Red Mosquito

Eddie is generally a solid lyricist, with some wonderful moments, who could use an editor as so many songs have 1-2 weak moments. Some of his best moments are abstractions (see tremor Christ) and others are simple declarative statements that cut right to the heart of something profound (if I knew where it was I would take you there...)

where I think we see the divide is with his certainty. When he thinks he knows the answer we get a smug new age spiritualism or judgemental story telling. He writes best when he's working through his own thoughts and isn't sure where he's going to end up.

There are exceptions on both sides, of course

I'd also dispute the claim that his lyrics have gotten worse. Almost all the albums are hit and miss with the exceptions of the universally strong Vitalogy and Binaural. Beyond that every album has a handful of weak lyrics, some great ones, and some average songs with strong moments


And what vitalogy and binaural probably have in common is that Eddie wrote on instinct, due to time restrictions or writers block

I think the last few years he's gotten better...

Present Tense and In Hiding are both great soaring songs....however the lyrics really kill it. They are both awful IMO. It just doesn't sound like a professional song...

And I don't think its JUST the lyrics but the lyrics combined with the melody combined with the background. It just really brings out these lyrics. I don't know what it is, maybe they are just too overly literal, too simple, too Eddie, I dont know...but they are bad. When I listen to a song like Amongst the Waves I dont notice nearly as much.

"It's been about three days now
Since I've been aground
No longer overwhelmed and it seems so simple now
It's funny when things change so much
It's all state of mind"

"You can spend your time alone, redigesting past regrets, oh
or you can come to terms and realize
you're the only one who can't forgive yourself, oh
makes much more sense to live in the present tense"

Its like he's barely trying to write song lyrics, they barely rhyme (or in In Hiding just....don't?) and they just sound like he's talking. They aren't really clever...they're just....so literal.

I think this is when he's at his worst (In My Tree too...any song about these themes!!)

I dont see much of that after the middle albums so I think he got better. Though he was best on the earlier albums like Vitalogy honestly even when the lyrics made no sense.

Its like he's barely trying to write song lyrics, they barely rhyme (or in In Hiding just....don't?) and they just sound like he's talking.

At home,
drawing pictures
of mountaintops
with him on top.
Lemon yellow sun,
arms raised in a v,
and the dead lay
in pools of maroon below.

Son,
She said.
Have I got a little story for you.
What you thought was your daddy
was nothing but a...

It's still there, he just got a bit less obvious about it (which constitutes growth, I suppose)

McParadigm wrote:

Its like he's barely trying to write song lyrics, they barely rhyme (or in In Hiding just....don't?) and they just sound like he's talking.

At home,
drawing pictures
of mountaintops
with him on top.
Lemon yellow sun,
arms raised in a v,
and the dead lay
in pools of maroon below.

Son,
She said.
Have I got a little story for you.
What you thought was your daddy
was nothing but a...

that first verse of Jeremy is great. And honestly so is the first verse of Alive if you don't stop if where she did. Straightforward, but powerful, especially the way the last line responds to what precedes it

Pfft. They don't even rhyme stip. He just sounds like he's talking.

I think the difference is how the vocals play with the background music and the melody and phrasing and everything, its about the overall energy of the song more than anything. Its the WAY he sings it that makes it work....when I think of Jeremy I think of that aggressive edge to his voice, that bass, the little guitar noodling and a very interesting melody (Love the way "wiiiiith him on top" sounds and "The dead laaaay in poools of marooon beloooow"). It has a lot more going for it and I think the lyrics work in context.

Not so on those other songs.

Honestly the beginning of Jeremy is one of the coolest moments in their catalog

mikejasond wrote:I think the difference is how the vocals play with the background music and the melody and phrasing and everything, its about the overall energy of the song more than anything. Its the WAY he sings it that makes it work....when I think of Jeremy I think of that aggressive edge to his voice, that bass, the little guitar noodling and a very interesting melody (Love the way "wiiiiith him on top" sounds and "The dead laaaay in poools of marooon beloooow"). It has a lot more going for it and I think the lyrics work in context.

Not so on those other songs.

The only real difference I can detect between the parts of "Jeremy" and "In Hiding" you're talking about - being that neither of them really rhyme - is tone. "Jeremy" is dark, unsettling, a little aggressive. There's a grim power to it. "In Hiding", on the other hand, is light, even whimsical, which probably emphasizes the "poet" nature of it your ears. Which I get. I think they both work, but the music and vocals stress different qualities. It's not really about the lyrics being worse in one versus the other.

LoathedVermin72 wrote:

mikejasond wrote:I think the difference is how the vocals play with the background music and the melody and phrasing and everything, its about the overall energy of the song more than anything. Its the WAY he sings it that makes it work....when I think of Jeremy I think of that aggressive edge to his voice, that bass, the little guitar noodling and a very interesting melody (Love the way "wiiiiith him on top" sounds and "The dead laaaay in poools of marooon beloooow"). It has a lot more going for it and I think the lyrics work in context.

Not so on those other songs.

The only real difference I can detect between the parts of "Jeremy" and "In Hiding" you're talking about - being that neither of them really rhyme - is tone. "Jeremy" is dark, unsettling, a little aggressive. There's a grim power to it. "In Hiding", on the other hand, is light, even whimsical, which probably emphasizes the "poet" nature of it your ears. Which I get. I think they both work, but the music and vocals stress different qualities. It's not really about the lyrics being worse in one versus the other.

I guess so. To me the Jeremy lyrics sound great to me and I don't hear anything awkward, but in In Hiding that "state of mind" line throws me for a loop and Im like....couldn't think of a rhyme there Eddie? The lyrics are also not very interesting and kind of cheesy which I don't find the Jeremy lyrics to be, though maybe they could have been, if Eddie wasn't totally killing it on the vocals.

The overall messages of songs like In Hiding, Present Tense, and In My Tree just seems kind of cheesy to me especially when the lyrics are so literal and simple.

It's probably just that Jeremy is an inherently dramatic tale, and In Hiding is just about the least dramatic thing ever. In early Pearl Jam it always sounds like the whole world is at stake, and it's a great loss if his pickup doesn't start or someone buys his jacket or whatev. Rarely in late era PJ do they both reach for and achieve that kind of urgency...Getaway has many hallmarks of early PJ but none of the stakes.

good points. When you're dealing with song lyrics (as opposed to straight poetry) the musical accompaniment is a vital part of the story telling

mikejasond wrote: "It's been about three days now
Since I've been aground
No longer overwhelmed and it seems so simple now
It's funny when things change so much
It's all state of mind"

I really enjoy these honestly.

chewm wrote:

mikejasond wrote: "It's been about three days now
Since I've been aground
No longer overwhelmed and it seems so simple now
It's funny when things change so much
It's all state of mind"

I really enjoy these honestly.

Yeah, that's a lot better than all that overblown emoting in Black etc.

McParadigm wrote:

Son,
She said.
Have I got a little story for you.
What you thought was your daddy
was nothing but a...

Well, he DID used to finish that with "mother fucking fool" back in the day. Fool and you sorta rhyme.

wease wrote:

McParadigm wrote:

Son,
She said.
Have I got a little story for you.
What you thought was your daddy
was nothing but a...

Well, he DID used to finish that with "mother fucking fool" back in the day. Fool and you sorta rhyme.

The earliest demos go "what you thought was your daddy was not really your daddy"

Birds in Hell wrote:

chewm wrote:

mikejasond wrote: "It's been about three days now
Since I've been aground
No longer overwhelmed and it seems so simple now
It's funny when things change so much
It's all state of mind"

I really enjoy these honestly.

Yeah, that's a lot better than all that overblown emoting in Black etc.

The in hiding lyrics are terrible

stip wrote:

Birds in Hell wrote:

chewm wrote:

mikejasond wrote: "It's been about three days now
Since I've been aground
No longer overwhelmed and it seems so simple now
It's funny when things change so much
It's all state of mind"

I really enjoy these honestly.

Yeah, that's a lot better than all that overblown emoting in Black etc.

The in hiding lyrics are terrible

Sometimes you are so right, Stip. This isn't one of those times.

theplatypus wrote:

wease wrote:

McParadigm wrote:

Son,
She said.
Have I got a little story for you.
What you thought was your daddy
was nothing but a...

Well, he DID used to finish that with "mother fucking fool" back in the day. Fool and you sorta rhyme.

The earliest demos go "what you thought was your daddy was not really your daddy"

I have a bootleg of a demo from galleria potato head where he says "what you thought was your pappy's son was nothing but a mamason."