Dark Matter (song)

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Dark Matter Initial Reactions

5 Stars
33
17%
4 Stars
92
48%
3 Stars
56
29%
2 Stars
8
4%
1 Star
3
2%
 
Total votes: 192

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mikejasond
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by mikejasond »

For the record Ive also always interpreted the line as Stip did, I wish I was the verb 'to trust'

but maybe Eddie was just taking a language course at the time or something, and that's why he went with the infinitive lol
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Anders
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Anders »

Strat wrote:
McParadigm wrote:
Strat wrote:
Jaeti wrote:
stip wrote:Eddie is one of my favorite lyricists, in every era of his writing. A few global comments:

1. Eddie is a lyricist, not a poet. He writes for his voice and delivery, not the page. Lyrics that are constructed to be sung. So even though I've spent hundreds of thousands of words dissecting his lyrics over the years, they've never been independent of their delivery

2. Eddie's two primary strengths as a lyricist are a humanistic empathy that enables him to enfold broad swaths of people and experiences into his writing, and his ability to come up with aphoristic/punctuation statements that really effectively capture truths about human experience. Not necessarily in overly ornate language - often the phrasing is fairly straightforward, but in ways that emotionally resonate in hugely impactful ways.

3. Eddie's writing has always had some imperfect phrasings that could be tighter on the page but still work incredibly well because they are lyrics and he knows how to deliver them (or they happen quick enough you just move past them).

Two great examples (for me)

I'm a lucky man to count on both hands the ones I love
I wish I was the verb to trust and never let you down

These are both really powerful moments (one as a capstone, and one as a transition sentiment) that work because of the magic Eddie knows how to bring to the delivery of the writing. less effective as words on a page, but that's fine because they aren't written to be read.
Since I'm the local Brother the Cloud cheerleader, there's a lyric of this sort in the outro that I just fucking love even though it doesn't "read" well. But it's central to maybe my favorite sixty seconds of Ed in...decades.

"I would not wish upon you
But should you ever leave this earth
Before me, I doubt this highly"
Personally, i think you cut off the most important part of that lyric and what ed is referring to in "i doubt this highly"

"Do for me, what i'd do for you"

In a kind of Yoda Speak way.... "I doubt you'd do for me what i do for you, if i left this earth before you". i think its an angry and judgmental lyric towards his subject.
What?

No.

“Should you ever leave this earth before me (I doubt this highly), do for me what I’d do for you”
Disagree only because there are a lot of "fuck yous" at the end of the song
That’s because:
“If I could wish, wish it away/ I would bleed out my knees and pray/ If I could give all that I have/ to bring him back today“
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spike
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by spike »

how will stip recover from this
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Strat »

Anders wrote:
Strat wrote:
McParadigm wrote:
Strat wrote:
Jaeti wrote:
stip wrote:Eddie is one of my favorite lyricists, in every era of his writing. A few global comments:

1. Eddie is a lyricist, not a poet. He writes for his voice and delivery, not the page. Lyrics that are constructed to be sung. So even though I've spent hundreds of thousands of words dissecting his lyrics over the years, they've never been independent of their delivery

2. Eddie's two primary strengths as a lyricist are a humanistic empathy that enables him to enfold broad swaths of people and experiences into his writing, and his ability to come up with aphoristic/punctuation statements that really effectively capture truths about human experience. Not necessarily in overly ornate language - often the phrasing is fairly straightforward, but in ways that emotionally resonate in hugely impactful ways.

3. Eddie's writing has always had some imperfect phrasings that could be tighter on the page but still work incredibly well because they are lyrics and he knows how to deliver them (or they happen quick enough you just move past them).

Two great examples (for me)

I'm a lucky man to count on both hands the ones I love
I wish I was the verb to trust and never let you down

These are both really powerful moments (one as a capstone, and one as a transition sentiment) that work because of the magic Eddie knows how to bring to the delivery of the writing. less effective as words on a page, but that's fine because they aren't written to be read.
Since I'm the local Brother the Cloud cheerleader, there's a lyric of this sort in the outro that I just fucking love even though it doesn't "read" well. But it's central to maybe my favorite sixty seconds of Ed in...decades.

"I would not wish upon you
But should you ever leave this earth
Before me, I doubt this highly"
Personally, i think you cut off the most important part of that lyric and what ed is referring to in "i doubt this highly"

"Do for me, what i'd do for you"

In a kind of Yoda Speak way.... "I doubt you'd do for me what i do for you, if i left this earth before you". i think its an angry and judgmental lyric towards his subject.
What?

No.

“Should you ever leave this earth before me (I doubt this highly), do for me what I’d do for you”
Disagree only because there are a lot of "fuck yous" at the end of the song
That’s because:
“If I could wish, wish it away/ I would bleed out my knees and pray/ If I could give all that I have/ to bring him back today“
Both can be true. I think this song deals with his feeling betrayed by a friends death (Cornell to me) by not reaching out to him in need. His anger at suicide. His confusion in death and mostly him not having dealt with it yet ( per his interview with Zane )
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Coach
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Coach »

Words.
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Coach »

Production.
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Coach »

Drums.
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by guitar_davey »

Coach wrote:Words.
Poop
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Coach »

guitar_davey wrote:
Coach wrote:Words.
Poop
BMI
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tragabigzanda
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by tragabigzanda »

pearl jam sucks now
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Thu January 01, 2026 7:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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tree_
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by tree_ »

I just listened again and I got the sensation you get when your car windows are cracked open and you reach the speed where you get this fluttering air effect. Just looked it up and it's called the Helmholtz Resonance.
In a nutshell, when you open just one window in your vehicle ‒ or the sunroof or moonroof ‒ the air inside your car thumps up against the faster-moving air outside the window.
Trag, can you explain this?
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by scrub12 »

Has this board added a mute feature yet?
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by oneway23 »

tragabigzanda wrote:
Coach wrote:Production.
Where is the mid-range, while we're on the subject
Scooped
We still make records to be listened to — not that everyone will listen to a record track one to twelve in a row or side A or Side B — but we still make 'em in case somebody does want to listen to it like that, that's how we make em…
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tragabigzanda
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by tragabigzanda »

pearl jam sucks now
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Thu January 01, 2026 7:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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dimejinky99
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by dimejinky99 »

Wow

This thread is moving at a breakneck clip


Good too see you all back
Calibrate your enthusiasm
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Birds in Hell
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Birds in Hell »

mikejasond wrote:For the record Ive also always interpreted the line as Stip did, I wish I was the verb 'to trust'
Me too.
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by oneway23 »

mikejasond wrote:For the record Ive also always interpreted the line as Stip did, I wish I was the verb 'to trust'

but maybe Eddie was just taking a language course at the time or something, and that's why he went with the infinitive lol
I wish I was the verb, Hablar
We still make records to be listened to — not that everyone will listen to a record track one to twelve in a row or side A or Side B — but we still make 'em in case somebody does want to listen to it like that, that's how we make em…
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Coach »

dimejinky99 wrote:Wow

This thread is moving at a breakneck clip


Good too see you all back
When Episode 10 comes out I expect a similar pace. Start preparing now, Dime.
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dimejinky99
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by dimejinky99 »

Coach wrote:
dimejinky99 wrote:Wow

This thread is moving at a breakneck clip


Good too see you all back
When Episode 10 comes out I expect a similar pace. Start preparing now, Dime.

Babes.

You know how fast I can go on that particular topic.

Doesn’t even take me a second to enter the coordinates into the navicomputer
Calibrate your enthusiasm
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elliseamos
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by elliseamos »

Different topic, I know (I know), but would anyone else compare this song to original flavor Triscuits?
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