Red Mosquito

oneway23 wrote:

stip wrote:

oneway23 wrote:

Ms Harmless wrote:I find discussion about the song interesting when it's, you know, about the song

We haven't yet squeezed every conceivable angle out of this pretty decent song?
Can it even be called a late-career highlight?
It's been squeezed so dry even stip is tired of typing about it.

Don't worry. I'm just resting.

I would love it so much if you hyped your DM review to a feverish crescendo, only for it to be a dozen words total, and then made us all wait two to three months for the real meal.

bodysnatcher wrote:goddammit oneway

stip wrote:As the songs lyrics have settled in a bit the elements that really stick out to me are the verses, which have a slight air of mystery and discovery that I find compelling. Like a surprising self-diagnosis. I'm slightly disappointed in the Arrested the press sequence (delivery is good) just because it disrupts that flow and I like when Eddie's writing has a clear format with variations in each iteration (like the I Am Mine chorus).

But the chorus is really the highlight for me - the Vedderisms are good (it's strange these days when everyone else pays for someone else's mistakes is a very Eddie line), and the 'the blame takes shape' sequence is a nice riff on the dark matter imagery - something significant forming out of something substanceless and hidden - the invisible becoming visible, and how empowering it is to even see it, even if you can't do anything about it yet.

It's an idea that runs through a lot of their catalog - a legacy of their interest in Daniel Quinn for a while.

guitar_davey wrote:

stip wrote:As the songs lyrics have settled in a bit the elements that really stick out to me are the verses, which have a slight air of mystery and discovery that I find compelling. Like a surprising self-diagnosis. I'm slightly disappointed in the Arrested the press sequence (delivery is good) just because it disrupts that flow and I like when Eddie's writing has a clear format with variations in each iteration (like the I Am Mine chorus).

But the chorus is really the highlight for me - the Vedderisms are good (it's strange these days when everyone else pays for someone else's mistakes is a very Eddie line), and the 'the blame takes shape' sequence is a nice riff on the dark matter imagery - something significant forming out of something substanceless and hidden - the invisible becoming visible, and how empowering it is to even see it, even if you can't do anything about it yet.

It's an idea that runs through a lot of their catalog - a legacy of their interest in Daniel Quinn for a while.

Do you mean that the "arrested the press" couplet is thematically jarring within the context of the song? I especially like that part.

Spoiler: show

it's a song about recovering agency

stip wrote:

guitar_davey wrote:

stip wrote:As the songs lyrics have settled in a bit the elements that really stick out to me are the verses, which have a slight air of mystery and discovery that I find compelling. Like a surprising self-diagnosis. I'm slightly disappointed in the Arrested the press sequence (delivery is good) just because it disrupts that flow and I like when Eddie's writing has a clear format with variations in each iteration (like the I Am Mine chorus).

But the chorus is really the highlight for me - the Vedderisms are good (it's strange these days when everyone else pays for someone else's mistakes is a very Eddie line), and the 'the blame takes shape' sequence is a nice riff on the dark matter imagery - something significant forming out of something substanceless and hidden - the invisible becoming visible, and how empowering it is to even see it, even if you can't do anything about it yet.

It's an idea that runs through a lot of their catalog - a legacy of their interest in Daniel Quinn for a while.

Do you mean that the "arrested the press" couplet is thematically jarring within the context of the song? I especially like that part.

No, it's thematically appropriate. I've got no problem with the lyrics as lyrics. But otherwise there is a common structure of

*Action taken against me
*Action taken against me
*....dark matter

a growing awareness of the ways in which they are being victimized and abused, and the language is internalizing and intimate.

Steal the light from our eyes
Drain the blood from our hearts
In all of this dark matter
Take the breath from our chest
Break the thoughts in our mind
We're losing time, dark matter


It's important that he's using we/us/our language - it's a political song and there is solidarity in being abused/mistreated.

The next time this shows up it's dealing more with social relationships between each other, but it follows the same structure.

Eroding away
We're pulling apart
In all of this dark matter

and then we get


I once heard it said
And it stuck in my head
Arrested the press
No one knows what happened next

which works in the context of the song's ideas - it's almost a concrete example of dark matter at work. But it does (for me) disrupt the flow and structure that had defined the verses earlier. I'd like another sequence like the ones we had gotten, or just abandoning the structure entirely for more concrete examples in part 1 and two. That it's not a three line sequence is also a little jarring.

Again, no problem with them as lyrics, but I personally really like it when lyrics are variations on a common structure, and I think Eddie does that well.

stip wrote:beats answering work e-mails

guitar_davey wrote:

stip wrote:

guitar_davey wrote:

stip wrote:As the songs lyrics have settled in a bit the elements that really stick out to me are the verses, which have a slight air of mystery and discovery that I find compelling. Like a surprising self-diagnosis. I'm slightly disappointed in the Arrested the press sequence (delivery is good) just because it disrupts that flow and I like when Eddie's writing has a clear format with variations in each iteration (like the I Am Mine chorus).

But the chorus is really the highlight for me - the Vedderisms are good (it's strange these days when everyone else pays for someone else's mistakes is a very Eddie line), and the 'the blame takes shape' sequence is a nice riff on the dark matter imagery - something significant forming out of something substanceless and hidden - the invisible becoming visible, and how empowering it is to even see it, even if you can't do anything about it yet.

It's an idea that runs through a lot of their catalog - a legacy of their interest in Daniel Quinn for a while.

Do you mean that the "arrested the press" couplet is thematically jarring within the context of the song? I especially like that part.

No, it's thematically appropriate. I've got no problem with the lyrics as lyrics. But otherwise there is a common structure of

*Action taken against me
*Action taken against me
*....dark matter

a growing awareness of the ways in which they are being victimized and abused, and the language is internalizing and intimate.

Steal the light from our eyes
Drain the blood from our hearts
In all of this dark matter
Take the breath from our chest
Break the thoughts in our mind
We're losing time, dark matter


It's important that he's using we/us/our language - it's a political song and there is solidarity in being abused/mistreated.

The next time this shows up it's dealing more with social relationships between each other, but it follows the same structure.

Eroding away
We're pulling apart
In all of this dark matter

and then we get


I once heard it said
And it stuck in my head
Arrested the press
No one knows what happened next

which works in the context of the song's ideas - it's almost a concrete example of dark matter at work. But it does (for me) disrupt the flow and structure that had defined the verses earlier. I'd like another sequence like the ones we had gotten, or just abandoning the structure entirely for more concrete examples in part 1 and two. That it's not a three line sequence is also a little jarring.

Again, no problem with them as lyrics, but I personally really like it when lyrics are variations on a common structure, and I think Eddie does that well.

Appreciate the thoughtful response!

stip wrote:I think it's the idea (broadly) that if you go after the press (in any number of ways) you render abuses of power invisible. It does stick out as the one concrete example in otherwise abstract song. But I read the line as him cynically recalling someone sharing this as a strategy for maintaining power (or unpacking how those in power hold onto it).

it's a very Bush era line. And in the US media consolidation and private ownership is a much bigger problem. It's an odd choice to hang your hat on in this song

bodysnatcher wrote:To be honest this entire thread is fucking boring

guitar_davey wrote:

stip wrote:I think it's the idea (broadly) that if you go after the press (in any number of ways) you render abuses of power invisible. It does stick out as the one concrete example in otherwise abstract song. But I read the line as him cynically recalling someone sharing this as a strategy for maintaining power (or unpacking how those in power hold onto it).

it's a very Bush era line. And in the US media consolidation and private ownership is a much bigger problem. It's an odd choice to hang your hat on in this song

I took it as very Trump/far right specific. Going after the press, even to the point of being very threatening to journalists, seems like an especially trendy tool in their kit these days.

Jorge wrote:One of the comments on the Justin Hawkins video says "Dark Matter" is "like a U2 song but not as good," which is just puzzling to me. Does anyone else think this sounds like... U2?

guitar_davey wrote:

stip wrote:I think it's the idea (broadly) that if you go after the press (in any number of ways) you render abuses of power invisible. It does stick out as the one concrete example in otherwise abstract song. But I read the line as him cynically recalling someone sharing this as a strategy for maintaining power (or unpacking how those in power hold onto it).

it's a very Bush era line. And in the US media consolidation and private ownership is a much bigger problem. It's an odd choice to hang your hat on in this song

I took it as very Trump/far right specific. Going after the press, even to the point of being very threatening to journalists, seems like an especially trendy tool in their kit these days.