Red Mosquito

Kevin Davis wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:It's like influencer spiritualism in song form.

This is a spot-on description of what this song feels like to me. Not a fan at all.

Honestly I feel the same way about "Seven O'Clock" for the most part.

Wouldn't you say the same navel gazing sentiment can be found in several of their other songs (ex. Present Tense, In My Tree)? I'm willing to look past it because it comes from a seemingly honest place, especially knowing Jeff wrote it.

Yeah, it can. I just don't think the newer songs execute nearly as well. I'm sure it helps that I discovered "Present Tense" et al. when I was 13, when those big new agey sentiments felt a lot more profound.

fuck sake lads i only asked

tragabigzanda wrote:They come from a similar place -- and I dislike Present Tense, In My Tree, and In Hiding for similar reasons -- but Jeff's lyrics are particularly clunky; whereas Eddie's lyrics are more colored by his celebrity and affluence.

They're all generally corny, IMO. "Life is stressful, but you can disappear and everything will feel groovy." Yawn.

That's definitely the message of "In Hiding," and "Present Tense" feels like an even more vapid variation ("Life is stressful, but try this -- don't stress about it!").

"In My Tree" feels like it has a bit of conflict and tension though. There's definitely that same theme of escape, but I think there's also some language that deals with how that distance comes at the expense of being known and seen, and how that can feel isolating even if solitude is something you actively crave. I relate to that sentiment a lot as I get older.

To me all of these songs are carried by the music, the delivery, and how the lyrics and messaging are entangled with both of those things. The Gigaton songs lack that for me. They have a cool vibe, but the lyrics feel like recitations over soundscapes -- not a lot happening melodically to play up that "music of words" effect that you get in songs like "Present Tense."

Kevin Davis wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:It's like influencer spiritualism in song form.

This is a spot-on description of what this song feels like to me. Not a fan at all.

Honestly I feel the same way about "Seven O'Clock" for the most part.

youre quoiting trag. and agreeing with him.


card has been marked.

Eddie has tons of lyrics about escape, especially on No Code and Yield. For me the interesting question is always whether this is an end in itself, or part of some larger journey.

I do think one of the reasons why these albums are less emotionally resonant to me is that Im not that invested in this as an idea

I love all those lyrics but mostly i love what Alright felt at the time it came out with the pandemic at full course.

It felt like it was written at that precise moment, and it felt very fucking cool.

I do think those lyrics are part of a larger journey when taken in the context of their respective albums, and certainly in the context of their whole body of work -- there is definitely a "to everything there is a season" arc to PJ's career lyricswise, a time for looking inward, a time for sounding the call to action, etc., oftentimes all in tandem, but certainly swinging harder to one side or another at different points.

Knowing that 1996 represents a moment of active retreat in the life of the band, where those themes of solitude are a direct response to the experiences of overexposure, lack of privacy, etc. that were paramount to the band's messaging in the mid-90's, I think lends them some validity than they might not have if they were just dippy, standalone musings on existential philosophy, especially knowing that that retreat is something of a secondary response to those same experiences -- the first being the songs on Vitalogy like "Not For You" and "Corduroy" that confronted those feelings in a way that felt a bit more head-on and viscerally reactive. And then knowing that 1998 is the band kind of sticking its head out of the sand again, feeling out what it means to be a visible, accessible band without losing sight of some of the more human needs that they were trying to protect through their mid-'90's pullback, I think lends a similar credence to songs like "In Hiding," again even if the writing itself feels kind of airheaded on its own.

A few years later we get Riot Act, which grapples with the dichotomy of retreating inward when alarm bells are sounding all around you, and then there is S/T which feels like very much like a "call to action" album. Again, there are instances on both of those albums where that call can feel overly simplistic, as if to suggest that a protest march can change the world as simply as climbing a tree can make all your problems go away -- a sentiment that, much like what we know about the band's life at the time of No Code/Yield, is enhanced by the headspace that we know they (especially Eddie) were in during the Bush years.

As they get older and wiser I think the lyrics strike a more natural balance, though the more cerebral approach comes at the expense of some of that unreserved buy-in that makes songs like "Present Tense" feel believable even when you know it's ultimately peddling platitudes.

tragabigzanda wrote:They come from a similar place -- and I dislike Present Tense, In My Tree, and In Hiding for similar reasons -- but Jeff's lyrics are particularly clunky; whereas Eddie's lyrics are more colored by his celebrity and affluence.

They're all generally corny, IMO. "Life is stressful, but you can disappear and everything will feel groovy." Yawn.

maybe you should goa way on occasion and feel groovy. Go get lost at a high alpine lake for a few days! You'll come back a new man. Less grumpy. Promise

tragabigzanda wrote:

Strat wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:They come from a similar place -- and I dislike Present Tense, In My Tree, and In Hiding for similar reasons -- but Jeff's lyrics are particularly clunky; whereas Eddie's lyrics are more colored by his celebrity and affluence.

They're all generally corny, IMO. "Life is stressful, but you can disappear and everything will feel groovy." Yawn.

maybe you should goa way on occasion and feel groovy. Go get lost at a high alpine lake for a few days! You'll come back a new man. Less grumpy. Promise

shut up

also bring the new Jack White and Father John Misty single with you

Kevin Davis wrote:I do think those lyrics are part of a larger journey when taken in the context of their respective albums, and certainly in the context of their whole body of work -- there is definitely a "to everything there is a season" arc to PJ's career lyricswise, a time for looking inward, a time for sounding the call to action, etc., oftentimes all in tandem, but certainly swinging harder to one side or another at different points.

Knowing that 1996 represents a moment of active retreat in the life of the band, where those themes of solitude are a direct response to the experiences of overexposure, lack of privacy, etc. that were paramount to the band's messaging in the mid-90's, I think lends them some validity than they might not have if they were just dippy, standalone musings on existential philosophy, especially knowing that that retreat is something of a secondary response to those same experiences -- the first being the songs on Vitalogy like "Not For You" and "Corduroy" that confronted those feelings in a way that felt a bit more head-on and viscerally reactive. And then knowing that 1998 is the band kind of sticking its head out of the sand again, feeling out what it means to be a visible, accessible band without losing sight of some of the more human needs that they were trying to protect through their mid-'90's pullback, I think lends a similar credence to songs like "In Hiding," again even if the writing itself feels kind of airheaded on its own.

A few years later we get Riot Act, which grapples with the dichotomy of retreating inward when alarm bells are sounding all around you, and then there is S/T which feels like very much like a "call to action" album. Again, there are instances on both of those albums where that call can feel overly simplistic, as if to suggest that a protest march can change the world as simply as climbing a tree can make all your problems go away -- a sentiment that, much like what we know about the band's life at the time of No Code/Yield, is enhanced by the headspace that we know they (especially Eddie) were in during the Bush years.

As they get older and wiser I think the lyrics strike a more natural balance, though the more cerebral approach comes at the expense of some of that unreserved buy-in that makes songs like "Present Tense" feel believable even when you know it's ultimately peddling platitudes.

i generally agree, and i especially tend to elevate or at least appreciate what songs are aiming for contextulaized in the arc of both the album and catalog. and I dont intended to be dismissive. but from my experience as a listener that headspace, that moment, and that idea is less resonant to me than say the messaging of seven oclock. hardly one of my top tier catalog songs (and is even mid tier on the record) but I will go to bat for its lyrics

alright’s issue is that the lyrics arent very good, imo (outside of ed i think stone is generally the more interesting lyricist). its interesting to compare it to something like NAIS, which has a few interesting turns of phrase but also isnt that satisfying to me lyrically. But both of these are vibes songs, and the vibes of NAIS are stellar. Alrights are fine

I listened to Dark Matter and Gigaton back to back on a long road trip yesterday.

Both really worked for me, but Gigaton really slayed. It's such a fantastic record. Every song is strong. No duds.

Working my way through the full catalogue with my 7-year-old, and today on the way to school we had Never Destination. After we heard the second "never destination just more denial" he said, "I don't really like this one. Eddie's singing like he's the trash-can guy from Sesame Street."

lol

that is hilarious.

And accurate

haha!

kids tell it like it is