Song of the Moment: Grievance

[dad]

It was awesome on Letterman.

it was a nice surprise when they played it instead of NAIS.

[KurtLeon]

How come this gem isn't played since 2015??
I f*cking love this piece

[stip]

wow - that long?

[dad]

at least since 2016 because they played Binaural in full that year.

[Leatherhead]

Top 10 Pearl Jam song.

[mikejasond]

It's almost comical how much better this song is live than on the album



Heard this one on the radio this weekend.

how can anybody listen to the studio version after hearing these live versions?

It's blistering live....the album version is....ok.

They actually did Evacuation at the same show and it was actually pretty cool? That song I hate on the album but the live version had a nice intensity.

Binaural honestly might have been a better album if they made a gimmick album where all the songs were recorded live

[Matters]

I never realized the uniqueness of the song structure (assuming this is accurate, I just copy pasted)

[Verse 1]
Have a drink, they're buyin'
Bottom of, bottle of denial

[Pre-Chorus 1]
Big guy, big eye, watchin' me
Have to wonder what it sees (sin)
Progress laced with ramifications, freedom's big plunge
Uh

[Refrain 1]
Pull the innocent from a crowd
Raise the sticks, then bring 'em down
If they fail to obey, oh, if they fail to obey, yeah, yeah

[Verse 2]
For every tool they lend us
A loss of independence

[Chorus]
I pledge my grievance to the flag
'Cause you don't give blood then take it back again
Oh, we're all deservin' something more

[Pre-Chorus 2]
Progress, taste it, invest it all
Champagne breakfast for everyone
Uh

[Refrain 2]
Break the innocent when they're proud
Raise the stakes, then bring 'em down
If they fail to obey, hey, oh, if they fail to obey

[Chorus]
Pledge your grievance to the flag
'Cause you don't give blood and take it back again
Oh, we're all deservin' something more

[Outro]
(Habba habba do-do, habba habba)
I wanna breathe, follow the scene
I wanna taste everyone I see
I wanna run when I'm up high, I wanna run into the sea
I only want life to be
I just wanna be
I will feel alive as long as I am free

[Sloppy Dupree]

Didn’t realized that haven’t been playing this one. Shame, because it’s great.

[DDWJMUVW]

Didn’t realized that haven’t been playing this one. Shame, because it’s great.

I love the song. That said, the live performance of this track went downhill as time elapsed. The perfection of this tune is the letterman debut.

By 2010 it had gotten so sped up live, like they were just trying to get it over with. Seems like Ed would really struggle with the prechorus these days. Maybe it could be reminagined like IMT was for some time?