Song of the Moment: Mind Your Manners

[harmless]

this is my favorite eddie vocal since binaural era.

It's really quite reminiscent of both Brain of J and DTE. How cool would it be to get a DTE-style video? I doubt we will but I can dream.

I had another possible WTF "lightning bolt" revelation last night, about Backspacer, but I'm not sure I'm ready to make it public yet.

this is a safe place, friend.

It's more specifically about the Richard Cheese-style Fixer video.

Listening to this song and looking at the concepts which seem to be surfacing around "Lightning Bolt", I'm now wondering whether the whole Fixer Target video was a... fun, silly, not-to-be-taken-seriously, deliberately-ham-fisted and terribly executed joke. Maybe Pearl Jam found it hilarious to make. Can someone view it again with that mindset and see if there's any chance I'm right?

Nah, I don't think they were like "lol guys we just made a bunch of money but as a jk.". Sorry harmy.

Nah, it's OK. You're right. It was stupid.

I think it's pretty clear that they're not really taking the video seriously (or that it's meant to be a bit fun and silly). Deliberately ham fisted I couldn't say. Probably not.

The actual truth has got to be somewhere between the two. They were happy with the deal, and the dough(nut), but had to do this stupid video and I like to think they knew it was stupid but did it anyway.

[stip]

that makes sense

[digster]

It's not necessarily a big deal in itself, but I don't really see anything about The Fixer video that would make me think they're viewing it with a wink and a nod, unfortunately.

[stip]

did you just watch it?

[harmless]

It's not necessarily a big deal in itself, but I don't really see anything about The Fixer video that would make me think they're viewing it with a wink and a nod, unfortunately.

Not even just... yanno, The Fixer video?

[WtOB?]

I think they thought the Fixer and its video was them being cool and finally doing what everyone always wanted them to do.

[stip]

the band is hamming it up. Eddie doesn't seem to know what to do with himself at first, and then seems to relax and decide to dive into the role.

[stip]

I think they thought the Fixer and its video was them being cool and finally doing what everyone always wanted them to do.

i think you may have missed the joke.

Not that it was a funny joke, mind you

[stip]

just watch it harmless, and decide for yourself.

Watch it without sound, actually. It's easier to tell.

[WtOB?]

I think they thought the Fixer and its video was them being cool and finally doing what everyone always wanted them to do.

i think you may have missed the joke.

Not that it was a funny joke, mind you

Who's doing the joking here?

[harmless]

just watch it harmless, and decide for yourself.

Watch it without sound, actually. It's easier to tell.

I always watch Pearl Jam with the sound off and late at night.

[harmless]

I think they thought the Fixer and its video was them being cool and finally doing what everyone always wanted them to do.

i think you may have missed the joke.

Not that it was a funny joke, mind you

Who's doing the joking here?

Target, clearly.

[harmless]

I just think, right, if you were a journalist, and Ed liked you, and you went up to him and said "Now, I want to talk about The Fixer video", I can imagine him smirking and saying "LOL, oh that."

[stip]

I think they thought the Fixer and its video was them being cool and finally doing what everyone always wanted them to do.

i think you may have missed the joke.

Not that it was a funny joke, mind you

Who's doing the joking here?

like was said above, I think they're laughing at themselves for the absurdity of it, and trying to have fun with what they're being asked to do.

Adam, these guys have made videos. They perform in front of tens of thousands of people whenever they want. What rock god fantasy do you think they're living out filming a TV commercial in front of a room of strangers being paid to be there?

[WtOB?]

I think they thought the Fixer and its video was them being cool and finally doing what everyone always wanted them to do.

i think you may have missed the joke.

Not that it was a funny joke, mind you

Who's doing the joking here?

like was said above, I think they're laughing at themselves for the absurdity of it, and trying to have fun with what they're being asked to do.

Adam, these guys have made videos. They perform in front of tens of thousands of people whenever they want. What rock god fantasy do you think they're living out filming a TV commercial in front of a room of strangers being paid to be there?

I asked because I didn't know if you meant you two were joking or if you were talking about the band.

I don't think it's their fantasy they were living out, it was what they thought the public's fantasy was. I think they (and Brendan O'Brien) thought the public were going to be overjoyed that they dropped the anti-corporate message and were doing a fun video, ad, big venues. "Finally they are doing cool normal music again!" the public would exclaim, "I can grab the record next time I'm at Target buying nappies!". The public is gonna love us, we're finally doing what everyone wants us to do. I can't wait to see the cash come in.

I just don't think they are self-aware enough to actually know how cheesy that vid was. They released a whole album pretty much as cheesy as it and there was a lot of other very cheesy things going on in 2009 too, are you suggesting they were all making fun of themselves too? I certainly don't think they were taking themselves as seriously as they once did, but I don't think they were actively making fun of themselves. I just think they got old and out of touch and thought it was cool.

[spike]

ed and the gang aren't doing anything performance wise in the video that they don't normally do, it just seems hammy because of the ridiculous camera work and because the fixer is a pretty silly song.

[harmless]

I think they thought the Fixer and its video was them being cool and finally doing what everyone always wanted them to do.

i think you may have missed the joke.

Not that it was a funny joke, mind you

Who's doing the joking here?

like was said above, I think they're laughing at themselves for the absurdity of it, and trying to have fun with what they're being asked to do.

Adam, these guys have made videos. They perform in front of tens of thousands of people whenever they want. What rock god fantasy do you think they're living out filming a TV commercial in front of a room of strangers being paid to be there?

I asked because I didn't know if you meant you two were joking or if you were talking about the band.

I don't think it's their fantasy they were living out, it was what they thought the public's fantasy was. I think they (and Brendan O'Brien) thought the public were going to be overjoyed that they dropped the anti-corporate message and were doing a fun video, ad, big venues. "Finally they are doing cool normal music again!" the public would exclaim, "I can grab the record next time I'm at Target buying nappies!". The public is gonna love us, we're finally doing what everyone wants us to do. I can't wait to see the cash come in.

I just don't think they are self-aware enough to actually know how cheesy that vid was. They released a whole album pretty much as cheesy as it and there was a lot of other very cheesy things going on in 2009 too, are you suggesting they were all making fun of themselves too? I certainly don't think they were taking themselves as seriously as they once did, but I don't think they were actively making fun of themselves. I just think they got old and out of touch and thought it was cool.

There's a wide gulf between appreciating the irony of what they're doing and going for it just for the laughs, and "making fun of themselves". Sure, they wanted to make a lighter record and do lighter record-style things. But I don't think it's a simple case of everyone's either being serious or a total parody. Most good humorous or even light-hearted music, falls somewhere in between.

[stip]

I think they thought the Fixer and its video was them being cool and finally doing what everyone always wanted them to do.

i think you may have missed the joke.

Not that it was a funny joke, mind you

Who's doing the joking here?

like was said above, I think they're laughing at themselves for the absurdity of it, and trying to have fun with what they're being asked to do.

Adam, these guys have made videos. They perform in front of tens of thousands of people whenever they want. What rock god fantasy do you think they're living out filming a TV commercial in front of a room of strangers being paid to be there?

I asked because I didn't know if you meant you two were joking or if you were talking about the band.

I don't think it's their fantasy they were living out, it was what they thought the public's fantasy was. I think they (and Brendan O'Brien) thought the public were going to be overjoyed that they dropped the anti-corporate message and were doing a fun video, ad, big venues. "Finally they are doing cool normal music again!" the public would exclaim, "I can grab the record next time I'm at Target buying nappies!". The public is gonna love us, we're finally doing what everyone wants us to do. I can't wait to see the cash come in.

I just don't think they are self-aware enough to actually know how cheesy that vid was. They released a whole album pretty much as cheesy as it and there was a lot of other very cheesy things going on in 2009 too, are you suggesting they were all making fun of themselves too? I certainly don't think they were taking themselves as seriously as they once did, but I don't think they were actively making fun of themselves. I just think they got old and out of touch and thought it was cool.

I think you're reading a bit too much of your dislike of backspacer into it. Backspacer is not an album that takes itself super seriously, for the most part. It's not an album made by people who want to declare themselves Rock Gods. The Fixer is celebrating its own absurdity. It has a song called johnny guitar and is about fantasizing about an album cover. It's a fairly self aware album. Watch the video and look at their faces. It's a mix of being really uncomfortable and then smirking at the ridiculousness of this. No one outside of the target corporate exec focus group could have possibly thought this was cool

I'm not saying that they set out to sabotage the video by making it ridiculous. I do think they realized they were contractually obligated to do something stupid, and so tried to at least laugh at themselves a little bit while they did.

[harmless]

I keep thinking they're just "old and out of touch", and then hearing something a bit later on that makes me think "Hold on, maybe they're more savvy than I thought and really are just having a laugh." Again, this feeling of thinking they've done something awful and then wondering whether I was wrong, it's followed me all through my time as a fan. So I'm having it again now and thinking maybe that's just my PJ experience. This MYM single is fun, it's full of wreckless abandon and silliness almost, but it's also proper hard rock and sounds like a legitimately good rock song. So don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that on Backspacer they'd totally honed what they were trying to do, but I think this new single might be a (better) window into what they were trying to do. And it makes me go 'Oh yeah, that!'

[stip]

ed and the gang aren't doing anything performance wise in the video that they don't normally do, it just seems hammy because of the ridiculous camera work and because the fixer is a pretty silly song.

that is true.