Absolutely

Brett · Post by **Brett** » Tue March 30, 2021 1:22 pm

"Thumbing My Way" is yet another Riot Act tune that's lost a lot of its luster from the early days, but in the right moment it can convey something special. "Alone" has never been one of my favorites, though it was a joy when I first got Lost Dogs (it was one of many songs on that collection that I had never heard before). It's not that different than a lot of other Ten-era stuff and is generally weaker than most of it. "TMW" for the win.

digster · Post by **digster** » Tue March 30, 2021 2:20 pm

Thumbing My Way, fairly easily. I think something that gets overlooked because of how big Ten got is how early they were in their time as a band. That record is Eddie figuring out how to write songs with the band. And sometimes they don't quite get it, which I feel in a song like Alone. TMW is a stunning, stark performance and it contains some of my favorite lyrics Eddie has penned.

liebzz · Post by **liebzz** » Tue March 30, 2021 2:24 pm

I voted for Alone. I think he did get it on this one. It’s more direct in a lot of ways than Ten but it still hits the universal chord of loss. I can relate to the character essentially standing in the shower trying to piece together what went wrong. Musically, the stop-starts, particularly in the original version of the song, draw me in and keep me hanging on what’s next. While I too would have left this off Ten, I might have included this on Vs. over a song or two that made that album.

Red Mosquito