Song of the Moment: Johnny Guitar

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

I love the lyrics of this one....Ed´s ability to sing from another perspective, the playfulness, the darkness about this deranged guy singing about a woman on the cover of an album...

Its awesome.

Not to mention the incredible music they captured. Jeff is at his absolute best and Ed's delivery is top notch.

The guitar parts reek of Matt Cameron and I love that shit.

[Gigalogy84]

This is a fun uptempo rocker. Not meant to be serious. You can tell the band had a lot of fun recording it. Definitely in my top 3 from Backspacer.

[Leatherhead]

Probably the best Backspacer song.

[stip]

ive got it around 4 or 5 but its really good and they have nothing like it

[Gigalogy84]

Probably the best Backspacer song.

I might agree with you here. The first 4 songs are bangers.

[RockPusher]

One of only a few PJ songs I actively dislike (along with Evacuation, another crowd favorite around here). Nothing about it feels genuine or natural to me the way I expect from Pearl Jam.

[Leatherhead]

One of only a few PJ songs I actively dislike (along with Evacuation, another crowd favorite around here). Nothing about it feels genuine or natural to me the way I expect from Pearl Jam.

Do away with your expectations.

[lvc]

I can't believe how many people like this. I just can't believe it. I'm trying to think what musical lineage a person could follow that would lead them to liking Pearl Jam in the first place and then further on to thinking this is a good Pearl Jam song. Probably an overdose of The Killers and/or The Darkness leading to the death of good taste.

[Monkey_Driven]

I can't believe how many people like this. I just can't believe it. I'm trying to think what musical lineage a person could follow that would lead them to liking Pearl Jam in the first place and then further on to thinking this is a good Pearl Jam song. Probably an overdose of The Killers and/or The Darkness leading to the death of good taste.

List your top 25 PJ songs

[KurtLeon]

This is def on my bottom list of PJ songs.

[McParadigm]

Wretched song. I refuse to believe that anybody who thinks this song is fun has ever experienced actual fun in their entire life.

[wease]

Wretched song. I refuse to believe that anybody who thinks this song is fun has ever experienced actual fun in their entire life.

Me and you. Outside. Right now

[stip]

I looked up fun in Webster's dictionary (2010 edition) and next to the definition was a picture of Johnny Guitar.

[McParadigm]

Wretched song. I refuse to believe that anybody who thinks this song is fun has ever experienced actual fun in their entire life.

Me and you. Outside. Right now

If this is about kissing, then you’re going to want this information eventually so I’ll just give it to you now: it’s just a blister. No, I don’t “have” something.

[guitar_davey]

I looked up fun in Webster's dictionary (2010 edition) and next to the definition was a picture of Johnny Guitar.

Staring at you, riding on three wheels, a woman on his knee.

[stip]

I looked up fun in Webster's dictionary (2010 edition) and next to the definition was a picture of Johnny Guitar.

Staring at you, riding on three wheels, a woman on his knee.

textbook fun!

[Ms Harmless]

the other day when I was listening to Backspacer I enjoyed this again

love / hate relationship with this one

[stip]

I am glad that exactly one version of this kind of song exists. Any new attempt at this kind of song would only raise the bar it needs to clear to justify itself

[mikejasond]

I dunno why it's even controversial, this is one of the better Backspacer songs! I like it a lot

[Kevin Davis]

I can't believe how many people like this. I just can't believe it. I'm trying to think what musical lineage a person could follow that would lead them to liking Pearl Jam in the first place and then further on to thinking this is a good Pearl Jam song. Probably an overdose of The Killers and/or The Darkness leading to the death of good taste.

This is an interesting comparison -- of all the Backspacer songs that you might compare to the Killers or the Darkness, I would think "JG" would be pretty low on the list.

I find the lyrics uncomfortable and weird but musically it's one of my favorite Backspacer songs. Like WCT says further upthread, it's got Matt Cameron marks all over it, and that's always a winning quality for me. I understand it's not for many others.