Song of the Moment: Sweet Lew

[stip]

old thread archived here

[B]

Played for the 3rd time last night? How was it, Ruddo?

[E.H. Ruddock]

It was Sweet Lew. It was fun for the people who knew it. And Eddie and Josh were bouncing basketballs on stage to the beat. As soon as Eddie said Jeff was singing the next song everyone around us called it. They had fun with it. Would love to hear Evil Little Goat tonight

[mray10]

At this point, if you're a Pearl Jam song that has been played live fewer than 5 times ... there's a reason.

It was ... wild? Funny? I guess, kinda? But not enjoyable from a musical perspective because it's not a better song live than it is on LD. Given what short set they played I would rather they did almost anything else. I dunno, maybe Kareem was there and that's why they broke it out.

Have they ever played Gremmie Out of Control live? That one is kinda terrible but also kinda fun and would have been appropriate to the setting. That's what I was hoping for if we'd gotten another oddball on Saturday.

[Ms Harmless]

At this point, if you're a Pearl Jam song that has been played live fewer than 5 times ... there's a reason.

you say that as if Pearl Jam normally has good quality control

[Dex]

At this point, if you're a Pearl Jam song that has been played live fewer than 5 times ... there's a reason.

It was ... wild? Funny? I guess, kinda? But not enjoyable from a musical perspective because it's not a better song live than it is on LD. Given what short set they played I would rather they did almost anything else. I dunno, maybe Kareem was there and that's why they broke it out.

Have they ever played Gremmie Out of Control live? That one is kinda terrible but also kinda fun and would have been appropriate to the setting. That's what I was hoping for if we'd gotten another oddball on Saturday.

I agree with what you say about Sweet Lew, but.. I'd argue there's no reason at all, actually.. Strangest Tribe and Other Side, to name just a couple, are beautiful songs both played live less than five times.. and GOOC is an amazing cover, shame they've never played that one live, but I guess they totally forgot about it at this point.

At this point, if you're a Pearl Jam song that has been played live fewer than 5 times ... there's a reason.

you say that as if Pearl Jam normally has good quality control

..and this is also true, unfortunately. PJ apparently can't tell apart a good PJ song from a bad one.

[VinylGuy]

I love sweet lew

[Anders]

Not a fan of the song, but think Pearl Jam should always find room for a rarity (if it’s not too much trouble for the band relearning it). Us fans should enjoy it, amd if you’re not a rarities person, you still get lots of hits from the early albums, as well as a few new songs.

[Strat]

At this point, if you're a Pearl Jam song that has been played live fewer than 5 times ... there's a reason.

It was ... wild? Funny? I guess, kinda? But not enjoyable from a musical perspective because it's not a better song live than it is on LD. Given what short set they played I would rather they did almost anything else. I dunno, maybe Kareem was there and that's why they broke it out.

Have they ever played Gremmie Out of Control live? That one is kinda terrible but also kinda fun and would have been appropriate to the setting. That's what I was hoping for if we'd gotten another oddball on Saturday.

I agree with what you say about Sweet Lew, but.. I'd argue there's no reason at all, actually.. Strangest Tribe and Other Side, to name just a couple, are beautiful songs both played live less than five times.. and GOOC is an amazing cover, shame they've never played that one live, but I guess they totally forgot about it at this point.

At this point, if you're a Pearl Jam song that has been played live fewer than 5 times ... there's a reason.

you say that as if Pearl Jam normally has good quality control

..and this is also true, unfortunately. PJ apparently can't tell apart a good PJ song from a bad one.

They’re not playing sweet Lew because they think it’s a good song.

[E.H. Ruddock]

I am a little baffled. Most song "collectors" would have thought it great to hear this. Hell, I'm not a collector and I think it is a terrible song, but I loved hearing it when it came on. Are people actually bitching about them playing this? I would have rather heard this again the second night than Unthought Known, that's for sure.

[CopperTom]

I've heard all 3 live versions of this. I'm not anti-rarity, but I would have rather heard just about any other rarity than this.

[B]

You haters need to relax.

Pearl Jam has played, what? at least 45,000 songs live, and THREE of them were SWEET LEW?

Laugh at it. Have some fun. Stop taking your Pearl Jam so seriously.

[Dex]

My main point was more about how little (or almost not at all) they play some really great songs in their catalogue.. Sweet Lew is what it is, but I don't have a problem with it, I enjoy the bass lines in the song, and it's better than Sirens.

You haters need to relax.

Pearl Jam has played, what? at least 45,000 songs live, and THREE of them were SWEET LEW?

Laugh at it. Have some fun. Stop taking your Pearl Jam so seriously.

There are three things in life that I truly hate. One of them is religion. The other two have nothing to do with PJ.

[mray10]

I agree with what you say about Sweet Lew, but.. I'd argue there's no reason at all, actually.. Strangest Tribe and Other Side, to name just a couple, are beautiful songs both played live less than five times.. and GOOC is an amazing cover, shame they've never played that one live, but I guess they totally forgot about it at this point.

Fair. Those are both songs I like a lot. I remember them playing Other Side at Bridge School, didn't even know they'd played it subsequently. And Strangest Tribe (like Let Me Sleep and some of the other Christmas single songs) can feel a bit weird played in the middle of summer. Not that they have done it very often.

Guess I was thinking more of stuff like Sweet Lew or Bugs or stuff they've never even bothered to try like Olympic Platinum.

I am a little baffled. Most song "collectors" would have thought it great to hear this. Hell, I'm not a collector and I think it is a terrible song, but I loved hearing it when it came on. Are people actually bitching about them playing this? I would have rather heard this again the second night than Unthought Known, that's for sure.

I'm no Unthought fan, but most of the crowd seemed to enjoy that one and only a few people around me seemed to know what Lew was. The last full band show I'd seen was on the LB tour and they played Bee Girl that night. Another oddity that I'm not really a fan of. But that was a 35 song two encore set. An oddity sticks out more in a two hour show. Anyway, I never need to hear Unthought Known again, but ... I didn't need to hear Sweet Lew at two shows in a row either.

[dad]

it's not that bad, fellas.



also, i went back to the archived thread and spenno is right

The leaked demo version (a Yield outtake?...maybe...) is fantastic - probably better than the Lost Dogs version (although Jeff's vocals are mixed WAY loud).

it's on the Binaural deluxe in case anyone wants to hear.

[Clem Halibut]

Is this an actual song? or was it just an inside joke that has mistakenly become an outside joke?
Does Jeff even like this song?

Don't get me wrong, I love that this band can play any song from their catalog - but out of all the rarities to draw from Sweet Lew?
Always feels like a missed lay up

[liebzz]

It was fun at the Spectrum because it seemed like they were exhausting the tank at that show and fit with the atmosphere. It was okay though not really a highlight at MSG in 2010. I don’t know what it felt like the other night, but would imagine with sets that have been shorter due to them being festival appearances that people would prefer other songs, especially since there hasn’t been much variety in the shows (6 Gigaton + 12ish classics 91-98 + 1-2 covers). They did cover more ground post Yield at that show, but Sweet Lew probably works best as a sort of loose goof around in a 3 hour set than a cog in a 2 hour set…but I wasn’t there - perhaps everyone who was there was super enthusiastic and loved it.

[Leatherhead]

Pearl Jam don't give a fuck what you want.

[stip]

i like sweet lew

[dad]

how could you