Match EG: My Father's Son vs. Elderly Woman...

[tommymtcom]

MFS is a good tune. Definitely among the better post-RA tunes. It's a shame about that bridge, though.

[tommymtcom]

Still, Small Town is better.

[Kaius]

I'm with tom, the bridge is terrible.

[B]

Where's that confounded bridge?

[Leatherhead]

MFS is great.

Heavens, no.

Hells, yeah.

No "great" song ever prominently featured a tired old man trying to nut-flex lyrics this stone cold stupid:

I come from a genius, I am my father's son
Yeah, too bad he was a psychopath and now I'm the next in line

Forget the insemination
And for that, I'm supposed to be glad?

Why such betrayal?
I gotta set sail

Now father you're dead and gone
And I'm finally free to be me
Thanks for all your fucked-up gifts
For which I got no sympathy

These are all okay lyrics.

[Jorge]

McP is right, some of those lines are really terrible, but I can't bring myself to care when the rest of the song is so bitchin'

[stip]

The bridge lyrics are really good. The verse lyrics are a turn off though. They knock MFS down towards the bottom of Lightning Bolt for me.

[Thejambi]

McP is right, some of those lines are really terrible, but I can't bring myself to care when the rest of the song is so bitchin'

Not sure if this is facetious or not but it's the boat i'm in.

[Jorge]

Not facetious. I like the song. Including the bridge. I actually like the bridge a lot, and the contrast it provides with the rest of the song.

[Thejambi]

Not facetious. I like the song. Including the bridge. I actually like the bridge a lot, and the contrast it provides with the rest of the song.

[Kaius]

The rest of the song is really good, but the bridge is stupid. The lyrics are pedestrian.

[stip]

your face is a stupid pedestrian bridge

[Birds in Hell]

Not facetious. I like the song. Including the bridge. I actually like the bridge a lot, and the contrast it provides with the rest of the song.

Agreed.

I'm still genuinely surprised they managed to write a song that good given all the other dross they've churned out over the last few years.

It's satisfyingly off-kilter with thoughtful twists and turns and also manages to rock out pretty convincingly. Good job, Pearl Jam.

[chewm]

Not a big fan of MFS
Elderly Woman, easy.

[Kaius]

your face is a stupid pedestrian bridge

[bart]

You can really get a good idea of the regression this band has undergone by reading the lyrics to Elderly Woman and then reading those of My Father's Son.

[BurtReynolds]

You can really get a good idea of the regression this band has undergone by reading the lyrics to Elderly Woman and then reading those of My Father's Son.

I'm not a big fan of Ed when he tries to be witty or intellectual sounding, but sometimes he pulls it off. I like em ok.

[stip]

You can really get a good idea of the regression this band has undergone by reading the lyrics to Elderly Woman and then reading those of My Father's Son.

Not really. They're very different songs, and there are songs today with great lyrics and songs today with shitty lyrics, just like there were then. And small town is one of the best lyrics they have, period.

[Lament]

there are songs today with great lyrics

What songs today would you hold up as having great lyrics?

Not just a great line or two, but something that on the whole you could say is great.

[stip]

there are songs today with great lyrics

What songs today would you hold up as having great lyrics?

Not just a great line or two, but something that on the whole you could say is great.

From the last two albums?

Infallible, Yellow Moon, Sleeping By Myself, Swallowed Whole. Speed of Sound. Force of Nature. Johnny Guitar. Maybe amongst the waves. MYM and Lightning Bolt have some great moments, but are inconsistent. Then again corduroy has some stupid lyrics in it too. These would do well against the strong songs of earlier eras.

I don't know if any of them are as good as elderly woman, but then again there are only a handful of songs that are close to that good.