Red Mosquito

mastaflatch wrote:I could say that it was worth the wait but I wasn't waiting for anything from this band anymore. The overall feel of artistic compromise that hovered above Lightning Bolt and the crass ridiculousness of Can't Deny Me kind of put the nails in the coffin of PJ for me. Add to that that I won't see them live anymore (don't like the ''experience'' of paying overpriced tickets to hear drunken bros singing over Ed and co.), I thought that was it - this band was a great companion in the 90s, we'd slowly drift apart in the oughts and the 10s marked our proverbial split. I must say that I've been a good fan until then, i.e. I still think that the self-titled album is kinda great, like a yang to Riot Act's yin but afterwards, despite some rare moments of togetherness, this band, at best, hinted at what they were capable of doing before being cut short by highly questionable production decisions. They were fooled, maybe by BoB, that they were going to be the next big thing again because even their most daring songs of the era were thwarted by the chorus tyranny or by the obligatory guitar solo motto or the classic Eddie moment religion, whatever - it did the songs no good and probably caused harm to their already fragile cred (they had to deal with this from the very beginning). They had to remember how they managed to get this far, after Ten, after Vs and on until Riot Act but seemingly they had lost the plot or maybe they got lost in the band's pseudo-democracy which gave way to the aforementioned artistic compromises. Of course, Eddie Vedder is the focal point of Pearl Jam but to put all their cash on him, like BoB seemed deemed to do, must have been a pretty frustrating experience for the rest of the band and for me, it seemed like a waste of a mightily creative unit.

Come this single, teased beforehand with electronic-sounding snippets that really didn't sound like something serious from PJ (''it must be an intro or some kind of tongue in cheek bit'') - I had to take a breath. While this isn't a breakthrough to some unchartered territory, it's still fucking bold for this band to release this song as a lead single, especially at this stage of their career. Now, I'm absolutely unfamiliar with Talking Heads or David Byrne but I rekon some kind of Peter Gabriel influence there. I think, after reading this thread (fuck me - it was good reading your reactions) that it's not a lift from any TH song - like Got Some was somewhat aping a Devo song. The band comes together pretty nicely, like, one by one, adding texture and personality, there is silence and there is attack, there is melody and emotion without falling blatantly into the old tropes, etc. I fucking love this - they take us on a journey here and they, at last, let the song go on. The Pearl Jams are a groove band, they forgot that for a long while but apparently, they're still pretty good at creating an atmosphere so on with that, we may need a new atmosphere soon. Thanks folks!

Birds in Hell wrote:

mastaflatch wrote:I could say that it was worth the wait but I wasn't waiting for anything from this band anymore. The overall feel of artistic compromise that hovered above Lightning Bolt and the crass ridiculousness of Can't Deny Me kind of put the nails in the coffin of PJ for me. Add to that that I won't see them live anymore (don't like the ''experience'' of paying overpriced tickets to hear drunken bros singing over Ed and co.), I thought that was it - this band was a great companion in the 90s, we'd slowly drift apart in the oughts and the 10s marked our proverbial split. I must say that I've been a good fan until then, i.e. I still think that the self-titled album is kinda great, like a yang to Riot Act's yin but afterwards, despite some rare moments of togetherness, this band, at best, hinted at what they were capable of doing before being cut short by highly questionable production decisions. They were fooled, maybe by BoB, that they were going to be the next big thing again because even their most daring songs of the era were thwarted by the chorus tyranny or by the obligatory guitar solo motto or the classic Eddie moment religion, whatever - it did the songs no good and probably caused harm to their already fragile cred (they had to deal with this from the very beginning). They had to remember how they managed to get this far, after Ten, after Vs and on until Riot Act but seemingly they had lost the plot or maybe they got lost in the band's pseudo-democracy which gave way to the aforementioned artistic compromises. Of course, Eddie Vedder is the focal point of Pearl Jam but to put all their cash on him, like BoB seemed deemed to do, must have been a pretty frustrating experience for the rest of the band and for me, it seemed like a waste of a mightily creative unit.

Come this single, teased beforehand with electronic-sounding snippets that really didn't sound like something serious from PJ (''it must be an intro or some kind of tongue in cheek bit'') - I had to take a breath. While this isn't a breakthrough to some unchartered territory, it's still fucking bold for this band to release this song as a lead single, especially at this stage of their career. Now, I'm absolutely unfamiliar with Talking Heads or David Byrne but I rekon some kind of Peter Gabriel influence there. I think, after reading this thread (fuck me - it was good reading your reactions) that it's not a lift from any TH song - like Got Some was somewhat aping a Devo song. The band comes together pretty nicely, like, one by one, adding texture and personality, there is silence and there is attack, there is melody and emotion without falling blatantly into the old tropes, etc. I fucking love this - they take us on a journey here and they, at last, let the song go on. The Pearl Jams are a groove band, they forgot that for a long while but apparently, they're still pretty good at creating an atmosphere so on with that, we may need a new atmosphere soon. Thanks folks!

Great post and great to see you around here, masta!

mastaflatch wrote:I could say that it was worth the wait but I wasn't waiting for anything from this band anymore. The overall feel of artistic compromise that hovered above Lightning Bolt and the crass ridiculousness of Can't Deny Me kind of put the nails in the coffin of PJ for me. Add to that that I won't see them live anymore (don't like the ''experience'' of paying overpriced tickets to hear drunken bros singing over Ed and co.), I thought that was it - this band was a great companion in the 90s, we'd slowly drift apart in the oughts and the 10s marked our proverbial split. I must say that I've been a good fan until then, i.e. I still think that the self-titled album is kinda great, like a yang to Riot Act's yin but afterwards, despite some rare moments of togetherness, this band, at best, hinted at what they were capable of doing before being cut short by highly questionable production decisions. They were fooled, maybe by BoB, that they were going to be the next big thing again because even their most daring songs of the era were thwarted by the chorus tyranny or by the obligatory guitar solo motto or the classic Eddie moment religion, whatever - it did the songs no good and probably caused harm to their already fragile cred (they had to deal with this from the very beginning). They had to remember how they managed to get this far, after Ten, after Vs and on until Riot Act but seemingly they had lost the plot or maybe they got lost in the band's pseudo-democracy which gave way to the aforementioned artistic compromises. Of course, Eddie Vedder is the focal point of Pearl Jam but to put all their cash on him, like BoB seemed deemed to do, must have been a pretty frustrating experience for the rest of the band and for me, it seemed like a waste of a mightily creative unit.

Come this single, teased beforehand with electronic-sounding snippets that really didn't sound like something serious from PJ (''it must be an intro or some kind of tongue in cheek bit'') - I had to take a breath. While this isn't a breakthrough to some unchartered territory, it's still fucking bold for this band to release this song as a lead single, especially at this stage of their career. Now, I'm absolutely unfamiliar with Talking Heads or David Byrne but I rekon some kind of Peter Gabriel influence there. I think, after reading this thread (fuck me - it was good reading your reactions) that it's not a lift from any TH song - like Got Some was somewhat aping a Devo song. The band comes together pretty nicely, like, one by one, adding texture and personality, there is silence and there is attack, there is melody and emotion without falling blatantly into the old tropes, etc. I fucking love this - they take us on a journey here and they, at last, let the song go on. The Pearl Jams are a groove band, they forgot that for a long while but apparently, they're still pretty good at creating an atmosphere so on with that, we may need a new atmosphere soon. Thanks folks!

mastaflatch wrote:

Birds in Hell wrote:

mastaflatch wrote:I could say that it was worth the wait but I wasn't waiting for anything from Christ anymore. The overall feel of spiritual compromise that hovered above the New Testament and the crass ridiculousness of Joel Osteen kind of put the nails in the coffin of Jesus for me. Add to that that I won't pray to him anymore (don't like the ''experience'' of praying to hear drunken bros singing over Joel and co.), I thought that was it - this religion was a great companion in the 90s, we'd slowly drift apart in the oughts and the 10s marked our proverbial split. I must say that I've been a good Christian until then, i.e. I still think that the Book of Revelation is kinda great, like a yang to the Book of Genesis' yin but afterwards, despite some rare moments of togetherness, this religion, at best, hinted at what it was capable of doing before being cut short by highly questionable promotional decisions. They were fooled, maybe by Nachash, that they were going to be the next big thing again because even their most daring miracles of the era were thwarted by the chorus of satan or by the obligatory atheist solo motto or the classic Joel moment religion, whatever - it did the church no good and probably caused harm to their already fragile cred (they had to deal with this from the very beginning). They had to remember how they managed to get this far, after the Old Testament, after the Gospel of Mark and on until the Gospel of Luke but seemingly they had lost the plot or maybe they got lost in the church's pseudo-autocracy which gave way to the aforementioned theistic compromises. Of course, Joel Osteen is the focal point of Christianity but to put all their cash on him, like Nachash seemed deemed to do, must have been a pretty frustrating experience for the rest of the church and for me, it seemed like a waste of a mightily spiritual unit.

Come this sermon, teased beforehand with electronic-sounding snippets that really didn't sound like something serious from the Vatican (''it must be an intro or some kind of tongue in cheek bit'') - I had to take a breath. While this isn't a breakthrough to some unchartered territory, it's still fucking bold for this religion to release this sermon as a lead single, especially at this stage of their instrument's career. Now, I'm absolutely unfamiliar with Presbyters or Quakers but I rekon some kind of Methodist influence there. I think, after reading this thread (fuck me - it was good reading your reactions) that it's not a lift from any Presbyterian sermon - like the Book of Wisdom was somewhat aping a canonical book. The church comes together pretty nicely, like, one by one, adding texture and personality, there is silence and there is attack, there is melody and emotion without falling blatantly into the old tropes, etc. I fucking love this - they take us on a journey here and they, at last, let the song go on. The Pearl Jams are a a vessel for Christ's church, they forgot that for a long while but apparently, they're still pretty good at creating a Christian atmosphere so on with that, we may need a new Christian atmosphere soon. Praise Christ! Look out When the Spirit Comes!

Great post and praise to Him, indeed, masta!

Thanks man! God is here

theplatypus wrote: Hey bud nice to see you around here, I was just listening to Joindre les deux bouts last week. Put it on Spotify!

96583UP wrote:

mastaflatch wrote:

Birds in Hell wrote:

mastaflatch wrote:I could say that it was worth the wait but I wasn't waiting for anything from Christ anymore. The overall feel of spiritual compromise that hovered above the New Testament and the crass ridiculousness of Joel Osteen kind of put the nails in the coffin of Jesus for me. Add to that that I won't pray to him anymore (don't like the ''experience'' of praying to hear drunken bros singing over Joel and co.), I thought that was it - this religion was a great companion in the 90s, we'd slowly drift apart in the oughts and the 10s marked our proverbial split. I must say that I've been a good Christian until then, i.e. I still think that the Book of Revelation is kinda great, like a yang to the Book of Genesis' yin but afterwards, despite some rare moments of togetherness, this religion, at best, hinted at what it was capable of doing before being cut short by highly questionable promotional decisions. They were fooled, maybe by Nachash, that they were going to be the next big thing again because even their most daring miracles of the era were thwarted by the chorus of satan or by the obligatory atheist solo motto or the classic Joel moment religion, whatever - it did the church no good and probably caused harm to their already fragile cred (they had to deal with this from the very beginning). They had to remember how they managed to get this far, after the Old Testament, after the Gospel of Mark and on until the Gospel of Luke but seemingly they had lost the plot or maybe they got lost in the church's pseudo-autocracy which gave way to the aforementioned theistic compromises. Of course, Joel Osteen is the focal point of Christianity but to put all their cash on him, like Nachash seemed deemed to do, must have been a pretty frustrating experience for the rest of the church and for me, it seemed like a waste of a mightily spiritual unit.

Come this sermon, teased beforehand with electronic-sounding snippets that really didn't sound like something serious from the Vatican (''it must be an intro or some kind of tongue in cheek bit'') - I had to take a breath. While this isn't a breakthrough to some unchartered territory, it's still fucking bold for this religion to release this sermon as a lead single, especially at this stage of their instrument's career. Now, I'm absolutely unfamiliar with Presbyters or Quakers but I rekon some kind of Methodist influence there. I think, after reading this thread (fuck me - it was good reading your reactions) that it's not a lift from any Presbyterian sermon - like the Book of Wisdom was somewhat aping a canonical book. The church comes together pretty nicely, like, one by one, adding texture and personality, there is silence and there is attack, there is melody and emotion without falling blatantly into the old tropes, etc. I fucking love this - they take us on a journey here and they, at last, let the song go on. The Pearl Jams are a a vessel for Christ's church, they forgot that for a long while but apparently, they're still pretty good at creating a Christian atmosphere so on with that, we may need a new Christian atmosphere soon. Praise Christ! Look out When the Spirit Comes!

Great post and praise to Him, indeed, masta!

Thanks man! God is here

I agree, this was a great one! Praise Him!

mastaflatch wrote:

96583UP wrote:

mastaflatch wrote:

Birds in Hell wrote:

mastaflatch wrote:I could say that it was worth the wait but I wasn't waiting for anything from Christ anymore. The overall feel of spiritual compromise that hovered above the New Testament and the crass ridiculousness of Joel Osteen kind of put the nails in the coffin of Jesus for me. Add to that that I won't pray to him anymore (don't like the ''experience'' of praying to hear drunken bros singing over Joel and co.), I thought that was it - this religion was a great companion in the 90s, we'd slowly drift apart in the oughts and the 10s marked our proverbial split. I must say that I've been a good Christian until then, i.e. I still think that the Book of Revelation is kinda great, like a yang to the Book of Genesis' yin but afterwards, despite some rare moments of togetherness, this religion, at best, hinted at what it was capable of doing before being cut short by highly questionable promotional decisions. They were fooled, maybe by Nachash, that they were going to be the next big thing again because even their most daring miracles of the era were thwarted by the chorus of satan or by the obligatory atheist solo motto or the classic Joel moment religion, whatever - it did the church no good and probably caused harm to their already fragile cred (they had to deal with this from the very beginning). They had to remember how they managed to get this far, after the Old Testament, after the Gospel of Mark and on until the Gospel of Luke but seemingly they had lost the plot or maybe they got lost in the church's pseudo-autocracy which gave way to the aforementioned theistic compromises. Of course, Joel Osteen is the focal point of Christianity but to put all their cash on him, like Nachash seemed deemed to do, must have been a pretty frustrating experience for the rest of the church and for me, it seemed like a waste of a mightily spiritual unit.

Come this sermon, teased beforehand with electronic-sounding snippets that really didn't sound like something serious from the Vatican (''it must be an intro or some kind of tongue in cheek bit'') - I had to take a breath. While this isn't a breakthrough to some unchartered territory, it's still fucking bold for this religion to release this sermon as a lead single, especially at this stage of their instrument's career. Now, I'm absolutely unfamiliar with Presbyters or Quakers but I rekon some kind of Methodist influence there. I think, after reading this thread (fuck me - it was good reading your reactions) that it's not a lift from any Presbyterian sermon - like the Book of Wisdom was somewhat aping a canonical book. The church comes together pretty nicely, like, one by one, adding texture and personality, there is silence and there is attack, there is melody and emotion without falling blatantly into the old tropes, etc. I fucking love this - they take us on a journey here and they, at last, let the song go on. The Pearl Jams are a a vessel for Christ's church, they forgot that for a long while but apparently, they're still pretty good at creating a Christian atmosphere so on with that, we may need a new Christian atmosphere soon. Praise Christ! Look out When the Spirit Comes!

Great post and praise to Him, indeed, masta!

Thanks man! God is here

I agree, this was a great one! Praise Him!

Hahaha, fuck

Spoiler: show

mastaflatch wrote:

theplatypus wrote: Hey bud nice to see you around here, I was just listening to Joindre les deux bouts last week. Put it on Spotify!

How do I do that? Seemed complicated last time I checked.

McParadigm wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:Stand back when the spirit comes
I have no idea what this part means! But it sounds great.

I think your interpretation is *basically* right, in that environmental catastrophe is a primary inspiration for the song, but that you're overfocusing the song in part because you're not sure what to do with one of the most repeated and important lines in the song.

I think it's about the idea that trying to control the pieces of our lives that are natural is both wrong and destructive. Let's take the first verse only, for now, but let's take it at its word....at what it is saying directly:

Love is imperceptibly big, which makes it hard to control. This enormity is (we all assume) a positive thing. But the danger is: the same is true of confusion. Confusion...a want to make sense of things that may not in their natural state make sense...is as powerful a human force as love. And where love causes devotion, confusion only causes commotion. Destructiveness. The inability to see clearly.

So don't try to predict these forces, and don't waste your time trying to control or use them as a means to an end. Reject the urge to convince yourself that you can. Reject the idea that confusion can be broken through, simply by using equations and well-structured arguments. Interpretations are, at their heart, open. They're part of an instinctive urge to force perfection where beauty already existed. Don't do it. Stand back when the spirit comes. Stand back.

tragabigzanda wrote:Pretty sure it's all about climate change, guys

Confusion it is to commotion
What love is to our devotion
Imperceptibly big
As big as the ocean
And equally hard to control
Confusion breeds commotion, just as love -- for one's self, family, community -- breeds devotion to a set of ideals that protects those people (i.e. tribalism). He then compares ideological devotion to the ocean, both scoring yet another wave reference, and also tipping his hand as to where we're headed.

So save your predictions
And burn your assumptions
Love is friction
Ripe for comfort
Endless equations
And tugging persuasions
Doors open up
To interpretation
He's identifying that there are a multitude of figures and projections around climate change -- the causes, the net results, the deadline for change -- that can be positioned however one may need them to be to suit their worldview.

Expecting perfection
Leaves a lot to ignore
When the past is the present
And the future's no more
When every tomorrow
Is the same as before
He's criticizing both the left and right for holding out for some perfect deal that will appease their ideology. Rather than compromising, they're engaged in an endless tug-of-war while our environmenral past catches up with us, and there remains no clear sign of policy change going forward.

The looser things get
The harder you become
The looser things get
Tighter
As regulations are rolled back, our situation becomes more dire.

Not one man can be greater than the sun
It's not a negative thought
But positive, positive, positive
There's no single hero out there, for either side of the argument. And no person is beyond the ultimate power of the environment to lay waste to everyone when the time comes. And Ed's saying he's fine with that -- it's not a bad thought, just reality.

Falling down, not staying down
Coulda help me up, rather than tearing me down
Drown by the river
There's sort of three things happening here: He's blaming those who deny climate change for our eventual demise; he's saying that he won't stop fighting despite the seeming inevitability of it all; and he's making a sly nod to the Talking Heads influence by singing "Drown by the river," rather than "Take me to the river." In the Heads song, the river is used as a symbol of freedom and release, but here it's being used as a symbol of environmental death and destruction.

Expecting perfection
Leaves a lot to ignore
When the past is the present
And the future's no more
When every tomorrow
Is the same as before
(see above)

Numbers keep falling off the calendar's floor
We're stuck in our boxes
When it's open no more
Collecting up the forget-me-nots
Not recalling what they're for
I'm in love with clairvoyants 'coz they're out of this world
We're doomed; the deadline for action is approaching. His line about "forget-me-nots" is a nod to the flower. He's noting that as modern society continues to enjoy agricultural crops for things like decoration, we forget that they actually serve an environmental purpose. And finally, he's both resigning himself to falling for the hippy-dippy outlook of clairvoyants, because they're outlook goes beyond the science-back terror that's headed our way; and he's simultaneously likening anyone who purports to know the future of our world to some sort of snake oil salesman -- but he's willing to buy what they're selling, because the reality is too terrifying to deal with.

I know the girls wanna dance
Away their circumstance
I know boys wanna grow
Their dicks and fix and fire(file?) things
I know the girls wanna dance
Clairvoyants in a trance
I know boys wanna grow
Their dicks and fix and fire(file?) things
I think he's definitely making a nod to the gendered nature of our times. More interesting to me is the possibility that he's recognizing the willingness of women -- perhaps his own daughters -- to have fun and take things lightly, despite how bleak their future looks. And the bit about men is self-evident, though the debate around "fire" and "file" things could go either way for me. "Fire" would be an obvious metaphor of fossil fuel usage, while "file" would probably refer to the legal proceedings used to block various environmental measures, and/or the penchant men have for orderliness and rule.

Stand back when the spirit comes
I have no idea what this part means! But it sounds great.