Song of the Moment: Sleight of Hand

[stip]

old thread archived here

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mike's work on this song is extraordinary, and provides exactly the kind of sonic color and compositional depth i wish the band was still interested in pursuing

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this song is just so superbly executed

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the verses come and go and meander and amble just so and then BAM there's that beautiful monster of a chorus where everything comes together

[Strat]

Pj at its best. What a triumph. Embarrassing that they feel mostly humiliated by this record.

[Strat]

the verses come and go and meander and amble just so and then BAM there's that beautiful monster of a chorus where everything comes together

When Cameron hits the Kick drum twice on the way into the chorus...

That's what its all about.

[---]

more than just about any other song in the catalog, i wish i could have been in the room over the course of this song's evolution (demoing, fleshing out the song's particulars, arranging, etc)

[digster]

This song, musically and lyrically, scares the shit out of me. It's not an emotion I associate with much rock I listen to, but PJ does it here.

[Strat]

more than just about any other song in the catalog, i wish i could have been in the room over the course of this song's evolution (demoing, fleshing out the song's particulars, arranging, etc)

I would like to see the band get frustrated by Tchad Blake forcing them to continue to push the boundaries of good taste in order to achieve such studio mastery.

[---]

the verses come and go and meander and amble just so and then BAM there's that beautiful monster of a chorus where everything comes together

When Cameron hits the Kick drum twice on the way into the chorus...

That's what its all about.

there are certainly moments in their catalog that are as good, but i'm not sure there are any that are better

that they were able to weld together two structures (verses, choruses) so disparate really is a testament to how great they were at their peak

[---]

This song, musically and lyrically, scares the shit out of me. It's not an emotion I associate with much rock I listen to, but PJ does it here.

what about the music scares you?

[---]

more than just about any other song in the catalog, i wish i could have been in the room over the course of this song's evolution (demoing, fleshing out the song's particulars, arranging, etc)

I would like to see the band get frustrated by Tchad Blake forcing them to continue to push the boundaries of good taste in order to achieve such studio mastery.

i'm just curious about what it was about the process of this song that encouraged them to be so unorthodox, and ultimately comfortable with the product. mike never played this way before, and certainly hasn't since.

[Strat]

more than just about any other song in the catalog, i wish i could have been in the room over the course of this song's evolution (demoing, fleshing out the song's particulars, arranging, etc)

I would like to see the band get frustrated by Tchad Blake forcing them to continue to push the boundaries of good taste in order to achieve such studio mastery.

i'm just curious about what it was about the process of this song that encouraged them to be so unorthodox, and ultimately comfortable with the product. mike never played this way before, and certainly hasn't since.

Drugs for Mike

Ed being cheated on

Jeff being Jeff

Cameron being talented

Stone......who knows.

Mostly it all means sthat Brendan O'Brien wasn't present.

[---]

yeah but drugs weren't new for mike

[digster]

This song, musically and lyrically, scares the shit out of me. It's not an emotion I associate with much rock I listen to, but PJ does it here.

what about the music scares you?

To me, the chorus has always sounded like a tiny, private apocalypse. It's the sonic no man's land of an individual life. There's something vast about the chords being played, but it still seems to connect to that one life being talked about in the verse.

I don't know; this one kind of transcends words for me.

[---]

can't say whether being a cuckold was new for ed, though

[---]

This song, musically and lyrically, scares the shit out of me. It's not an emotion I associate with much rock I listen to, but PJ does it here.

what about the music scares you?

To me, the chorus has always sounded like a tiny, private apocalypse. It's the sonic no man's land of an individual life. There's something vast about the chords being played, but it still seems to connect to that one life being talked about in the verse.

I don't know; this one kind of transcends words for me.

it definitely sounds like some kind of implosion, which works for the lyrical theme. but it's almost like the narrator is celebrating the implosion, that he's welcoming everything coming down.

[Strat]

yeah but drugs weren't new for mike

Look, i dont have answers. Im trying to figure this shit out. Binaural is #1 for me and the peak of their prowess. That peak saturated the following 6 years so....

[digster]

This song, musically and lyrically, scares the shit out of me. It's not an emotion I associate with much rock I listen to, but PJ does it here.

what about the music scares you?

To me, the chorus has always sounded like a tiny, private apocalypse. It's the sonic no man's land of an individual life. There's something vast about the chords being played, but it still seems to connect to that one life being talked about in the verse.

I don't know; this one kind of transcends words for me.

it definitely sounds like some kind of implosion, which works for the lyrical theme. but it's almost like the narrators is celebrating the implosion, that he's welcoming everything coming down.

Yeah, I think which is what is so scary about it to me. The fear that you could find yourself in that place and be so welcoming to the prospect.

[Strat]

As far as notes/chord struture goes...Sleight of Hand isn't all that complex at all.


The chorus is a;most the same as "Hard to Imagine"

A to A/G to G

THe pre chorus is E and D.


Super simple. But its the landscape that is created and the palette exploration that makes it significant.