Red Mosquito

tragabigzanda wrote:The chorus to I Am Mine is one of the most plodding, unimaginative combinations of chords and melody they’ve ever put forth. It bores me to tears before I even consider the bad lyrics.

Future Days is a nice melody with a simple, warm sentiment. I genuinely love the chorus; there’s some interplay of tension/release happening there . The production doesn’t do it any favors but it’s compositionally a far superior song, IMO, and the topic actually resonates with me.

One person's opinion.

I Am Mine is a PJ classic.

tragabigzanda wrote:The chorus to I Am Mine is one of the most plodding, unimaginative combinations of chords and melody they’ve ever put forth. It bores me to tears before I even consider the bad lyrics.

isn't it G>Am>D? I can't even think of another pearl jam song that uses that chord progression. and then it ends on that C chord EV plays alot. i think it's perfect for this song.

tragabigzanda wrote:I like Future Days way more than I Am Mine.

omg

never gonna trust your ears again

warehouse wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:The chorus to I Am Mine is one of the most plodding, unimaginative combinations of chords and melody they’ve ever put forth. It bores me to tears before I even consider the bad lyrics.

isn't it G>Am>D? I can't even think of another pearl jam song that uses that chord progression.

I don't think when he says the chord progression is unimaginative he means that Pearl Jam uses it a lot. It's a I - ii - V progression which is very common. but to me the problem is that it's performed and arranged in a way that feels so plodding and perfunctory

Trag loses me when he goes on to praise "Future Days" which to me is one of the most boring and go-nowhere compositions Ed has ever written but I get what he's saying about the "I Am Mine" chorus

Jorge wrote:

warehouse wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:The chorus to I Am Mine is one of the most plodding, unimaginative combinations of chords and melody they’ve ever put forth. It bores me to tears before I even consider the bad lyrics.

isn't it G>Am>D? I can't even think of another pearl jam song that uses that chord progression.

I don't think when he says the chord progression is unimaginative he means that Pearl Jam uses it a lot. It's a I - ii - V progression which is very common. but to me the problem is that it's performed and arranged in a way that feels so plodding and perfunctory

Trag loses me when he goes on to praise "Future Days" which to me is one of the most boring and go-nowhere compositions Ed has ever written but I get what he's saying about the "I Am Mine" chorus

so this is kinda like the argument about songs in 4 are not as good lol

i think part of the problem with this album for me is EV's voice. i listened to cropduster last night and he sounds like he's falling asleep in the verses. there's certain parts of the song i like a lot, but it's too disjointed for me.

i used to feel that way bout Cropduster too and in a way, i still feel Ed´s approach to that album hurts most of the music.
But i really like it these days for some reason.

tragabigzanda wrote:It’s not about the chord progression or time signature or even just the lyrics. It’s the sum total; the composition. The song is supposed to make me feel a soaring sense of self-respect, of ownership of identity. It makes me feel sleepy.

tragabigzanda wrote:It’s not about the chord progression or time signature or even just the lyrics. It’s the sum total; the composition. The song is supposed to make me feel a soaring sense of self-respect, of ownership of identity. It makes me feel sleepy.

I'm not sure the song is supposed to make you feel a soaring sense of anything. I need to sit with that.

"I Am Mine" is like "Amongst The Waves" (WAIT! I. said. wait...) in that it's often accused of failing to be the stadium rock anthem it's "trying to be", except that it isn't... it should just be appreciated as itself

yes there is some "self empowerment" in the lyrics, but just like on the rest of Riot Act, it's tempered by resignation and melancholy; it's the last wimper of "I did my best and I can at least celebrate that, despite all I lost, I won myself" which is entirely consistent with Riot Act as a whole; grief and gladness in the same breath

tragabigzanda wrote:It’s not about the chord progression or time signature or even just the lyrics. It’s the sum total; the composition. The song is supposed to make me feel a soaring sense of self-respect, of ownership of identity. It makes me feel sleepy.

VinylGuy wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:I like Future Days way more than I Am Mine.

omg

never gonna trust your ears again

I love both, there are no better songs when Ed does them solo.

I love I Am Mine and just wish it had a longer guitar solo that went somewhere.

tragabigzanda wrote:The chorus to I Am Mine is one of the most plodding, unimaginative combinations of chords and melody they’ve ever put forth. It bores me to tears before I even consider the bad lyrics.

Future Days is a nice melody with a simple, warm sentiment. I genuinely love the chorus; there’s some interplay of tension/release happening there . The production doesn’t do it any favors but it’s compositionally a far superior song, IMO, and the topic actually resonates with me.

The worst thing I've read since Mein Kampf

i always felt I Am Mine is more of a folk song w/ electric guitars than an anthem. i also love the intro riff. EV writes the simplest things on guitar but somehow they knock me over.

Ms Harmless wrote:"I Am Mine" is like "Amongst The Waves" (WAIT! I. said. wait...) in that it's often accused of failing to be the stadium rock anthem it's "trying to be", except that it isn't... it should just be appreciated as itself

yes there is some "self empowerment" in the lyrics, but just like on the rest of Riot Act, it's tempered by resignation and melancholy; it's the last wimper of "I did my best and I can at least celebrate that, despite all I lost, I won myself" which is entirely consistent with Riot Act as a whole; grief and gladness in the same breath

tragabigzanda wrote:The chorus to I Am Mine is one of the most plodding, unimaginative combinations of chords and melody they’ve ever put forth. It bores me to tears before I even consider the bad lyrics.

I agree completely. The chorus chord sequence is a major buzzkill and the little melody playing in the background makes it even worse. I've said before that it reminds me of Creed or something...vanilla alterna-rock to the max...but I always get a rash of shit for that. Clearly a lot of people really like that song and won't stand for such blasphemy.

Wendy Carlos's Twin wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:The chorus to I Am Mine is one of the most plodding, unimaginative combinations of chords and melody they’ve ever put forth. It bores me to tears before I even consider the bad lyrics.

I agree completely. The chorus chord sequence is a major buzzkill and the little melody playing in the background makes it even worse. I've said before that it reminds me of Creed or something...vanilla alterna-rock to the max...but I always get a rash of shit for that. Clearly a lot of people really like that song and won't stand for such blasphemy.

I wouldn’t go this far…but I would admit that I really don’t care about the song at all.

Just going to add that I might care more about the song if Mike’s solo was a bit sharper and longer, but it’s also a really bland solo. I had hoped they would fix that live but they play it like it’s on the album.

liebzz wrote:

Wendy Carlos's Twin wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:The chorus to I Am Mine is one of the most plodding, unimaginative combinations of chords and melody they’ve ever put forth. It bores me to tears before I even consider the bad lyrics.

I agree completely. The chorus chord sequence is a major buzzkill and the little melody playing in the background makes it even worse. I've said before that it reminds me of Creed or something...vanilla alterna-rock to the max...but I always get a rash of shit for that. Clearly a lot of people really like that song and won't stand for such blasphemy.

I wouldn’t go this far…but I would admit that I really don’t care about the song at all.

Just going to add that I might care more about the song if Mike’s solo was a bit sharper and longer, but it’s also a really bland solo. I had hoped they would fix that live but they play it like it’s on the album.

I do like how the very end of the song resolves with a little Mike sweetness that just hangs there, similar to Dissident.