Song of the Moment: Future Days

[stip]

the longing for an afterlife is there, and without it the need to double down on making this life one worth living, cuz it's all we have. Think of it like the ballad version of the bridge in MYM.

[harmless]

So, we go from Getaway and Mind Your Manners and freedom from religion and wanting to be able to choose what to believe, to Future Days, with being "focused on a prayer" and:
"I believe....
"And I believe cause I can see our future days."

Is that a belief in the afterlife, a future of better times, a belief in God or, at least the possibility of belief in a something higher?

It makes sense that FD ends the record, especially after Yellow Moon's death imagery leading to sort of a refresh or rebirth in Future Days.

Others will disagree, but I don't think it's a literal afterlife. A rebirth through love, the things you care about, the things you leave behind, and the fact that they give you the inspiration, here and now, to fight for a world for them.

I don't think it's a literal afterlife, but after the "death" of Yellow Moon, and considering the biblical phrases in FD, I think it's meant to stand in place of one. I feel as if this song and Getaway both "bookend" the album in terms of replacing religious faith with faith in yourself and others. And as much as I wish it wasn't there, the keyboard bookending the last song makes conceptual sense in that way. It becomes this big cheesy, heavenly-paradise kind of song. And the artwork features two Adam and Eve-like figures, which would support that.

[Strat]

Is this song still on the album?

[chinofstone]

Harmless, Stip, do you think the "flaws on her face" in Let The Records Play could represent the flaws of humanity?
And Sleeping By Myself's upbeat music is because the narrator is happy to soon be by himself, free of all those flaws, which happens in Yellow Moon.
A "figurative" refreshing of life.

[harmless]

Well, I slept on it, and... yes.

[stip]

it does get better strat. I don't think I'll ever love it, but there are some nice moments in there that can be hard to spot until you have armored yourself against its excess.

[Strat]

it does get better strat. I don't think I'll ever love it, but there are some nice moments in there that can be hard to spot until you have armored yourself against its excess.

I find it so very dull. it is pretty and I will never not enjoy hearing Eddie sing but this is still very bland.

[stip]

Harmless, Stip, do you think the "flaws on her face" in Let The Records Play could represent the flaws of humanity?
And Sleeping By Myself's upbeat music is because the narrator is happy to soon be by himself, free of all those flaws, which happens in Yellow Moon.
A "figurative" refreshing of life.

I hadn't had that thought in LTRP, but it certainly works in the album. Interesting theory that goes well with the 'is the subject god' idea that a few people have tossed around.

SBM I'd say no, in part because yellow moon is a pretty dark song, and largely because, like betterman, it was a song written as part of a different project. I think SBM is upbeat because it's a nice, fun contrast to the lyrics and because the singer is either willing himself to be happy or is willing to embrace his pain because he knows he'll grow from it.

If SBM was written for the album I'd be more likely to credit it that way.

[stip]

it does get better strat. I don't think I'll ever love it, but there are some nice moments in there that can be hard to spot until you have armored yourself against its excess.

I find it so very dull. it is pretty and I will never not enjoy hearing Eddie sing but this is still very bland.

Listen for these 3 moments

1. october harvest sounding violin
2. The bridge
3. the lyric 'did something out there hear', which is a lovely line.

[harmless]

Harmless, Stip, do you think the "flaws on her face" in Let The Records Play could represent the flaws of humanity?
And Sleeping By Myself's upbeat music is because the narrator is happy to soon be by himself, free of all those flaws, which happens in Yellow Moon.
A "figurative" refreshing of life.

Well, yes and no, because I think Yellow Moon is about a death.

But the other cool thing about LTRP is that it's the second (and only other) song in third-person, featuring a "he" character. The song Lightning Bolt was about a "she", and "she" is a song, or the inspiration for a song. "He" isn't the song but the player of said song, the DJ. So maybe the character "letting the records play" "when the kingdom comes" (with all the judgement / judiciary implications), and drinking himself to death, is God himself? This speculation doesn't make the song better but it's still pretty cool. I just wish the song was as cool as this stuff.

[chinofstone]

Harmless, Stip, do you think the "flaws on her face" in Let The Records Play could represent the flaws of humanity?
And Sleeping By Myself's upbeat music is because the narrator is happy to soon be by himself, free of all those flaws, which happens in Yellow Moon.
A "figurative" refreshing of life.

Well, yes and no, because I think Yellow Moon is about a death.

But the other cool thing about LTRP is that it's the second (and only other) song in third-person, featuring a "he" character. The song Lightning Bolt was about a "she", and "she" is a song, or the inspiration for a song. "He" isn't the song but the player of said song, the DJ. So maybe the character "letting the records play" "when the kingdom comes" (with all the judgement / judiciary implications), and drinking himself to death, is God himself? This speculation doesn't make the song better but it's still pretty cool. I just wish the song was as cool as this stuff.

Indeed.

I like the speculation about God drinking himself to death or drinking away humanity's sorrows.
Can't recall a PJ record that I scrutinized this much, but I'm enjoying it.

[stip]

Harmless, Stip, do you think the "flaws on her face" in Let The Records Play could represent the flaws of humanity?
And Sleeping By Myself's upbeat music is because the narrator is happy to soon be by himself, free of all those flaws, which happens in Yellow Moon.
A "figurative" refreshing of life.

Well, yes and no, because I think Yellow Moon is about a death.

But the other cool thing about LTRP is that it's the second (and only other) song in third-person, featuring a "he" character. The song Lightning Bolt was about a "she", and "she" is a song, or the inspiration for a song. "He" isn't the song but the player of said song, the DJ. So maybe the character "letting the records play" "when the kingdom comes" (with all the judgement / judiciary implications), and drinking himself to death, is God himself? This speculation doesn't make the song better but it's still pretty cool. I just wish the song was as cool as this stuff.

Interesting observation


Are all the muses female?

[harmless]

it does get better strat. I don't think I'll ever love it, but there are some nice moments in there that can be hard to spot until you have armored yourself against its excess.

I find it so very dull. it is pretty and I will never not enjoy hearing Eddie sing but this is still very bland.

Listen for these 3 moments

1. october harvest sounding violin
2. The bridge
3. the lyric 'did something out there hear', which is a lovely line.

But the keyboard bookends are still there They kind of take a big dollop on everything else. This song should've been nothing but Ed, a violin and a slide guitar.

[harmless]

Harmless, Stip, do you think the "flaws on her face" in Let The Records Play could represent the flaws of humanity?
And Sleeping By Myself's upbeat music is because the narrator is happy to soon be by himself, free of all those flaws, which happens in Yellow Moon.
A "figurative" refreshing of life.

Well, yes and no, because I think Yellow Moon is about a death.

But the other cool thing about LTRP is that it's the second (and only other) song in third-person, featuring a "he" character. The song Lightning Bolt was about a "she", and "she" is a song, or the inspiration for a song. "He" isn't the song but the player of said song, the DJ. So maybe the character "letting the records play" "when the kingdom comes" (with all the judgement / judiciary implications), and drinking himself to death, is God himself? This speculation doesn't make the song better but it's still pretty cool. I just wish the song was as cool as this stuff.

Interesting observation


Are all the muses female?

I'm not sure, to be honest.

[chinofstone]

Is there an organ right at the end of the first: "I believe...."?

[Strat]

Nice fucking piano. Where do you put the batteries?

Get this shit off my porch.

[harmless]

Nice fucking piano. Where do you put the batteries?

Get this shit off my porch.

[hlniv]

This song is easy to evaluate, in my opinion.

Song with shitty piano intro/outro = like eating chocolate covered in poop. Ultimately you still are eating poop.

Song without shitty piano/outro = average ballad, but listenable and potentially enjoyable. Has moments lyrically, and is quite a pretty tune. Can speak to me when i am thinking about my family, my son and the other kid on the way.
Proof:


However, it really does have the casio bookends, so, it's pretty much just poop.

[stip]

I'm putting that in the main post.

Harmless, I was going to post the lyric pics but they weren't very good quality.

[Sarah.]

I could love this song, because I'm a sucker for a violin. But that piano sounds like a soap opera theme tune and drags it down so much.