Song of the Moment: Let the Records Play

[harmless]

"Oh yay, glam rock"

Also like Shania Twain? Wow, that's pretty insightful and something I'd honestly never noticed before.

Just keeping you honest.

I should probably remind you (honestly) that I don't care what does or doesn't remind me of Shania Twain, because Shania Twain sometimes scrapes the same barrel as PJ for her ideas. I should also say (honestly) that I never cared much for blues songs because to me they mostly sound uninspired and exactly the same as one another.

[stupidmop]

The chorus doesn't sound drunken at all to me, i wish it did. Don't people say unemployable sounds like shania twain too? I like unemployable.

Do you think we'll get some of this when they play it live? I hope so. Is that stone or jeff in the back?

[harmless]

The chorus doesn't sound drunken at all to me, i wish it did. Don't people say unemployable sounds like shania twain too? I like unemployable.

Do you think we'll get some of this when they play it live? I hope so. Is that stone or jeff in the back?

I agree, it doesn't sound drunken enough. At all. But because I don't think it's meant to have a huge amount of energy either, it's supposed to lag, I'm OK with it. And I also agree with you that PJ should do some moves to this, perhaps while downing a bottle of red.

[warehouse]

strat seems like he's trying to not like this song. the chorus isnt as good as the verses, but its pretty cool. i love this song.

I love the verses and the bands playing on this track. The chorus is good but its fucking cheesy. Doesnt fit the song. I dont like it. They should have zigged when they zagged on this part....

I think its too fucking cheesy and the easy-standard chorus. It is too jarring and totally takes away from the song for me.

please, stop being a fucking nerd.

i feel like the chorus swings a little bit following the dirty blues feel of the verses, but i dont think its bad. its just different. and really, i dont think it was the "easy choice". its almost like 'marker', just maybe not as good.

side note: the 17 year old in me wants the chorus to be "wakin' and bakin'"

Its totally the easy choice. Its stone picking up the guitar, doing that dirty verse riff and naturally oing where it feels it should go. Thats all fine, i just dont like it. I think a little time spent would have yielded a much more interesting and more effective chorus.

its like ur trying to be a nerdy hipster

[Strat]

Well now you are just pimping me.

[harmless]

The song "We Love to Boogie" is chock-full of "easy choices". I'm not sure if easy choices take away from a song doing what it's doing.

[McParadigm]

I should also say (honestly) that I never cared much for blues songs because to me they mostly sound uninspired and exactly the same as one another.

WHAT A HIPSTER

[warehouse]

I should also say (honestly) that I never cared much for blues songs because to me they mostly sound uninspired and exactly the same as one another.

WHAT A HIPSTER

ur off ur game, u must not have had a drink yet today

[McParadigm]

I should also say (honestly) that I never cared much for blues songs because to me they mostly sound uninspired and exactly the same as one another.

WHAT A HIPSTER

ur off ur game, u must not have had a drink yet today

Stop it, mom. You're a bad influence.

[dprival78]

The chorus doesn't sound drunken at all to me, i wish it did. Don't people say unemployable sounds like shania twain too? I like unemployable.

Do you think we'll get some of this when they play it live? I hope so. Is that stone or jeff in the back?

I agree, it doesn't sound drunken enough. At all. But because I don't think it's meant to have a huge amount of energy either, it's supposed to lag, I'm OK with it. And I also agree with you that PJ should do some moves to this, perhaps while downing a bottle of red.

you mean a bottle of red gatorade?

[harmless]

The chorus doesn't sound drunken at all to me, i wish it did. Don't people say unemployable sounds like shania twain too? I like unemployable.

Do you think we'll get some of this when they play it live? I hope so. Is that stone or jeff in the back?

I agree, it doesn't sound drunken enough. At all. But because I don't think it's meant to have a huge amount of energy either, it's supposed to lag, I'm OK with it. And I also agree with you that PJ should do some moves to this, perhaps while downing a bottle of red.

you mean a bottle of red gatorade?

I don't get it.

[stupidmop]

All that sugar and e-numbers get ed pretty goofy.

[harmless]

Oh, yeah, that'd be good.

[philpritchard]

Can the chorus really be that bad?

It's pretty bad. "Easy-standard" is right. There's no tension to it, no pull, nothing to indicate that this supposedly "fun" little number is even fun to play; "Big Wave" is another chorus I dislike, but the way it's arranged, the way it's performed, makes it sound like the band is having a blast. The energy is infectious. There's none of that in the chorus to "Let the Records Play". It just sits there, languid. Halfheartedly serving its purpose as the supposed centerpiece to the song before the band gets to kick back into the more interesting part. It's the same problem I have with "Getaway": decent verses, anemic chorus. I've heard several folks describe some of these leaked songs as "sitcom theme songs", and I think there's something to that. I feel like they veer towards the facile and familiar, without much in the way of zest or feeling.

To be fair, this could be said for some many PJ songs since S/T. I wonder why the hell they think this non-event chorus idea is a good one. Are they pitching to have a song used in a TV show?

These guys have a weird idea of 'fun'.

I blame eds vocal melodies mostly. It's not the only problem, but it doesn't help. Swallowed whole also sounds like a kids tv show. That's the verses though.

I think it sounds like a song out of a kids' movie, like "Accidentally In Love" by Counting Crows, used for Shrek. But I'm perfectly fine with that, because the song really works in those (and other) terms. It's not trying to be anything else. In comparison, LTRP might be trying to be something else but not quite reaching that.

Lyrically it seems like the chorus is about self-destruction and deciding whether or not you should care. What sitcoms and kids movies are you watching?

That's one of the things I really like about the song. It has serious, dark lyrics that are really at odds with the upbeat, "sitcom-y" music. It really reflects the lyrical content, too, where the narrator is listening to music as an escape from life.

So meta.

[harmless]

Can the chorus really be that bad?

It's pretty bad. "Easy-standard" is right. There's no tension to it, no pull, nothing to indicate that this supposedly "fun" little number is even fun to play; "Big Wave" is another chorus I dislike, but the way it's arranged, the way it's performed, makes it sound like the band is having a blast. The energy is infectious. There's none of that in the chorus to "Let the Records Play". It just sits there, languid. Halfheartedly serving its purpose as the supposed centerpiece to the song before the band gets to kick back into the more interesting part. It's the same problem I have with "Getaway": decent verses, anemic chorus. I've heard several folks describe some of these leaked songs as "sitcom theme songs", and I think there's something to that. I feel like they veer towards the facile and familiar, without much in the way of zest or feeling.

To be fair, this could be said for some many PJ songs since S/T. I wonder why the hell they think this non-event chorus idea is a good one. Are they pitching to have a song used in a TV show?

These guys have a weird idea of 'fun'.

I blame eds vocal melodies mostly. It's not the only problem, but it doesn't help. Swallowed whole also sounds like a kids tv show. That's the verses though.

I think it sounds like a song out of a kids' movie, like "Accidentally In Love" by Counting Crows, used for Shrek. But I'm perfectly fine with that, because the song really works in those (and other) terms. It's not trying to be anything else. In comparison, LTRP might be trying to be something else but not quite reaching that.

Lyrically it seems like the chorus is about self-destruction and deciding whether or not you should care. What sitcoms and kids movies are you watching?

That's one of the things I really like about the song. It has serious, dark lyrics that are really at odds with the upbeat, "sitcom-y" music. It really reflects the lyrical content, too, where the narrator is listening to music as an escape from life.

So meta.

If only that sitcom feel didn't put people off before they saw that, because I think most (if not all) of these songs are doing it.

[philpritchard]

That's one of the things I really like about the song. It has serious, dark lyrics that are really at odds with the upbeat, "sitcom-y" music. It really reflects the lyrical content, too, where the narrator is listening to music as an escape from life.

So meta.

If only that sitcom feel didn't put people off before they saw that, because I think most (if not all) of these songs are doing it.

Yep. I think there's a lot more going on in all of these songs than a lot of people are giving them credit for. I really don't get the claims that LTRP is lazily written or that they took the easy road. I actually think it's the opposite; it's a clever bit of songwriting where the interplay between the lyrics and music provide added depth to the song. The musical/lyrical interplay is one of the things I think Pearl Jam does really well (the crashing-waves sound on Given To Fly, the marching drums on WMA, the urgency in RVM) and this one seems particularly well executed.

[Mine]

Lazy would be sticking to that riff with only minor changes as opposite to doing that chorus.

[harmless]

Lazy would be sticking to that riff with only minor changes as opposite to doing that chorus.

Agreed. And that's what most of these blues songs do, doo-be-doo, all the way through, doo-be-doo.

[harmless]

Working lyrics


when the kingdom comes he puts the records on and with his blistered thumb hits play
and with the volume up he goes and fills his cup and lets the drummer drum take away
the pain
the pain

breaking
foresaking
what’s that you’re taking?
Needing the feeling
he lets the records play

Should the future dim
The cigarette light’s in
the vaporizer green light grim
and when the shot glass talks he goes to listen up
until he’s nice and numb again
again

shaking
but waking
not one for faking
the reeling is healing
he lets the records play
there’s wisdom in his ways

I’ve been down and I fell so hard and far from grace
I’ve been hurt and I still recall the flaws on her face
I’ve been off but I'm on, I'm upon my feet
my feet again

shaken
foresaken
what’s that you’re taking
the weeding
the feeling
he lets the records play

shaken
but breaking
not one for faking
the reeling is healing
he lets the records play
there’s wisdom in his ways

By the way, I think I've filled in the only missing lyrics. I can't remember if we'd done that before.

[worldwithyourheart]

even flowish lyrics......