Can't Deny Me

[Jaeti]

"Living life on the back porch, lifting rocks to make a wage" is a great lyric.

[Kevin Davis]

The “Queen cranking on the blaster” line takes me out of “QE” pretty quickly — nothing undercuts an attempt at social commentary like a mental image of the members of Pearl Jam singing along to “Another One Bites The Dust” in unison while fleeing Earth in a spaceship. The “mercury did rise” pun just adds insult to injury.

On the other hand, the backing vocals in the chorus remind me of Adrenalize-era Def Leppard, which is sentimental comfort food from my childhood. Plus one of the most metal riffs in the catalog.

It’s a really weird, garish song, but I like it. Upper-lower tier Gigaton.

[stip]

perhaps. like I said this is not the most complex thing Eddie has ever written, and I am not claiming any unique insight. But you wrote:

Quick Escape is about escaping a place that has fallen into systemic disrepair, with the subjects going so far as Mars to find respite, because everywhere else they tried had been ruined by Donald Trump. But once there, the escapers realize they've neglected their responsibilities back home.

and i think there is just more going on underneath that encapsulation. Plus I am right about trump

We're saying the same thing, you're just parsing out the subtext.

And you're wrong about Trump, because it's such a loaded term due to his being an omnipresent part of our divided culture. Had he referenced someone historical, Augustus or Marcus Aurelius or someone like that, then the listened could understand that it's metaphor for a certain type of ruler. But in using Trump, he's drawing a crystal clear line between one political party and another.

I DO think there are recent PJ songs where the opportunity for subjective read is really grand, with Scared of Fear being on such example. I just don't think QE is one of them, not even close.

re: the blue. Sure. But your priori dismissivness stripped the song of its subtext and layers. And thats where the meaning and elevation really comes from. Eddie is generally a direct and immediate writer. He leans into aphorisms and draws from and reuses imagery he finds powerful or rich. But that doesnt mean the rest of it is there. You just have to dig just s little bit. And it rewards that digging, if you put in the work.

if only QE had a Pliny the Elder reference it would really cook.

Trump is of a party, but he transcends it as well. He is a metaphor for destructive entitlement, privelage, actions not having consequences, solipsistic narratives that rebalance the world around your immediate needs. And he is useful shorthand in that the listener will instinctively understand this without needing a classics professor or wikipedia.

He can ALSO just be a shot at Republicans.

But most importantly, he can be both, and Eddie can use it in that way. 7 Oclock also takes an shot at Trump and then immediately uses him as a metaphor for a nation/society resistent to its own decline

Talking to his mirror. what’s it say/what’s he say back…

His best days gone, hard to admit
Throwing empty punched with nothing to hit

Tin soldiers and Nixon’s coming was a contemporary shot at Nixon. But it was also something else.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[stip]

I agree with roughly 50% of that.

with certain parts, or is it an every other word kind of thing?

[stip]

But I do appreciate your thoughts! I mean that sincerely.

same

[lvc]

Since the last three pages at least are about Quick Escape and not the thread title, I presume it was concluded that Me could be denied?

[stip]

can’t derail me

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[stip]

I agree with roughly 50% of that.

with certain parts, or is it an every other word kind of thing?

I agree that Ed is a direct writer but that deeper readings can demonstrate further nuance and subtext. I also agree that I was dismissive of this song, but I disagree that this song actually offers much beyond the surface level; and I disagree that Trump works well, in any artistic context, as a metaphor for broader themes because A) he’s currently a candidate for POTUS and B) any attempt to ascribe a political ideology to Trump is a fool’s errand as he is, first and foremost, a total egomaniac narcissist

A would sink someone who was only a political leader, but Trump does have archetypal qualities that are going to far outlast him. And I don't think Trump is used here for a political ideology in the sense we usually use the phrase, but more for a worldview - the kind of exploitative cultural narcissism that makes it impossible to deal with climate change, for instance.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[Strat]

I agree with roughly 50% of that.

with certain parts, or is it an every other word kind of thing?

I agree that Ed is a direct writer but that deeper readings can demonstrate further nuance and subtext. I also agree that I was dismissive of this song, but I disagree that this song actually offers much beyond the surface level; and I disagree that Trump works well, in any artistic context, as a metaphor for broader themes because A) he’s currently a candidate for POTUS and B) any attempt to ascribe a political ideology to Trump is a fool’s errand as he is, first and foremost, a total egomaniac narcissist

A would sink someone who was only a political leader, but Trump does have archetypal qualities that are going to far outlast him. And I don't think Trump is used here for a political ideology in the sense we usually use the phrase, but more for a worldview - the kind of exploitative cultural narcissism that makes it impossible to deal with climate change, for instance.

Hmm... I don't think this is an unfair read at all. Maybe it's just me who's hung up this?

This could be your Presidential Campaign slogan

[oasisfan35]

I agree with roughly 50% of that.

with certain parts, or is it an every other word kind of thing?

I agree that Ed is a direct writer but that deeper readings can demonstrate further nuance and subtext. I also agree that I was dismissive of this song, but I disagree that this song actually offers much beyond the surface level; and I disagree that Trump works well, in any artistic context, as a metaphor for broader themes because A) he’s currently a candidate for POTUS and B) any attempt to ascribe a political ideology to Trump is a fool’s errand as he is, first and foremost, a total egomaniac narcissist

A would sink someone who was only a political leader, but Trump does have archetypal qualities that are going to far outlast him. And I don't think Trump is used here for a political ideology in the sense we usually use the phrase, but more for a worldview - the kind of exploitative cultural narcissism that makes it impossible to deal with climate change, for instance.

Hmm... I don't think this is an unfair read at all. Maybe it's just me who's hung up this?

This could be your Presidential Campaign slogan

President of what?

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[E.H. Ruddock]

*RMerica

[Leatherhead]

I just hit shuffle PJ and this is the first song I got.

[stip]

every time i see this thread bumped i enter with trepidation - like when a band hasnt been active for a while and you wonder if the new post is a death notice