Red Mosquito

Birds in Hell wrote:

strizz wrote:It’s hard to make lyrical interpretations when the music was, by all accounts, made in such an off-the-cuff and in the moment fashion ...

Just to isolate this thought for a moment, has Ed confirmed he actually wrote the lyrics during those sessions, in which case he would've had to work very quickly?

Unless he did, I'm tempted to think the band got the musical ideas down, and Ed probably came up with some rough melodies, but that he worked on the actual final lyrics during the year-long break from final session until the album was actually released.

In addition to the recordings done in LA, the liner notes confirm further recordings occurred at "GT Studios" and "Jump Site Studios" in Seattle. Two points to make about that are that there are no commercial studios I can find with those names in Seattle, so I think they're probably references to the band's own studio (in the warehouse) and Ed's home studio, and that the same locations are referenced in the Gigaton liner notes.

Just a hunch, but I suspect Ed's final vocals were recorded in these Seattle sessions and that he probably laboured over the final lyrics for much of last year.

Birds in Hell wrote:

strizz wrote:It’s hard to make lyrical interpretations when the music was, by all accounts, made in such an off-the-cuff and in the moment fashion ...

Just to isolate this thought for a moment, has Ed confirmed he actually wrote the lyrics during those sessions, in which case he would've had to work very quickly?

Unless he did, I'm tempted to think the band got the musical ideas down, and Ed probably came up with some rough melodies, but that he worked on the actual final lyrics during the year-long break from final session until the album was actually released.

In addition to the recordings done in LA, the liner notes confirm further recordings occurred at "GT Studios" and "Jump Site Studios" in Seattle. Two points to make about that are that there are no commercial studios I can find with those names in Seattle, so I think they're probably references to the band's own studio (in the warehouse) and Ed's home studio, and that the same locations are referenced in the Gigaton liner notes.

Just a hunch, but I suspect Ed's final vocals were recorded in these Seattle sessions and that he probably laboured over the final lyrics for much of last year.

stip wrote:

Birds in Hell wrote:

strizz wrote:It’s hard to make lyrical interpretations when the music was, by all accounts, made in such an off-the-cuff and in the moment fashion ...

Just to isolate this thought for a moment, has Ed confirmed he actually wrote the lyrics during those sessions, in which case he would've had to work very quickly?

Unless he did, I'm tempted to think the band got the musical ideas down, and Ed probably came up with some rough melodies, but that he worked on the actual final lyrics during the year-long break from final session until the album was actually released.

In addition to the recordings done in LA, the liner notes confirm further recordings occurred at "GT Studios" and "Jump Site Studios" in Seattle. Two points to make about that are that there are no commercial studios I can find with those names in Seattle, so I think they're probably references to the band's own studio (in the warehouse) and Ed's home studio, and that the same locations are referenced in the Gigaton liner notes.

Just a hunch, but I suspect Ed's final vocals were recorded in these Seattle sessions and that he probably laboured over the final lyrics for much of last year.

There is an unusual amount of information (by Pearl Jam standards) out there about the actual recording process for this one. I believe Eddie was writing and singing while the band was recording, so at least some of this is on the spot. But that's good detective work on your part, so I'm sure there was additional writing happening in places, especially since there was a year between sessions

Frumpy wrote:Awesome intro and then gets killed by total change up in tempo and turns into nothing as it seems 2, which isnt necesarily a compliment. Not great thus far.

Frumpy wrote:Awesome intro and then gets killed by total change up in tempo and turns into nothing as it seems 2, which isnt necesarily a compliment. Not great thus far.

strizz wrote:It’s hard to make lyrical interpretations when the music was, by all accounts, made in such an off-the-cuff and in the moment fashion. But it feels like to me that Upper Hand is the thematic and lyrical keystone to the album.

Harkening back to Stip’s guided tour of Vitalogy, the narrator writing a suicide note, but with a “shaky hand” - not yet having decided whether to take his life or not. If that narrator had chosen to live on, what kind of note would he write now, 30 years hence, and to whom would he write it? The answer is revealed in the last lines of Upper Hand. He would write to his fans, but more specifically, to his two biggest fans: his two daughters (“just the two of you”). This song is ultimately a letter to them, and the album overall is an ode and missive to them.

I think clues that this album is written to and for his daughters is littered throughout the record. Obviously in Something Special, but also poignantly in Waiting for Stevie, describing the girl losing and finding herself in a concert crowd. Upper Hand is a message from someone approaching the end (whether of their career or their life), to their loved ones, and reflecting on the question “what did it all mean?” Yes, he played on the biggest stages and traveled the world (“all the lights and sights we saw”), and he even made his own impact on music and culture (“we filled them up… and painted some”). But ultimately, he was always just a music fan who wanted connection, and had the fortune of affecting others with his art. He was never a rock god or someone to be idolized. He was never better than any of his adorers, never had the “upper hand.” He was just a fan himself, who could just as easily have seen himself on the other side of the stage barricade, and who wanted to share that joy of music with those who listened (“And I hope the people are smiling. Oh, how I always wanted to be like one of them.”) Most importantly, at the end of the day, he wanted to share it with the two most important people to him. They are all that he really needs, what he was looking for all along, the ones who are his home.

I think that Ed has always been reluctant to look backwards in his writing. There has always been a forward-looking posture or a sense of the now/present. Even in the songs that dwell on mortality, the focus has been on living gracefully in light of that (Sirens), or relishing the time one still has left (Future Days). But I think this song, and this album in general, find him much more comfortable looking back and reflecting. He does so inspired by, and for, his daughters. Some have commented that the ghost of Chris Cornell hangs over much of the record, and I certainly hear that, too, in both the lyrics and music. But I think that that this is still refracted through the prism of fatherhood. The greatest remorse is that Cornell will never get to see his own kids grow up in the way that Ed has and will (“If you could see what I see now, you'd find a way to stay somehow”).

If you made it this far, thank you all from a longtime reader and enjoyer of this forum. I'm loving the album, and everyone’s great reactions to it.

oneway23 wrote:

Frumpy wrote:Awesome intro and then gets killed by total change up in tempo and turns into nothing as it seems 2, which isnt necesarily a compliment. Not great thus far.

Hang in, Frumpy. Don't dismiss it.

Fattie_Vedder wrote:

strizz wrote:It’s hard to make lyrical interpretations when the music was, by all accounts, made in such an off-the-cuff and in the moment fashion. But it feels like to me that Upper Hand is the thematic and lyrical keystone to the album.

Harkening back to Stip’s guided tour of Vitalogy, the narrator writing a suicide note, but with a “shaky hand” - not yet having decided whether to take his life or not. If that narrator had chosen to live on, what kind of note would he write now, 30 years hence, and to whom would he write it? The answer is revealed in the last lines of Upper Hand. He would write to his fans, but more specifically, to his two biggest fans: his two daughters (“just the two of you”). This song is ultimately a letter to them, and the album overall is an ode and missive to them.

I think clues that this album is written to and for his daughters is littered throughout the record. Obviously in Something Special, but also poignantly in Waiting for Stevie, describing the girl losing and finding herself in a concert crowd. Upper Hand is a message from someone approaching the end (whether of their career or their life), to their loved ones, and reflecting on the question “what did it all mean?” Yes, he played on the biggest stages and traveled the world (“all the lights and sights we saw”), and he even made his own impact on music and culture (“we filled them up… and painted some”). But ultimately, he was always just a music fan who wanted connection, and had the fortune of affecting others with his art. He was never a rock god or someone to be idolized. He was never better than any of his adorers, never had the “upper hand.” He was just a fan himself, who could just as easily have seen himself on the other side of the stage barricade, and who wanted to share that joy of music with those who listened (“And I hope the people are smiling. Oh, how I always wanted to be like one of them.”) Most importantly, at the end of the day, he wanted to share it with the two most important people to him. They are all that he really needs, what he was looking for all along, the ones who are his home.

I think that Ed has always been reluctant to look backwards in his writing. There has always been a forward-looking posture or a sense of the now/present. Even in the songs that dwell on mortality, the focus has been on living gracefully in light of that (Sirens), or relishing the time one still has left (Future Days). But I think this song, and this album in general, find him much more comfortable looking back and reflecting. He does so inspired by, and for, his daughters. Some have commented that the ghost of Chris Cornell hangs over much of the record, and I certainly hear that, too, in both the lyrics and music. But I think that that this is still refracted through the prism of fatherhood. The greatest remorse is that Cornell will never get to see his own kids grow up in the way that Ed has and will (“If you could see what I see now, you'd find a way to stay somehow”).

If you made it this far, thank you all from a longtime reader and enjoyer of this forum. I'm loving the album, and everyone’s great reactions to it.

I’ve listened to both Upper Hand and Setting Sun while centering Chris Cornell and the entire grunge scene they came from, and it makes a lot of sense. This might be more a dirge for the whole grunge family. And Eddie knows the end for them is inevitably coming up soon to, so it’s fitting that this album harkens back to their roots. It’s both looking back at all the great times they’ve had and a lament at them inevitably ending. Not just the band, but the whole sound and ‘scene’ they came from. They are the last ones standing. If they are to go out let them go out in a bang, let them not fade.

tyweed wrote:I'm hearing touches of NAIS, All Those Yesterdays, Yellow Ledbetter and maybe a bit of Come Back on this one.

digster wrote:Agreed, this is the one that's continued to bounce around my head. The intro, Ed's phrasing on the chorus ("I'm sorry..."), the outro that starts out sounding like a mistake, until you can hear the sound of the band gaining confidence as they go. It really struck me.