Song of the Moment: Mind Your Manners

[bodysnatcher]

what the hell is that first sentence?

[southp]

Alright, guys, here it is. My review of "Mind Your Manners", for those who were asking about it.

Nice review. I appreciated the long tangent into the golden era of No Code.
I would only challenge you on the "depth and nuance" that you feel is lacking on MYM compared to their other rockers from 1994-2005. It's obviously a subjective thing, but there's a quality in Ed's voice, and also something interesting with the multiple melodic/chorus parts that make MYM a step apart, and a slight departure.

No, it's not "In My Tree II: On a Higher Branch", but for those of us who love the band because of those years of "fist-pumping, flannel-clad and self-loathing" this song still brings something new enough and certainly on par or better than a lot of songs in the catalog.

Thanks! Fucking love No Code.

This is a fair point and I'll elaborate on this further when I'm not hurrying out to go to work. I guess briefly, to me, even their brawniest early rockers had more of an intensity and character to them, be it in the arrangement-- like those final arpeggiated notes in "Hail Hail" and the winding-down drum part letting the air out of such an oppressive, claustrophobic song, or Stone's great counterpoints in "Gods Dice"-- or in the songwriting itself, that elevates them. To my ears, though a good rockin' track, "MYM" is all direct and straightforward, with very little in the way of detail. There's some of it, like the quieter palm-mute near the end that mirrors the intro, but for the most part there's not a lot to discover. Which is great for what the song is trying to be, by the way.

Agreed, it's great for what the song is trying to be. A song like this is about the accented stop/starts, and the melody/chorus change. Where I think we have something with character is in the intro and outro. I think both are pretty sweet, and quite different from what we've seen before.

Lastly, let's not forget that this may be the Save You of the album. MYM could be the only direct bolt of lightning of the bunch. The rest could be more like "mystery soundcheck song #1" which is more akin to lighting with it's ragged glory rhythm rather than it's snappy delivery.

[Strat]

mmmm, Ragged Glory

[dadanotprada]

what the hell is that first sentence?

Some Scientists believe that cockroaches will inherit the Earth in the event of nuclear warfare...

[VinylGuy]

This is a good article:

http://www.avclub.com/articles/part-1-1 ... fe,100161/

[darthvedder81]

I honestly have no idea what the song is about. I hear vague allusions to religion but without official lyrics I have no idea what Ed is saying here. I still think his anger sounds forced and not purposefully sarcastic. I think a lot of people are putting their own sociopolitical spin on it but I don't hear a strong central message. The song just feels overstuffed with words to me without a clear target.

[BurtReynolds]

religion is bad blah blah blah, whatevs.

[dprival78]

I honestly have no idea what the song is about. I hear vague allusions to religion but without official lyrics I have no idea what Ed is saying here. I still think his anger sounds forced and not purposefully sarcastic. I think a lot of people are putting their own sociopolitical spin on it but I don't hear a strong central message. The song just feels overstuffed with words to me without a clear target.

eddie doesn't care for blind obedience. to hell with god's will.. we can take control of things if we want to. or, we can just sit back, be quiet, mind our manners, accept all the shit that's going on in the world and just suffer through it, and then go live in a paradise in the clouds for eternity after we die. wouldn't that be swell?

[southp]

"Try my patience...My patience tried"

Would you guys say that line is more suitable for an "Eddie head shake" or a classic "Eyes rolling back in the head"?

[Angus]

So, after forcing myself to give this 5 listens the last couple of days, I think I like the Fixer more. I'm wondering if I'm being too critical just because it's Pearl Jam. Strange feeling.

[LetMeSleep]

Harmless and Stip. - firstly, thanks for the replies. Most appreciated. I do understand what each you are saying and you may be right that I was missing the point. Maybe not missing it exactly but searching for another layer that is either not there or is being assumed. I still believe that the lyrics lack direction and lack a specific target thus they flail wildly (or in this case rather mildly). Darthvedder81 put it much better than I have been able to articulate (above 5 posts ago).

I have only heard MYM maybe 12 times and maybe my dislike is not letting me get into it but it appears one dimensional, both musically and lyrically.

[tacvbo]

"Try my patience...My patience tried"

Would you guys say that line is more suitable for an "Eddie head shake" or a classic "Eyes rolling back in the head"?

eye roll definitely!

[LetMeSleep]

"Try my patience...My patience tried"

Would you guys say that line is more suitable for an "Eddie head shake" or a classic "Eyes rolling back in the head"?

eye roll definitely!

I see the teeth snarl.

[dimejinky99]

So, after forcing myself to give this 5 listens the last couple of days, I think I like the Fixer more. I'm wondering if I'm being too critical just because it's Pearl Jam. Strange feeling.

You're right.
Fixed is coca cola. Mind your manners is black olives.

[harmless]

I'm sorry, but when have Ed's lyrics ever been direct and free of a thousand interpretations? He couldn't be more direct than this. Sure he was occasionally more direct on S/T but those songs sounded like a journal entry. He was decidedly *less* direct, to a vague extent, on Comatose. I mean I just don't get what people are wanting. I think it's 100% obvious what these lyrics are about and who Ed is attacking. Just my opinion, but what do people want? Was there a golden era of directness that people want Ed to return to? "Role, role model, roll models in blood..."? That's not direct either. That's metaphor, and the target of the venom could be anyone. That's part of the deciphering. I just think some people here are making up reasons to be unhappy with this.

[LetMeSleep]

Or maybe some openly dislike the track and are trying discover why there is almost unwavering love for it. It's confusing to me.

[bodysnatcher]

http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/202107/ ... esnt-suck/

Pearl Jam release surprise new single ‘Mind Your Manners’ that doesn’t suck

If you had told me last night that Pearl Jam were to sneakily release a new single, I would not have believed you. If you had told me, then, that they would be releasing a song that sounds like the Dead Kennedys, I would still not have believed you.

The big surprise here is Eddie Vedder, who sounds, oh, I don’t know, so aliiiiiiiiiiive. The song comes entirely out of left field and shockingly the whole thing works in a kind of late-period-Incubus-covering-Dead-Kennedys sort of way.

“Alternative rock” seems to have gone completely the way of the dinosaur and for good reason; nobody wants to hear about the plight of white dudes with electric guitars anymore whining about their love lives (at least for the time-being), so white dudes had to get angrier to make it more interesting. Which is good for Pearl Jam in 2013 as “Mind Your Manners” somehow makes it all work… it’s angry and weird and interesting enough for it to be special.

[harmless]

Or maybe some openly dislike the track and are trying discover why there is almost unwavering love for it. It's confusing to me.

People are totally entitled to their hatred for this song, but don't pin it on ridiculous reasons like not knowing what this song is about, yanno? Anyone who has any experience of dogmatic religion and dogmatic religious people should have a sense of what this song is targeting. I mean, I'm not even American and it's relatable to middle-class religious England.

[LetMeSleep]

Or maybe some openly dislike the track and are trying discover why there is almost unwavering love for it. It's confusing to me.

People are totally entitled to their hatred for this song, but don't pin it on ridiculous reasons like not knowing what this song is about, yanno? Anyone who has any experience of dogmatic religion and dogmatic religious people should have a sense of what this song is targeting. I mean, I'm not even American and it's relatable to middle-class religious England.

Don't worry mate I've already mentioned my distaste for the riff and arrangement. The only pluses are a relatively inspired performance and some good (for post 2000) production.

Edit: in fact the lyrics would get a higher score if I was scoring.

[dadanotprada]

well done
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNesfq1Pki4