Song of the Moment: In My Tree

[lvc]

This is a put on headphones and disappear for a few minutes kind of song. What Stone does in the bridge is perfect. I always mean to learn whatever chord voicings he uses there but never have. I'd put what Mike does in the outro just behind the Wishlist solo as the perfect illustration that he's way more musical than a mere shredder. Simple but exactly right. I love the way Jack's toms get pushed forward a little more each time in the gaps between Eddie's lines in the last verse until they're just about distorting the speakers.

And speaking of the last verse, the line "let's say knowledge is a tree; it's growing up just like me" hits a lot different when you're 40+ that 20+. I'm older now than the Eddie Vedder who's singing. To me, the song changed from retreating and restoring your confidence in who you are to become more about coming to terms with yourself, flaws and all (even the flaws you didn't know you had until life drew them out). And knowing as long as you're willing to see your flaws and the way the affect people you love, you can keep growing. So this song hits me in a place not a lot of other songs hit me.

[lvc]

This song still means the world to me. Easily one of my top 5 all time favorite songs by any artist. And it seems to mean more to me and have greater impact as time passes, which is rare.

Knowledge was a tree and it grew up just like you.

[Ms Harmless]

I WAVE TO ALL MYYYYYYY FRIEEEEEENDS, YEAH

[Farmer John]

I WAVE TO ALL MYYYYYYY FRIEEEEEENDS, YEAH

Huh, I didn't seem to notice.

[Ms Harmless]

I WAVE TO ALL MYYYYYYY FRIEEEEEENDS, YEAH

Huh, I didn't seem to notice.

NO.... NO

[mikejasond]

WHY does Eddie have such trouble with pitch now? Ive been introducing my gf to the discography so Ive been also looking at some of the old live versions. THEY ARE ALL SO GOOD. And then I look at 2024 and it's just.....why? So again a comparison video.....




I know his voice isn't perfect on the old clips always, usually when he goes out of tune it's because he's singing with so much aggression/passion.... but he's so much closer to in-tune than the 2024 clips where Eddie drifts flat on like every note. HOW has he gotten so bad at pitch? It's like he's almost NEVER in tune all the way anymore. I mean his tone sounds good on some parts of this but his pitch is awful in this whole song.....

[BootsToAsses]

I don't know what to say. You seem really really obsessed with how Ed is sounding these days. He's getting older, his voice isn't quite what it was in the 90s. That's pretty much all there is to it.

I think having access to every single live show has ruined our brains a little. We examine every last note rather than just enjoying the shows.

Compared to other singers 30+ years into their career I think Ed still sounds pretty great overall.

Maybe I'm easily pleased but I think he sounds good on this one so far this year.

[Kalevi]

I think that 2nd IMT is better than plenty from 2003. The first one might be the best one ive heard.

[Kevin Davis]

The first one might bw the best one ive heard.

The Irons Effect

[Kalevi]

The first one might bw the best one ive heard.

The Irons Effect

His run with this song was too short.

[track11]

Yeah, for me the main reason for this song never achieving lift-off post 1996 is that Matt just can’t make this kind of pattern work. Same with Who You Are. Boggles my mind, because in Soundgarden he could do everything, but especially live In My Tree just sounds flat with him.

[mikejasond]

I don't know what to say. You seem really really obsessed with how Ed is sounding these days. He's getting older, his voice isn't quite what it was in the 90s. That's pretty much all there is to it.

I think having access to every single live show has ruined our brains a little. We examine every last note rather than just enjoying the shows.

Compared to other singers 30+ years into their career I think Ed still sounds pretty great overall.

Maybe I'm easily pleased but I think he sounds good on this one so far this year.

You're right, Im surely dwelling too much - revisiting their discography and their old live clips always gives me this feeling lol, Im introducing my girlfriend to their music and we watched the MTV Unplugged, and it made her get excited to see them in September but it just made me think how much it's different now. It's so hard not to dwell on it when watching those amazing live clips, especially because I got into them when Backspacer was out, a bit before Lightning Bolt, and so I missed this era of the band completely. With how amazing their shows have beens since 2013 when Ive gone, I can only imagine how amazing it was seeing them live THEN. My mind can't fathom it.

But also its not even just the voice or his range, I don't get why his PITCH has suffered so much. That seems to be worsening because that in my tree clip his tone is ok but the pitch is flat on almost every single note of the song

[mikejasond]

Yeah, for me the main reason for this song never achieving lift-off post 1996 is that Matt just can’t make this kind of pattern work. Same with Who You Are. Boggles my mind, because in Soundgarden he could do everything, but especially live In My Tree just sounds flat with him.

Yeah, I don't know...Matt was actually pretty good from 2000-2006 but he seemed to kinda stop trying at some point in the last ten years

[RockPusher]

The first one might bw the best one ive heard.

The Irons Effect

His run with this song was too short.

I always want to hear this song live, and then when I hear live versions I'm always disappointed with Matt's drumming. Matt is a great drummer, and I know he could drum it like Jack if he wanted to. Why don't you want to, Matt?

[RockPusher]

With how amazing their shows have beens since 2013 when Ive gone, I can only imagine how amazing it was seeing them live THEN. My mind can't fathom it.

Let me help with this. As someone who has seen them live thru most of their various eras, the highs are the same. What I feel during the best parts of a PJ show now is the same thing I felt during the best parts of a PJ show in 1993. As for the other side of it, there were always lows. In the very beginning, people complained about him talking too much, and even back then he would get drunk and forget lyrics. The band played sloppy on some nights and tight on others. The miracle is that they are still that band. And part of that miracle is that somehow, apparently without doing much to take care of his voice (though I don't believe him when he says that, file under rock star bravado), Ed still can sing a Pearl Jam song. Yeah, he may need some tune downs, he may avoid some high notes, and he may crater into your perceived flatness at times, but he is in no way mailing it in, and his voice is still beautiful. Maybe the absolute apex we could have hoped for was that Ed and the band could age as well as Bruce and the E Street Band. I don't think they're that far behind, and they are doing it in a much looser style befitting their legacy (Bruce is controlling the hell out of everything which means one night is much like another).

[Kevin Davis]

I first saw PJ in 2000 (St. Louis) and saw them for what is probably the last time in 2016 (Wrigley). In person, the difference between the best and worst shows is marginal -- I would be hard-pressed to pick favorite or least favorite shows based on the experience of attending in person. They're always great. The recordings are a different story and I think MJD is dead accurate in a lot of his observations. Absolutely they've always had good nights and bad nights, good performances and bad performances, but to me it is abundantly clear that there is a baseline capacity/quality difference between earlier/middle-period shows and more recent ones. It's not surprising, they're in their '60's. And I too am thankful they're still around.

[Kalevi]

I think the Saratoga 2000 one is a good Matt IMT

[Ms Harmless]

Yeah, for me the main reason for this song never achieving lift-off post 1996 is that Matt just can’t make this kind of pattern work. Same with Who You Are. Boggles my mind, because in Soundgarden he could do everything, but especially live In My Tree just sounds flat with him.

Yeah, I don't know...Matt was actually pretty good from 2000-2006 but he seemed to kinda stop trying at some point in the last ten years

I don't understand it

[E.H. Ruddock]

Because Matt knows it isn’t as great a song as others so he doesn’t try

[epilogue]