12th album rumors and speculation

[stip]

I think Eddie’s best overall lyrics are on Vitalogy or Binaural. Gigaton is consistently great as well

[VinylGuy]

Yeah Binaural has some very good work. But Ed is someone who always gives me lines, moments of full lyrics I love

[Anders]

Solme great lyrics on No Code and Yield.

[stip]

Yeah Binaural has some very good work. But Ed is someone who always gives me lines, moments of full lyrics I love

yeah - every album has moments that I love. St and backspacer are probably his weakest outings for me and still lots of great moments

[Farmer John]

Do you ever go out walking and think "Oh wow, I DO see the way that tree bends". It's very inspiring. Sometimes I'll stand there for literally hours, reaching out to catch the sun's rays. The neighbours call me the "human sundial".

[Fattie_Vedder]

Do you ever go out walking and think "Oh wow, I DO see the way that tree bends". It's very inspiring. Sometimes I'll stand there for literally hours, reaching out to catch the sun's rays. The neighbours call me the "human sundial".

That was me last weekend. In fairness, I was tripping on shrooms

[VinylGuy]

Yeah Binaural has some very good work. But Ed is someone who always gives me lines, moments of full lyrics I love

yeah - every album has moments that I love. St and backspacer are probably his weakest outings for me and still lots of great moments

for me its LB, no doubt about it. Besides Sirens, there is not a single lyrics that really moves me.

ST has a lot of songs that get me, but specially Life Wasted. Thats a special one to me.

[stip]

i generally go in for water metaphors more than trees.

[stip]

Yeah Binaural has some very good work. But Ed is someone who always gives me lines, moments of full lyrics I love

yeah - every album has moments that I love. St and backspacer are probably his weakest outings for me and still lots of great moments

for me its LB, no doubt about it. Besides Sirens, there is not a single lyrics that really moves me.

ST has a lot of songs that get me, but specially Life Wasted. Thats a special one to me.

My current working theory is that everyone on this board got shipped the wrong copy of Lightning Bolt. Eddie's writing on that record is solid from start to finish, and each song has some great lyrical moments and striking images - and there is a compelling throughline that carries across the album. A few dud lines here or there but that's every record. And a few songs (Infallible and MYM in particular, maybe Swallowed Whole as well)

Really one of the notable things about Eddie's writing (imo) is its consistency, which isn't necessarily surprising. He writes about the same core topics on every record, filtered through where he is in his life and what is going on in the world

[VinylGuy]

i think only Sirens and maybe Yellow Moon stand out, and if i compare the rest with Ed´s career....well, jesus its a very noticeable drop. Not even talking about the music, which is a very noticeable drop.

But stuff like Getaway, LTRP, Future Days or SW are not even close to his best work

[stip]

interestingly with the exception of Swallowed Whole you identified what i think are some of the weaker lyrical compositions on the record. though each of these still have nice moments

[stip]

Some of my favorite Lightning Bolt lyrical moments

Getaway: - Everyone's a critic looking back up the river/Every boat is leaking in this town - I like the sense of a slow moving disaster that we can completely prevent if we just pay attention

Mind Your Matters - This world's a long love letter that makes me want to cry - practically the thesis statement of the album. I also love the full chorus ('self-realized...' though that's a case of how all the parts come together - the message, the music, the delivery - to elevate the words on paper

My Father's Son - good sentiment, but probably the clumsiest lyrics on the record. Really like the bridge though - All the bright lights shining as you're trying to breathe in thin air/ Cannot forget your hiding collected wounds left unhealed /When every thought you're thinking sinks you darker than a new moon sky / Far away lights rising in the whites of your eyes - feels like vintage pearl jam lyrics with just a tinge of been there and made it through perspective

Sirens - I like the melody and the slightly awkward way some of the lines tumble over each other. The 'It's a fragile thing.... section' works really well as a lyric even if, as stand alone poetry, it's a little chunky and direct.

Lightning Bolt - I love a lot of these lines, and the sense of wild and untrammeled freedom within them - some of his better nature imagery.

And then before you know the weeds are obesely overgrown with all the wild seed she sows in your sleep
and
The crashing stormy waves erode her shoreline everyday until the castle of her ways turn to sand

And your death will soon arrive as she finally decides that all her problems, they won't die with you - I'm not even entirely sure what this lyric means, but I love the sound and feel of it, and the way the line is delivered almost as a privelage

And 'Flipping through the worn out pages and stages when you knew not who to be' reads exactly like a late period Michael Stipe hug

Infallible - the lyrics are good throughout - deals with a pretty complex idea in a compelling way. But I think my favorite actual line (with a callback to getaway) is 'our ship's come in and it's sinking', with 'time we best begin here at the ending' - which sums up all of Gigaton in one brief couplet

Pendulum - the lyrics work well for the song but like Sirens they are elevated by the whole composition. I do like 'this might pass, this might last, this may grow' and the circular uncertainty behind it. Nine words that encompass the entire song.

Swallowed Whole Maybe my second favorite lyric on the record. The chorus is great with its hushed reverence 'Whispered songs inside the wind breathing in forgiveness. Like vibrations with no end, hear the planet humming . What is clear far from the noise gets swallowed whole' and that last couplet in particular is great. and a great final lyric 'and the chapter I've not read, turn the page.'


Let the Records Play - no particular lyric stands out but the whole composition fits well with the swampy bar room glamour of the song - its feels like the right character for the song, even if there isn't anything particularly magical about the sentiment

Sleeping By Myself: I love every lyric as a part of the whole (this was my favorite uke song and one of my favorite L-bolt songs). I'm beginning to see whats left of me is going to have to be free to survive' is a favorite, but the whole summation 'I'll be sleeping by myself tonight' hits hard due to the surrounding song (in the same way that Jeremy spoke in class today is a nothing lyric on its own but super powerful in the context of the song). I also do dig the I believe in love and disaster, sometimes the two are just the same - precisely because of the understated way it's introduced - an aside rather than a statement.


Yellow Moon - Great bridge top to bottom

An echo that rings
A bullet unchained
One life, one grave
Joins the parade

The sky grows dark
With fallen stars
Who'd come so far
A headstone engraved
The colors turn gray
The black and white fades


Future Days: See Sirens comments, though i think there are few more understated stand out lines here. 'all my stolen missing parts I've no need for anymore' and 'all the missing crooked hearts, they may die but in us they live on' especially knowing who its for. Plus another nice semi apocalyptic bridge - there is lots of good understated recurring theme work throughout the album


Is this a high water mark for Eddie - no. But it's still a strong and compelling set of lyrics that does a great job of what it means to be aging in a world that is falling apart where you care about what you have to lose.

[Chris_H_2]

i will never understand the love (or even like for that matter) for sirens. the vocal melody and lyrics are just abysmal.

[Buby]

My current working theory is that everyone on this board got shipped the wrong copy of Lightning Bolt. Eddie's writing on that record is solid from start to finish, and each song has some great lyrical moments and striking images - and there is a compelling throughline that carries across the album. A few dud lines here or there but that's every record. And a few songs (Infallible and MYM in particular, maybe Swallowed Whole as well)
Really one of the notable things about Eddie's writing (imo) is its consistency, which isn't necessarily surprising. He writes about the same core topics on every record, filtered through where he is in his life and what is going on in the world

Very nice way to put it.
LB is bottom tier to my ears, but not because of meh lyrics, it sounded great when it came out (new PJ always sounds great fresh out of the box to me), but then quickly deflated when comparing the overall sound of the album to the rest of their catalogue.
Even after having said that, I love (not like) Getaway and Sleeping by Myself... Also a soft spot for Pendulum.

[Vitalogist]

Solme great lyrics on No Code and Yield.

I agree, that’s probably the peak lyrical era. But I’d include Vitalogy too

[Ms Harmless]

"I study your face, and the fear goes away"

that's a subtle standout piece of sentimentality to me

[stip]

yea that is a good one -

[Ms Harmless]

I'm listening to LB now and having a good time with it

the "Infallible" chorus didn't destroy the song for me and it used to

I really still like Swallowed Whole

the LTRP chorus is the hardest thing to deal with so far, which is a shame because I like the verses and the bridge with the handclaps, also the solo

[Ms Harmless]

the LTRP pause / segue into the outro is cool, but should be longer

[hlniv]

good job guys- i checked the thread for some 12th album rumors and speculation, and i see 7 pages in a row without any rumors or any speculation - tons of rank the past album lyrics though.