Red Mosquito

Rearviewmirror vs. Oceans vs. Once

Vote for your favorite.

Voting ends 3/5 at 8 PMish

Once is a great song, and despite the fact that it SHOULD feel slightly silly and dated, everyone gives such a committed performance it still works. And Oceans is gorgeous. But Rearviewmirror would probably be the best song Eddie ever wrote if not for the fact that he also wrote Corduroy. He writes with such empathy and with a refusal to judge. One of the things that makes Eddie such a great writer, in his best moments, is that he is first and foremost looking to understand. And the outro is one of the most intense moments in the catalog.

Even though this bracket also has Animal, Alive, and Jeremy - three songs long overdue for a MM victory, I think I'm rooting for RVM to take the whole thing. It gets my vote.

If RVM hasn’t already won this thing, we’ve been doing something wrong.

stip wrote:Once is a great song, and despite the fact that it SHOULD feel slightly silly and dated, everyone gives such a committed performance it still works. And Oceans is gorgeous. But Rearviewmirror would probably be the best song Eddie ever wrote if not for the fact that he also wrote Corduroy. He writes with such empathy and with a refusal to judge. One of the things that makes Eddie such a great writer, in his best moments, is that he is first and foremost looking to understand. And the outro is one of the most intense moments in the catalog.

Even though this bracket also has Animal, Alive, and Jeremy - three songs long overdue for a MM victory, I think I'm rooting for RVM to take the whole thing. It gets my vote.

Refusal to judge? Really I completely disagree. Ten through Binaural I would say he had a knack of using sarcasm and satire to make a point even humor at times. The examples are endless this starts to wane on Riot Act, but still is his primary catalyst. S/T comes along and bang he's full preaching it a much less inventive way to communicate it also marginalized other voices. I as a critic would say RvM is a top 3 Ed song so I agree with that take. As far as empathy this is obviously a non contrived beautiful part of his spirit. It does guide him. That empathy can easily turn to anger an vitriol and completely goes against his nature.

I'll take Animal or Jeremy any day of the week...

#TeamAnimalorJeremy

Once is a little underrated here.

Oceans is one of my favorites.

Still a vote for RVM. It’s truly great.

All three fantastic, Once was such a powerful song for me growing up, but, it has to be RVM here.
You hurt me this AM, stip....these choices are severe

One thing I like about March Madness is that whenever I think I have an opinion that no one else on this board agrees with, I vote and look, and I'm not the only person who feels that way! Hooray for anonymous voting.

Oceans.

As much as I like all three of these... it really isn't a fair fight. RVM

Tj wrote:

stip wrote:Once is a great song, and despite the fact that it SHOULD feel slightly silly and dated, everyone gives such a committed performance it still works. And Oceans is gorgeous. But Rearviewmirror would probably be the best song Eddie ever wrote if not for the fact that he also wrote Corduroy. He writes with such empathy and with a refusal to judge. One of the things that makes Eddie such a great writer, in his best moments, is that he is first and foremost looking to understand. And the outro is one of the most intense moments in the catalog.

Even though this bracket also has Animal, Alive, and Jeremy - three songs long overdue for a MM victory, I think I'm rooting for RVM to take the whole thing. It gets my vote.

Refusal to judge? Really I completely disagree. Ten through Binaural I would say he had a knack of using sarcasm and satire to make a point even humor at times. The examples are endless this starts to wane on Riot Act, but still is his primary catalyst. S/T comes along and bang he's full preaching it a much less inventive way to communicate it also marginalized other voices. I as a critic would say RvM is a top 3 Ed song so I agree with that take. As far as empathy this is obviously a non contrived beautiful part of his spirit. It does guide him. That empathy can easily turn to anger an vitriol and completely goes against his nature.

I am not saying the songs don't have a moral point, or that there isn't a point of view or even an argument that he wants to make, but the songs are primarily about understanding, not judging. there are exceptions (Glorified G) but they are few and far between really until maybe Binaural. Even self-destructive behaviors and abusive relationships are generally explored from a place of trying to understand why someone would make those choices, or subject themselves to them, rather than trying to score points through moral posturing. It's a compelling approach

Oceans and Once are both fine songs but they don't get close to RVM.

True story, I once forgot that RVM existed.

What does that even mean?

From the bridge through the end of RVM could be Pearl Jam’s absolute peak.

wease wrote:What does that even mean?

That RVM and Dissident are basically the same song in my head, and I don't really care for either.

B wrote:

wease wrote:What does that even mean?

That RVM and Dissident are basically the same song in my head, and I don't really care for either.

Both clauses in this sentence make zero sense to me.

I mean, I understand what you're saying. I just think you're crazy.

That's entirely possible, but there are 13 votes for Oceans, so I've found my people.

Oceans is a great song.

Rearview mirror wins!