Let's Actually Listen to the Album: Pearl Jam

[Mine]

I wonder if the change from 4/4 in the verses to 6/8 in the choruses actually added to that feeling of the song "falling apart". This is the only song in the catalogue that has such an extreme time signature change in the chorus, and I'm not sure it works. I wonder whether, if they'd kept it simple and stuck to the verse timing, that chorus might've flew. Ed would've needed to reign back the vocal a bit but not much.

This is my main counterargument when people crave uncommon time signatures etc. The thing is this things don't make a song better by default an may not even made them more interesting. When Jeff says "but it has an odd time signature" about Yellow Moon it doesn't make me particularly exited about it because he makes it sound, at least i perceived it this way, as if there's this odd time signature just for the sake of it instead of saying anything else that in context may make it sound may i say appropriate.
It's not that I'm bothered with this it's just that I'm not sure how skilled are they with this stuff. This things are easier to come up with that pull off.

Most of the stuff PJ have done with odd time signatures I've loved to death. Just not this. That's because the move from 4/4 to 6/8 is a very extreme transition. They've transitioned between signatures before but they're usually all across 4-beats-in-a-bar timings. We're talking about going from "You Are" into "Lowlight" and I think here it doesn't work; but the vast majority of PJ songs in this vein I really enjoy. As long as the time signatures have a relationship that make sense together, it'll be fine. And he said that it had an odd time signature, not an abrupt change from one signature to another. If that time signature is consistent throughout the song, like something like "You Are", it's even more likely to work.

I agree. I wasn't so exited about that quote because essentially that's the only thing he had to say about YM. Well it's basically the only thing any of them said about any song.

[harmless]

I wonder if the change from 4/4 in the verses to 6/8 in the choruses actually added to that feeling of the song "falling apart". This is the only song in the catalogue that has such an extreme time signature change in the chorus, and I'm not sure it works. I wonder whether, if they'd kept it simple and stuck to the verse timing, that chorus might've flew. Ed would've needed to reign back the vocal a bit but not much.

This is my main counterargument when people crave uncommon time signatures etc. The thing is this things don't make a song better by default an may not even made them more interesting. When Jeff says "but it has an odd time signature" about Yellow Moon it doesn't make me particularly exited about it because he makes it sound, at least i perceived it this way, as if there's this odd time signature just for the sake of it instead of saying anything else that in context may make it sound may i say appropriate.
It's not that I'm bothered with this it's just that I'm not sure how skilled are they with this stuff. This things are easier to come up with that pull off.

Most of the stuff PJ have done with odd time signatures I've loved to death. Just not this. That's because the move from 4/4 to 6/8 is a very extreme transition. They've transitioned between signatures before but they're usually all across 4-beats-in-a-bar timings. We're talking about going from "You Are" into "Lowlight" and I think here it doesn't work; but the vast majority of PJ songs in this vein I really enjoy. As long as the time signatures have a relationship that make sense together, it'll be fine. And he said that it had an odd time signature, not an abrupt change from one signature to another. If that time signature is consistent throughout the song, like something like "You Are", it's even more likely to work.

I agree. I wasn't so exited about that quote because essentially that's the only thing he had to say about YM. Well it's basically the only thing any of them said about any song.

I just think Jeff is cool, self-deprecating and modest. If he wrote Yellow Moon (which he did, right?) he's not going to big it up. He was probably being the yin to Mike's "I'm so damn proud of Sirens!" yang.

[Lament]

I just think Jeff is cool, self-deprecating and modest. If he wrote Yellow Moon (which he did, right?) he's not going to big it up. He was probably being the yin to Mike's "I'm so damn proud of Sirens!" yang.

I like to picture Mike walking into places for the next few years going "DID SOMEBODY SAY SIRENS?" like Homer in the episode where he bowls a perfect game.

[stip]

[harmless]

"Haha! It's funny you said that, because it reminds me of the time I was writing this song "Sirens", right..."

[Lament]

I hope we are witnessing the birth of the next RM meme...

[Mine]

I feel I should like Comeback more than I do. It is a good song but I feel the intention (dramatic, haunting with a sweeping/soaring ending) is too big. The meat and potatoes of the song do not allow it to reach the heights the band (ed) wanted it to reach.

Could have been a really good song but good taste wasn't an influence on that arrangement.

My issue has always been that it had a totally bland and obvious chord structure, played throughout the song. It's monotonous. Ed's screaming doesn't help this song either; there's a good chance that if he'd crooned this song beautifully, as he does "Sirens", it would've been transformed. The Sirens music is arguably fairly bland, but the performance, as well as the texture created by the twelve-string and the reverby electric guitar, lifts it up a couple of notches.

I was just thinking that B'OB could probably do a better job with it than they did for those same reasons. I don't know if the chord structure is a big issue here. I mean this melody needs something simple behind it. This kind of songs usually work when a strong vocal performance drives them and the music sort of supports it rather than compete with it which a less obvious chord structure would suggest i guess. I mean give them a more interesting structure and they would overdo the arrangement even more then they did.

[Mine]

"Haha! It's funny you said that, because it reminds me of the time I was writing this song "Sirens", right..."

He's ordering a shitload of black t-shirts with "HEAR THE SIRENS?" written with bold white fonts as we speak

[Mine]

I wonder if the change from 4/4 in the verses to 6/8 in the choruses actually added to that feeling of the song "falling apart". This is the only song in the catalogue that has such an extreme time signature change in the chorus, and I'm not sure it works. I wonder whether, if they'd kept it simple and stuck to the verse timing, that chorus might've flew. Ed would've needed to reign back the vocal a bit but not much.

This is my main counterargument when people crave uncommon time signatures etc. The thing is this things don't make a song better by default an may not even made them more interesting. When Jeff says "but it has an odd time signature" about Yellow Moon it doesn't make me particularly exited about it because he makes it sound, at least i perceived it this way, as if there's this odd time signature just for the sake of it instead of saying anything else that in context may make it sound may i say appropriate.
It's not that I'm bothered with this it's just that I'm not sure how skilled are they with this stuff. This things are easier to come up with that pull off.

Most of the stuff PJ have done with odd time signatures I've loved to death. Just not this. That's because the move from 4/4 to 6/8 is a very extreme transition. They've transitioned between signatures before but they're usually all across 4-beats-in-a-bar timings. We're talking about going from "You Are" into "Lowlight" and I think here it doesn't work; but the vast majority of PJ songs in this vein I really enjoy. As long as the time signatures have a relationship that make sense together, it'll be fine. And he said that it had an odd time signature, not an abrupt change from one signature to another. If that time signature is consistent throughout the song, like something like "You Are", it's even more likely to work.

I agree. I wasn't so exited about that quote because essentially that's the only thing he had to say about YM. Well it's basically the only thing any of them said about any song.

I just think Jeff is cool, self-deprecating and modest. If he wrote Yellow Moon (which he did, right?) he's not going to big it up. He was probably being the yin to Mike's "I'm so damn proud of Sirens!" yang.

Jeff is the one that likes to have other guys work on his songs the most i think. He seems to be the one who likes collaborating the most and humility has a lot to do with it.

[harmless]

I feel I should like Comeback more than I do. It is a good song but I feel the intention (dramatic, haunting with a sweeping/soaring ending) is too big. The meat and potatoes of the song do not allow it to reach the heights the band (ed) wanted it to reach.

Could have been a really good song but good taste wasn't an influence on that arrangement.

My issue has always been that it had a totally bland and obvious chord structure, played throughout the song. It's monotonous. Ed's screaming doesn't help this song either; there's a good chance that if he'd crooned this song beautifully, as he does "Sirens", it would've been transformed. The Sirens music is arguably fairly bland, but the performance, as well as the texture created by the twelve-string and the reverby electric guitar, lifts it up a couple of notches.

I was just thinking that B'OB could probably do a better job with it than they did for those same reasons. I don't know if the chord structure is a big issue here. I mean this melody needs something simple behind it. This kind of songs usually work when a strong vocal performance drives them and the music sort of supports it rather than compete with it which a less obvious chord structure would suggest i guess. I mean give them a more interesting structure and they would overdo the arrangement even more then they did.

That's what I'm saying, I think they underdid this arrangement. It's just boring and has no movement. But "Sirens" is being accused of the same thing so what do I know?

[harmless]

I hope we are witnessing the birth of the next RM meme...

[Lament]

I hope we are witnessing the birth of the next RM meme...

"Some memes take off faster than others. It's like this song I wrote, called Sirens. Have you heard it?"

[harmless]

I hope we are witnessing the birth of the next RM meme...

"Some memes take off faster than others. It's like this song I wrote, called Sirens. Have you heard it?"

"Yeah, I have."

"Oh, really? What did you think of it?"

"Was this going to be an analogy or..."

[Lament]

I hope we are witnessing the birth of the next RM meme...

"Some memes take off faster than others. It's like this song I wrote, called Sirens. Have you heard it?"

"Yeah, I have."

"Oh, really? What did you think of it?"

"Was this going to be an analogy or..."

"The funny thing about analogies is, take this hit song I wrote called Sirens for instance, should we listen to it before I continue?"

[harmless]

I hope we are witnessing the birth of the next RM meme...

"Some memes take off faster than others. It's like this song I wrote, called Sirens. Have you heard it?"

"Yeah, I have."

"Oh, really? What did you think of it?"

"Was this going to be an analogy or..."

"The funny thing about analogies is, take this hit song I wrote called Sirens for instance, should we listen to it before I continue?"

[Lament]

I hope we are witnessing the birth of the next RM meme...

"Some memes take off faster than others. It's like this song I wrote, called Sirens. Have you heard it?"

"Yeah, I have."

"Oh, really? What did you think of it?"

"Was this going to be an analogy or..."

"The funny thing about analogies is, take this hit song I wrote called Sirens for instance, should we listen to it before I continue?"

Mike is gonna try the "Johnny Appleseed" approach to spreading awareness of his smash hit Sirens this fall...

[harmless]

I hope we are witnessing the birth of the next RM meme...

"Some memes take off faster than others. It's like this song I wrote, called Sirens. Have you heard it?"

"Yeah, I have."

"Oh, really? What did you think of it?"

"Was this going to be an analogy or..."

"The funny thing about analogies is, take this hit song I wrote called Sirens for instance, should we listen to it before I continue?"

Mike is gonna try the "Johnny Appleseed" approach to spreading awareness of his smash hit Sirens this fall...

Just to the right of Mike's head, in the train window... is that a ghost dog?

[Thejambi]

I hope we are witnessing the birth of the next RM meme...

"Some memes take off faster than others. It's like this song I wrote, called Sirens. Have you heard it?"

"Yeah, I have."

"Oh, really? What did you think of it?"

"Was this going to be an analogy or..."

"The funny thing about analogies is, take this hit song I wrote called Sirens for instance, should we listen to it before I continue?"

Mike is gonna try the "Johnny Appleseed" approach to spreading awareness of his smash hit Sirens this fall...

Just to the right of Mike's head, in the train window... is that a ghost dog?

Panda.

[harmless]

I hope we are witnessing the birth of the next RM meme...

"Some memes take off faster than others. It's like this song I wrote, called Sirens. Have you heard it?"

"Yeah, I have."

"Oh, really? What did you think of it?"

"Was this going to be an analogy or..."

"The funny thing about analogies is, take this hit song I wrote called Sirens for instance, should we listen to it before I continue?"

Mike is gonna try the "Johnny Appleseed" approach to spreading awareness of his smash hit Sirens this fall...

Just to the right of Mike's head, in the train window... is that a ghost dog?

Panda.

You saw it too? It's definitely a bulky cartoon mammal of some kind.

[Thejambi]

I hope we are witnessing the birth of the next RM meme...

"Some memes take off faster than others. It's like this song I wrote, called Sirens. Have you heard it?"

"Yeah, I have."

"Oh, really? What did you think of it?"

"Was this going to be an analogy or..."

"The funny thing about analogies is, take this hit song I wrote called Sirens for instance, should we listen to it before I continue?"

Mike is gonna try the "Johnny Appleseed" approach to spreading awareness of his smash hit Sirens this fall...

Just to the right of Mike's head, in the train window... is that a ghost dog?

Panda.

You saw it too? It's definitely a bulky cartoon mammal of some kind.

I may need to be held tonight.