D3 ROUND3BA: FATAL VS. WISHLIST

[bodysnatcher]

It just plods. And I find it trite. And I feel it is misunderstood by most of the PJ community. The solo has some nice tones but overall I'm left feeling empty.

And from the old board:

Wishlist is just a plod and not the happy song you all hear. It's completely wrought with the Hail Hail line (I sometimes realise I can only be as good as you'll let me). I appreciate that PJ can do this nice song but I'm bored.

Going back to Wishlist for a moment.

I hope this doesn't wreck anyone's enjoyment but I always found this song to be quite sad, about a man not living up to all that he felt he could be in another's eyes. Maybe this is with hindsight that his marriage to Beth fell apart but was this Eddie voicing his inadequacies? The last verse in particular I find really heart wrenching, especially 'I wish I was the verb 'to trust' and never let you down'.

Is this a man who knows that he can never live up to his partner's expectations? And does he know that she won't ever let herself depend on another, allow him to be 'the pedal brake that she depends on'?

I wish I could hear it as positively as everyone else here has, but I hear a quiet acceptance that he will never be the keyring and he throws in a few positive/favourable memories harking back to happier times to fool either himself or the person he is speaking to.

I agree with this, and always thought this to be quite a sad little song. Whether the voice is realizing he'll never be these things to someone, or he wishes he was any of these things instead of himself.

[stip]

But how does that make it bad?

It doesn't. In fact, I like it better this way.

especially because he aspires to be better than he is to be worthy of the person that he loves, which, in the end, is a very romantic sentiment--just an understated and quiet one.

[Birds in Hell]

I voted for Fatal but I certainly don't hate Wishlist.

The album version and live versions with Jack are fine, the versions with Matt are uniformly unremarkable though. It's not a song that plays to his strengths as a drummer at all.

[BurtReynolds]

its a little plodding. i wouldn't call it trite, but the lyrics don't say much of anything to me. They just sound like emotionless nonsense to me.

I wish I was a sentimental ornament you hung on
The Christmas tree, I wish I was the star that went on top

ok

I wish I was the full moon shining off a Camaro's hood

alright

I wish I was an alien at home behind the sun

huh?

I wish I was the souvenir you kept your house key on

wat?

I wish I was the verb 'to trust' and never let you down

i still dont know what this means.

[Kaius]

Think smarter not harder, Burt

[BurtReynolds]

I don't want to.

[LetMeSleep]

Neither did Ed.

[bodysnatcher]

I wish I was an alien at home behind the sun

huh?

Come on Brut that's one of the best lines

[Jorge]

YEAH BRUT

[LetMeSleep]

It all boils down to he is not what she wants so he wishes he was anything ANYTHING that she might have a passing interest in. Now that is sad.

The Ed of old had the resolve and strength to say I'm not what you want, fine. This Ed is wallowing in it. I don't like this Ed.

[BurtReynolds]

to be honest i'm just talking out of my ass.

[Jorge]

"WISHLIST" IS FINE AND FOR A LONG TIME WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE YIELD SONGS BUT "FATAL" IS A HEARTWRENCHING THING

[PHATJ]

I prefer Wishlist. Not a fan of Fatal.

[giveway]

Wishlist and it's not even close. One of the best Ed lyrics. Lovely melody. Great groove live with Matt. Some amazing tags and improvs during the 2003 tour. Great solo by Mike. The moment the mirrorball used to start spinning at the start of the solo is one of the crown jewels of the live repertoire imo.

Fatal is ok.

[Kevin Davis]

It all boils down to he is not what she wants so he wishes he was anything ANYTHING that she might have a passing interest in. Now that is sad.

The Ed of old had the resolve and strength to say I'm not what you want, fine. This Ed is wallowing in it. I don't like this Ed.

I don't think the song really reveals that much about Ed's character either way -- it's a daydream, a writing exercise, tender and sincere to be sure but ultimately no deeper than "U." The virtue of the lyric is how it asks the listener what it would mean to assume the characteristics of the things the singer wishes to be: What does it mean to be someone's brake pedal? What is that particular object's purpose in the world? More often than not, these "wishes" are to experience, with cogent presence of mind, the world from the standpoints of minor things whose sole purposes are to contribute small moments of happiness to the lives of other people, specifically (presumably) the singer's love interest. But that "romantic" element is transient -- there are just as many wishes to be aliens, bombs, sailors, etc. to keep the song out of that thematic ballpark. I think it's one of Eddie's most creative lyrics, but I can understand why it would strike somebody as sentimental drivel masquerading as poetry -- for me, it's just an invitation to join in for three minutes of inadvertently heartfelt free association.

That said, "Fatal" is better.

[EJ]

Lovely melody. Some amazing tags and improvs during the 2003 tour. Great solo by Mike. The moment the mirrorball used to start spinning at the start of the solo is one of the crown jewels of the live repertoire imo.

I agree with all of this. I love Wishlisht, but I voted for Fatal. It really was a highlight for me at the shows in 2003.

[Simple Torture]

I changed my vote to "Fatal" after reading some comments and thinking about it for a bit. Sorry, "Wishlist"; I agree with what some people have said--that it's misunderstood often (much as I think "Thumbing My Way" is)--but that's not the reason I switched. Two reasons: Burt's breakdown of the lyrics made me actually think about the lyrics for the first time in a while, and they really aren't anything to write home about, and I had this sudden flash of the pre-chorus near the end of "Fatal" (2:41-2:50), and it's one of the best of the band's uses of quiet. Good stuff.

[Jorge]

I AM SURPRISED AND SOMEWHAT DISAPPOINTED TO FIND STIP HAS NEVER MISTITLED "FATAL" AS "FETAL"

[stip]

I AM SURPRISED AND SOMEWHAT DISAPPOINTED TO FIND STIP HAS NEVER MISTITLED "FATAL" AS "FETAL"

fixed