Red Mosquito

Voting ends 3/8

Three songs enter. One song leaves.

Out of my mind is the best of those 90s improved songs, and it would have been interesting to see them explore it more fully. 2000 mile blues is just a few minutes of pointless wanking. Last Solider is a simple yet affecting little number that works perfectly in its live stripped down acoustic form. I've always been a big fan and I'm voting for it here.

I really developed a new appreciation for "Last Soldier" when Brad put out his B-sides anthology -- it's a pretty, poignant little acoustic number that really captures the zeitgeist of the "Riot Act" era, the direct, heartfelt simplicity of Mike's lyrics (not a sore spot for once) and melody putting off a Tom Petty vibe that really sits well with that bundle of non-album tracks from that era. Easy vote for me.

I'm gonna have to listen to these 3 I think...

Higgs wrote:I'm gonna have to listen to these 3 I think...

I'd rather not.

Not invested in this one, but, Last Soldier.

Ditch these 3 and bring back In The Moonlight.

Out Of My Mind, I guess

Actually originally went with 2000 Miles as the blues is alright by me, but I changed it to 'Out of My Mind' as that squares it up here, and that's a far more interesting scenario.

Last Soldier's the only one here that's made it out of R1 before - losing against Alive in R2 of 2014.

Last Soldier's a nice little Neil Young or REM-esque folk song. It's unassuming and treats its character with a lot of empathy. I love this line:

And my decision's been made
In some other place
By someone I don't know
And they don't know me

It's a subtle but fairly heavy indictment on the lack of seriousness leaders taking in endangering the soldiers under their care.

Another interesting is how very few PJ songs there are like this; completed songs that remain unreleased. Most bands have a bunch of these, but this is one of the few PJ songs I can think of that they tried out live and seemed completely finished but never found its place.

I didn't remember Last Soldier at all. Just listened to it, and it should win this round. I do like Out Of My Mind though. Dave A. had some nice work on it.