Eddie Vedder - Earthling

[stip]

i get why someone would like the lyrics, but even with its simplicity i really liked them.

I’m not purposefully singling you out (I could’ve responded to anyone that stated that they really liked the song), but is this because the songs stand on their own merits or because they’re being sung by Eddie Vedder? Because I would have to think that if we heard these songs knowing that they’re by someone else, we would think differently.

that's probably true but I'm not sure that this is particularly significant. For better or worse any artist you have a relationship carries that relationship into how you hear that music.

[epilogue]

I was going to begin posting about why I like this song and open up about a recent relationship i got out of and how i relate to this song and the lyrics and try to defend why i like the song and why simple song writing is okay and then i realized whatever RM sucks and i dont care if people dont like it and i dont care if i like it.

pearl jam

yeah, i really like the lyrics in that sense. Also, i appreciate how simple they are, i think that made them stronger.

It's also, for me anyway, not so much about the lyrics but how the delivery. How the lyrics ride the melody and Ed's phrasing. And I think in that way the words are lovely -- simple, as you say, and pleasant to my ear.

[stip]

I was going to begin posting about why I like this song and open up about a recent relationship i got out of and how i relate to this song and the lyrics and try to defend why i like the song and why simple song writing is okay and then i realized whatever RM sucks and i dont care if people dont like it and i dont care if i like it.

pearl jam

yeah, i really like the lyrics in that sense. Also, i appreciate how simple they are, i think that made them stronger.

I share the lyrical complaints (but that's something really important to me) but I think he sounds pretty good, and I think the song really captures the style this is going for. It feels like a mid tempo tom petty song. To Chris_H_2's point, normally mid tempo Tom Petty stuff is not anything I seek out, but I am more interested in it because Eddie is singing it. It gets points because it's a somewhat new space for him. It loses points because my expectations for what an Eddie song should sound like and what I want from it are complex.

[stip]

I was going to begin posting about why I like this song and open up about a recent relationship i got out of and how i relate to this song and the lyrics and try to defend why i like the song and why simple song writing is okay and then i realized whatever RM sucks and i dont care if people dont like it and i dont care if i like it.

pearl jam

yeah, i really like the lyrics in that sense. Also, i appreciate how simple they are, i think that made them stronger.

It's also, for me anyway, not so much about the lyrics but how the delivery. How the lyrics ride the melody and Ed's phrasing. And I think in that way the words are lovely -- simple, as you say, and pleasant to my ear.

I like how he sings it, and I like the flourishes. Part of the problem (for me) is that i am actually not that interested in the music, which means the simple repetition has to carry more weight than it should

[stip]

Flag Day is WAY better than Matter of Time. So this solo album could go in either direction

[epilogue]

I was going to begin posting about why I like this song and open up about a recent relationship i got out of and how i relate to this song and the lyrics and try to defend why i like the song and why simple song writing is okay and then i realized whatever RM sucks and i dont care if people dont like it and i dont care if i like it.

pearl jam

yeah, i really like the lyrics in that sense. Also, i appreciate how simple they are, i think that made them stronger.

It's also, for me anyway, not so much about the lyrics but how the delivery. How the lyrics ride the melody and Ed's phrasing. And I think in that way the words are lovely -- simple, as you say, and pleasant to my ear.

I like how he sings it, and I like the flourishes. Part of the problem (for me) is that i am actually not that interested in the music, which means the simple repetition has to carry more weight than it should

One of the best qualities of the song, though, is its weightlessness. Nothing needs to lift more than its already lifting. I love that. I'm not sure I remember Ed every doing something like that before.

[epilogue]

Flag Day is WAY better than Matter of Time. So this solo album could go in either direction

Do we think any of those previous songs (Matter of Time, Out of Sand, etc) will appear on this new solo record?

[Strat]

Flag Day is WAY better than Matter of Time. So this solo album could go in either direction

Do we think any of those previous songs (Matter of Time, Out of Sand, etc) will appear on this new solo record?

Matter of time - I sure hope not
Out of Sand - Wouldn't mind a real good recording of this

[VinylGuy]

I hope those are not a part of the album or if they are are reworked into full band mode.

[VinylGuy]

Man, i loving the 70s vibe the song has at the beginning.

[epilogue]

Flag Day is WAY better than Matter of Time. So this solo album could go in either direction

Do we think any of those previous songs (Matter of Time, Out of Sand, etc) will appear on this new solo record?

Matter of time - I sure hope not
Out of Sand - Wouldn't mind a real good recording of this

Yeah that's where I'm at, too. I think I'd prefer none of the previous stuff appear but if something's going to I'd love a really good studio recording of Out of Sand. I'd also love to hear it reworked as a full band kinda thing. Could be cool.

[epilogue]

How many songs will his daughters appear on?

If the album has 12 tracks (let's say), I'll set the over/under at 4.

[VinylGuy]

yeah, could be.
Olivia's performance on Flag Day are so good.

[liebzz]

Elton John is going to be in this as a guest? Are we witnessing an Eddie Vedder taking a direct stab at reinserting himself into the pop music lexicon?

[epilogue]

yeah, could be.
Olivia's performance on Flag Day are so good.

So good.

And I honestly like how the younger daughter sounds on this new song, too.

[Brett]

i get why someone would like the lyrics, but even with its simplicity i really liked them.

I’m not purposefully singling you out (I could’ve responded to anyone that stated that they really liked the song), but is this because the songs stand on their own merits or because they’re being sung by Eddie Vedder? Because I would have to think that if we heard these songs knowing that they’re by someone else, we would think differently.

As someone who finds the song only mildly pleasant, I want to say that I think this is a difficult exercise to engage. After 20+ years of listening to Pearl Jam, there's some hard to articulate essence to say, Ed's voice or certain artistic choices that make them more appealing than they otherwise would be. I find the same to sometimes be true of other artists that I've been a longtime fan of who make songs that I wouldn't find any attachment to without their involvement.

[epilogue]

i get why someone would like the lyrics, but even with its simplicity i really liked them.

I’m not purposefully singling you out (I could’ve responded to anyone that stated that they really liked the song), but is this because the songs stand on their own merits or because they’re being sung by Eddie Vedder? Because I would have to think that if we heard these songs knowing that they’re by someone else, we would think differently.

As someone who finds the song only mildly pleasant, I want to say that I think this is a difficult exercise to engage. After 20+ years of listening to Pearl Jam, there's some hard to articulate essence to say, Ed's voice or certain artistic choices that make them more appealing than they otherwise would be. I find the same to sometimes be true of other artists that I've been a longtime fan of who make songs that I wouldn't find any attachment to without their involvement.

I really wanted to give Chris shit for being condescending but the fact is there are other songs that exist that I actually like BECAUSE they're being performed by Pearl Jam/Eddie Vedder. LRoM is a great example. I like that song because of Ed's performance. The original version does nothing for me. So, he does have a point.

But this song isn't one of those songs for me. Probably because it sounds so much like another artist that I already adore, to be fair.

[VinylGuy]

of course i agree with that view in some degree, i mean we are all reaching out to this song because its Ed, but for me if the material doesnt reach out in some form i just dont care.

Sometimes i go back to that material because its an artist i care and sometimes my initial taste might be changed, sometimes not. But if the songs isnt grabbing me its done for me.

[Jaeti]

Ive been listening to Racquel Blue by Ike Reilly instead of this.

Just did that myself, as well.

[Kevin Davis]

I really wanted to give Chris shit for being condescending but the fact is there are other songs that exist that I actually like BECAUSE they're being performed by Pearl Jam/Eddie Vedder. LRoM is a great example. I like that song because of Ed's performance.

I feel like this kind of thing is, like, 95% of being a music fan. The "YEAH, BUT WOULD YOU LIKE THIS JUST AS MUCH IF IT WAS BY SOME UNKNOWN SONGWRITER" experiment I don't think rightly leads to the conclusion that people think it does, i.e. usually the implication that an answer of "no" somehow betrays a collapse of critical faculties, or a revelation that the thing being discussed is inherently less valuable than the how the listener is responding to it. Does any song ever stand up "on its own merits?" Can anyone legitimately say that their favorite song would be equally compelling as a piece of sheet music as it would as a recording or performance? What the performer brings to the work is everything. Sometimes what they bring is technical skill, emotion, charisma, etc., and sometimes in addition to that they bring context, sentiment, and the baggage of your connection to the rest of their work, good or bad. That's part, I'd argue most, of what the human response to music is.