Song of the Moment: Lightning Bolt

[flannelking]

ok, so the lyrics to this are about inspiration (for song writing?) but has anyone interpreted this part? I'm not sure how it ties in with the theme.

And with no repair in sight there is
No God with such might
As to open her world wide with subterfuge
And your death will soon arrive
As she finally decides
That all her problems, they won’t die with you

[harmless]

Take "inspiration" beyond songwriting (because that's just an implication created by cutting two EPK scenes together) and think of "she" in terms of philosophy, faith, belief, religion. Basically, whatever your "lightning bolt" of inspiration. It strikes you, sustains you through life, until you realise that it can't be controlled, and the (world's) problems you hoped to address, armed with your inspiration, can't be solved by you. And then you die.

The subterfuge line? I think it's saying that there's no God powerful enough to trick you once that "lightning bolt" of realisation has hit, that you can't control the world.

[WaitingForBluey]

There are a lot of great moments in this song but right now my favorite part is the "Always something and never nothing...." bit.

[stip]

that's straight out of an REM song. That's not a complaint, mind you.

[flannelking]

Take "inspiration" beyond songwriting (because that's just an implication created by cutting two EPK scenes together) and think of "she" in terms of philosophy, faith, belief, religion. Basically, whatever your "lightning bolt" of inspiration. It strikes you, sustains you through life, until you realise that it can't be controlled, and the (world's) problems you hoped to address, armed with your inspiration, can't be solved by you. And then you die.

Perfect. I'll adopt this as my own

[harmless]

Take "inspiration" beyond songwriting (because that's just an implication created by cutting two EPK scenes together) and think of "she" in terms of philosophy, faith, belief, religion. Basically, whatever your "lightning bolt" of inspiration. It strikes you, sustains you through life, until you realise that it can't be controlled, and the (world's) problems you hoped to address, armed with your inspiration, can't be solved by you. And then you die.

Perfect. I'll adopt this as my own

It's a deceptively intelligent song! I don't mind silly catchy choruses if there's something to dig underneath

[Okonkwo]

After a handful of listens to the full record, I look forward to this song the most. The songwriting isn't as interesting as Pendulum, but it's the emotional peak. The change around the 2:30 mark totally makes it; even now I keep expecting an energy-dissipating guitar solo.

[Mine]

Pendulum doesn't have any interesting song writing. It barely has any to begin with.

[digster]

That's probably the best piece of music on here.

[harmless]

And yet, for all that, it's probably the best song on the album.

[Mine]

Well for me it loses it's charm with each listen. I'm not bashing it or calling it bad. It just doesn't live up to the reputation is getting here. I'm curious what i'll think of it after a while because it's the kind of song that can really suffer from being overplayed or better said it tends to loose it's appeal once you start being very familiar with it because it relays too much on effects and arrangement to make the song writing appear more interesting than it is. The more familiar you are with the "cool tricks" the less interested you are in the song if the song beneath them isn't strong enough to grab your attention. This one I'm not completely sure it is.

[harmless]

That's fair, but I think that's true of any song like this. I felt the same way about CC. It's not weak just because it doesn't stand up to a thousand plays in a row, know what I mean?

[digster]

I don't really hear much tricks in this besides a fair helping of reverb and the effects added to Ed's voice at points. It strikes a particular mood but it feels pretty live.

[stip]

After a handful of listens to the full record, I look forward to this song the most. The songwriting isn't as interesting as Pendulum, but it's the emotional peak. The change around the 2:30 mark totally makes it; even now I keep expecting an energy-dissipating guitar solo.

welcome to the board

[fishbob]

I'd love to get together with adamdude and re-write this song

[Juvenal]

I'd love to get together with adamdude and re-write this song

DO IT

[Mine]

That's fair, but I think that's true of any song like this. I felt the same way about CC. It's not weak just because it doesn't stand up to a thousand plays in a row, know what I mean?

I do.
My point originates from the way my perception of music changed with time and age - we're the same age btw. I don't get impressed by the things that are on a superficial level in the broadest sense. This could go from exaggerated vocals to an unexpected arrangement like in Pendulum's case. I actually hope either Jeff or Stone did at least part of the vocal melody of this because if they didn't i can't for the life of me understand what are they given credit for. One note each?
If there is a song in their catalogue that sounds as if it originated from a voice only demo is this one. I mean the arrangement mirrors the lyrics. Having said that I'm not saying the music behind the vocal is bad or anything is just that strong song writing isn't what I'd call it.

[Thejambi]

Pendulum works so well because of what isn't in the song. It doesn't try to unnecessarily rise or convolute itself. The space is filled by the little contributions of everyone and not dominated by any one. Being simple or understated doesn't make it any less of a strong songwriting effort.

LB on the other hand is the complete opposite. I like it less and less with each listen because so much was thrown into the stew its over







whelming. It's every little Pearl jam trick at once.

[digster]

Pendulum strikes me as great songwriting. The way the vocal melody and the guitar solo work with each other, the way the acoustic comes in near the end to introduce the next, more propulsive part of the song, and the way the transition between the two sections comes almost without warning. It's got some pretty neat stuff in it.

[stip]

Pendulum works so well because of what isn't in the song. It doesn't try to unnecessarily rise or convolute itself. The space is filled by the little contributions of everyone and not dominated by any one. Being simple or understated doesn't make it any less of a strong songwriting effort.

LB on the other hand is the complete opposite. I like it less and less with each listen because so much was thrown into the stew its over







whelming. It's every little Pearl jam trick at once.

lightning bolt has definitely peaked for me.