A thread for talking about lyrics

[dimejinky99]

Black pilot I have a dong

[McParadigm]

obeys listens kisses fucks

[epilogue]

I feel like I definitely am a lyrics guy, so to speak, in that they carry weight for me, but it's always really hard to divorce the quality of the lyrics from the way in which the music supports the thought being presented (or vice versa). Case in point is the line in 'Rival'; "how's our father supposed to be told?" It's not necessarily a masterpiece on the page, but coupled with the melody, and the way the song builds to that moment, it's one of my favorite lines in a PJ song. There's a lot of PJ lyrics that work in that manner. I think overall, Ed and the rest of PJ are better songwriters in totality rather than lyricists.

BOOM!

Totally agree with this. And it's not just PJ for me. The lyrics and the way the lyrics ride the melody are really what I'm listening for.

[stip]

I feel like I definitely am a lyrics guy, so to speak, in that they carry weight for me, but it's always really hard to divorce the quality of the lyrics from the way in which the music supports the thought being presented (or vice versa). Case in point is the line in 'Rival'; "how's our father supposed to be told?" It's not necessarily a masterpiece on the page, but coupled with the melody, and the way the song builds to that moment, it's one of my favorite lines in a PJ song. There's a lot of PJ lyrics that work in that manner. I think overall, Ed and the rest of PJ are better songwriters in totality rather than lyricists.

BOOM!

Totally agree with this. And it's not just PJ for me. The lyrics and the way the lyrics ride the melody are really what I'm listening for.

Sure. That's why they are lyrics and not poetry

[epilogue]

I feel like I definitely am a lyrics guy, so to speak, in that they carry weight for me, but it's always really hard to divorce the quality of the lyrics from the way in which the music supports the thought being presented (or vice versa). Case in point is the line in 'Rival'; "how's our father supposed to be told?" It's not necessarily a masterpiece on the page, but coupled with the melody, and the way the song builds to that moment, it's one of my favorite lines in a PJ song. There's a lot of PJ lyrics that work in that manner. I think overall, Ed and the rest of PJ are better songwriters in totality rather than lyricists.

BOOM!

Totally agree with this. And it's not just PJ for me. The lyrics and the way the lyrics ride the melody are really what I'm listening for.

Sure. That's why they are lyrics and not poetry

But the best lyrics are ones that I can read without a melody and they still punch me in the face.

[Tass Man]

I don't put much stock in lyrics, to be honest. I guess really good lyrics could elevate a song for me, but bad lyrics don't ruin songs. I'm much more interested in the vocal melody and how it's delivered as opposed to what's being said. In all honesty, I rarely read lyrics and definitely don't analyze them to try and find their meaning. But I will certainly listen for cool riffs, great drum fills, and how the arrangement of the instruments work together.

[stip]

Okay, making our way backwards, time for Backspacer!

(and because I know no one who posts looks at this shit, check out the great job B did here)

[stip]

Gonna See My Friend: Repetitive and simplistic chorus aside, these lyrics are pretty clever. similar to STBC in that they're using drug addiction metaphors for music. These are a bit darker, despite the upbeat music, with more intimations of oblivion. The bridge is especially good.

Lyrics: Good

Got Some: These are pretty bad. Fortunately they are bad lyrics in a fast song that is propulsive enough to make you not notice and/or care that they're really bad. It's a shame because the previous song feels just as fast and is well written. It's doubly too bad because I feel like Eddie DID have a point he wanted to make here. It is just executed horribly.

Lyrics:Bad (quite possibly the worst lyrics Eddie ever penned on a studio album)

The Fixer: Ahh, the Fixer. I think every bit of credibility capital I've accumulated in my 7 years at RM has been spent on a fool's errand defending this song (on the plus side, since I have none left I don't have to fear not sucking up to the Beatles). But these lyrics are good. Not passable. Not okay. They are good. They are simplistic in places, but they are often clever, playful, and have hidden depths. I want to fight to get it back again is a strong chorus lyric, and the little couplets leading up to them in each verse are solid. Earnest, energetic, self-aware, and kinda silly in the right amounts. The bridge is really good too. I think these lyrics get a bad rap in part because they are saying something serious and important without sounding heavy handed about it, or drawing attention to itself.

Lyrics: Good

Johnny Guitar: These are some of the most clever lyrics Eddie has ever written, anchored by one of the more impressive vocal melodies. They are filthy without being sleezy, pathetic but still fun, contain some of the more agile wordplay in his writing, and is able to laugh at its own ridiculousness. I love that this guy can't even get the girl in his dreams. This is basically I got Shit making fun of its own desperate earnestness.

One of the things I think the lyrics on the first third of backspacer do quite well (this changes after Johnny Guitar) is actually manage to say some interesting things without being too serious, too ponderous, too I AM MAKING A STATEMENT, which has always been, simultaneously, Eddie's biggest strength and weakness as a writer. There are intimations here that Eddie Vedder might actually be someone you'd want to hang out with.


Lyrics: very good


Just Breathe: Yes it is saccharine and sentimental to a degree never before seen in a pearl jam song (and possibly never matched, not even by future days) but they are cut by the intimations of loss and impermanence, not the flat out fear we have in Sirens, but a slightly melancholy awareness of future loss. And the lyric "I'm a lucky man to count on both hands the ones I love" is just lovely.

Lyrics: pretty good

[stip]

Amongst the Waves: Standard anthematic chorus, but it's actually decent--much better than many of its sister songs. The waves references are predictable, and I don't like soul as a lyric (too easy to use poorly), but the 'better loud than too late' line is clever and the lyrics in the verses are actually very strong--some of Eddie's best post Binaural writing. He does a really good job using the image in one lyric to transition into the next, giving each verse passage the feel of one long lyric, more than a verse. He doesn't really have any other songs that do that.

Lyrics:Very good

Unthought Known: The song is basically a collection of aphorisms. Some are excellent 'feel the sky blanket you with gems and rhinestones' 'dream the dreams of other men/you'll be no one's rival'. And others, while not groundbreaking, resonate really well within the song 'see the path cut by the moon for you to walk on/see the waves on distant shores awaiting your arrival'. Others are kinda boring (the nothing left bridge just doesn't accomplish anything) or weak (Eddie has a tendency to start a number of pretty well written songs (life wasted/Unthought Known/Lightning Bolt) with really weak opening lyrics that make it harder to appreciate what follows), and so the overall affect is pretty uneven.

Lyrics: good (sometimes great, sometimes meh)

Supersonic: This wants so badly to be a punch, playful little song, but other than the 'I catch a break then a punch to the head/I smile back with a toothless grin' which is a good line, it fairly unremarkable. After actually reading the lyrics I'm actually struck by how not bad they are. The performance actually drags them down, and makes them seem dumber than they already are. this is just such a hard song to like that anything associated with it is tainted

Lyrics: ehh

[stip]

Speed of Sound: These are good. There is a darkness 101 quality to them on the surface, but they seem just wise enough to overcome it--there is a weathered quality to them, rather than angst. And the chorus is very nicely done.

Lyrics: very good


Force of Nature: The 'somewhere there's a siren singing a song only he hears' is probably a top 5 pearl jam lyric for me. Other than the contraband lyric, which I don't really care for, almost everything in this song is well written, and parts of it are great. It's one of the more evocative stories/scenes he's shared --easily the best lyric this side of insignificance, and quite possibly a top 5 contender. And, like the very best pearl jam lyrics, the music and lyrics really work to elevate each other.

Lyrics: Great

The End: Wonderful sentiment with some nice moments (the end is particularly good), but this is a song that gets carried on a winning performance and a great vocal melody. It's not that it's bad. It's pretty good. But it's not great and it feels like it should be great. A song like Thumbing My Way, although far less gripping as a song, is actually better written.

Lyrics: decent



Backspacer gets FAR too much shit for its writing. Other than Got Some and Supersonic it's a solid record from top to bottom.

[chinofstone]

As of Backspacer, Force of Nature was my favorite Pearl Jam song since Binaural because of the lyrics.
It's a little novella.

Always enjoyed: "Wonderland pulling Alice in the hole," and

"Somewhere there’s a siren singing
A song only he hears
All the strength that you might think
Would disappear, resolving"

And

"Eyes are closed,.. You cannot know
But his heart don’t seem to roam"

[McParadigm]

How does stip feel about the way Ed uses the lyrics to declare the "best part of the song" in Immortality?

[stip]

How does stip feel about the way Ed uses the lyrics to declare the "best part of the song" in Immortality?

which part?

[McParadigm]

http://forums.theskyiscrape.com/viewtop ... g.#p225953

Provocative, I think, for him to push his opinions about his own song upon us like that.

[stip]

they were crashing through all sorts of barriers on Vitalogy

[McParadigm]

they were crashing through all sorts of barriers on Vitalogy

It really was the proverbial fingertip test to the cervical mucus that is their creativity.

[stip]

well, I don't need to hear any more analogies today.

[stip]

Okay, on to S/T

Life Wasted: It's a bad opening lyric, but the rest of the lyrics are pretty good. Some are very good (I like the home imagery in here, which fits in nicely with the 'need to break out of what is familiar' message of the song), and the chorus is simple but it's catchy and delivered with a lot of passion--more of a mantra than any particularly insightful idea, but that's fine.

Lyrics: pretty good

World Wide Suicide: Obvious, but some nice shots, sharply delivered (vastly superior, imo, to what we got in Bushleaguer), and I like the phrase world wide suicide, and the way it's delivered--like some new dance craze all the kids are doing. My only real issue with this song lyrically is the awkward 'nothing for to say' grammar. Great bridge, too. Again, nothing grondbreaking here as poetry, but its given such force in the delivery that it ends up being fairly powerful.

Lyrics: good

Comatose: These are some of Eddie's best lyrics, ever. The mechanical imagery, the play with rising and falling, the way they are delivered as a searing indictment (I think this vocal delivery trumps most of DTE) of the United States, the fact that this manages to be a highly political song without ever having to come out and say so. Jut about everything here is expertly done, and subtle enough to be easy to miss

Lyrics: great

Severed Hand: I don't really care about songs about drugs or drug culture, but the bridge is excellent and the first chorus is particularly good. Everything else is fine

Lyrics: good

Marker in the Sand: It's a bit too wordy, and there are some moments of U2 flag waving excess, but the verses are good and the choruses are great. Nice call back to the falling imagery in Comatose. that happens a lot on this record, and I'm always a fan of when the songs talk to each other

Lyrics: Very good

Parachutes: Nice call backs to Life Wasted, and the parachutes image is a great metaphor for the love and security and stabiltiy a relationship provides. Somewhat similar to The End in that the lyrics are greatly enhanced by the vocal melody, but these are also better to start with. Something of a slow start (the first verse or two isn't great), but the song really picks up from there

Lyrics: Very Good


Overall the first half of S/T is good, lyrically. Better than I recalled

[harmless]

Comatose: These are some of Eddie's best lyrics, ever. The mechanical imagery, the play with rising and falling, the way they are delivered as a searing indictment (I think this vocal delivery trumps most of DTE) of the United States, the fact that this manages to be a highly political song without ever having to come out and say so. Jut about everything here is expertly done, and subtle enough to be easy to miss

Lyrics: great

This song has grown on me quite a bit (or rather, Pearl Jam have written much worse since) but I still don't really understand the lyrics. I think I had an epiphany about them a short time ago but I can't remember what I concluded.

[Jorge]

Stip made up his own meaning about "Comatose" that has very little to do with the actual lyrics.