Pilate: Thumbs up? Thumbs down? And why?

craigb

DS114969 wrote:

Bridge is one of my favorite parts of a PJ song. Chorus is one of my least fav parts of a PJ song. Overall though, I'll give it a thumbs up. Really depends on my mood though, as sometimes I'll skip it or just FFWD to the bridge LOL.

Couldn't have said it better.

LikeAnOcean

I'm going to get tomatos thrown at me, but..

I've always felt Yield was a compilation of unfinished songs.. Pilate especially.

To me, Wishlist, Pilate, MFC and Low Light feel unfinished. Almost improvised.

Thats my problem with Yield. Other than that, great sound and good album.

dreamweaver

LikeAnOcean wrote:

I'm going to get tomatos thrown at me, but..

I've always felt Yield was a compilation of unfinished songs.. Pilate especially.

To me, Wishlist, Pilate, MFC and Low Light feel unfinished. Almost improvised.

Thats my problem with Yield. Other than that, great sound and good album.

I can see what your saying but only because I know that you've missed the point of these songs...

dreamweaver

PearlJamPatriot wrote:

Never liked this song. "Like Pilate, I have a dog" sounds corny to me. Just my opinion.
"

he's the one, who like's all our pretty songs, and he likes to sing along, but he don't know what it means, don't know what it means....]

LikeAnOcean

dreamweaver wrote:

LikeAnOcean wrote:

I'm going to get tomatos thrown at me, but..

I've always felt Yield was a compilation of unfinished songs.. Pilate especially.

To me, Wishlist, Pilate, MFC and Low Light feel unfinished. Almost improvised.

Thats my problem with Yield. Other than that, great sound and good album.

I can see what your saying but only because I know that you've missed the point of these songs...

What was this point?

dreamweaver

the point is my friend... Yield is an album that has alot of soul searching throughout. I believe it is THE album that has created this connection with their fans on a level they would not achieve without making it. That's why people don't get the record because it doesn't make sense at first, the songs seem bland at first, but once you really think about it and you let yourself completely open up to it.. it really is something very very special.

LikeAnOcean

dreamweaver wrote:

the point is my friend... Yield is an album that has alot of soul searching throughout. I believe it is THE album that has created this connection with their fans on a level they would not achieve without making it. That's why people don't get the record because it doesn't make sense at first, the songs seem bland at first, but once you really think about it and you let yourself completely open up to it.. it really is something very very special.

Oh, I really thought about it, and opened up to it, about 11 years ago.. Don't get me wrong, its a great album and given Pearl Jam's record their most up lifting..

Kilgore_Trout

dreamweaver wrote:

LikeAnOcean wrote:

I'm going to get tomatos thrown at me, but..

I've always felt Yield was a compilation of unfinished songs.. Pilate especially.

To me, Wishlist, Pilate, MFC and Low Light feel unfinished. Almost improvised.

Thats my problem with Yield. Other than that, great sound and good album.

I can see what your saying but only because I know that you've missed the point of these songs...

how wonderfully pretentious :geek:

people are allowed to understand and not like it

personally its my favorite album of PJ's but theres no need to make people feel dumb if its not

dreamweaver

I only feel that if they know more about it, then they will love it... I only know that from my own trials with the unknown

to say the songs are incomplete is wrong, they are what they are. and they are like full grown plants

LikeAnOcean

dreamweaver wrote:

to say the songs are incomplete is wrong, they are what they are. and they are like full grown plants

Of course they are complete songs, but for me, personally, they feel like they are missing something.

Music is all relative. You don't necessarily learn from it. You feel from it and relate it to your life.

letsongsprotest

Thumbs up.

As most said, the chorus is so-so. If it had a chorus that i treally liked paired with its current verses/bridge, it would be one of my top 5 songs

DiRtyFranK38

HUGE thumbs up for me. i almost felt pilate was a very interesting, unique and mature sounding song. very reflective or something, i don't know. i have always loved it. DYING to see this live. they totally need to whip it out one night.

DiRtyFranK38

dreamweaver wrote:

the point is my friend... Yield is an album that has alot of soul searching throughout. I believe it is THE album that has created this connection with their fans on a level they would not achieve without making it. That's why people don't get the record because it doesn't make sense at first, the songs seem bland at first, but once you really think about it and you let yourself completely open up to it.. it really is something very very special.

i agree completely. you need to reallly soak yield in and think while you listen. it then becomes what i think to be the greatest, most touching album ever made.

LikeAnOcean

DiRtyFranK38 wrote:

you need to reallly soak yield in and think while you listen.

"Not to think, but to feel."

Sleep.With.Innocence

slightofjeff wrote:

kiljoythemerciful wrote:

Ah, great info. Thanks, will have to see if my library has it. Agree with your point of Jeff's lyrical skills. NAIS has some standout lines as well.

Here's some info, straight from the bassist's mouth, courtesy of a 1998 Guitar World interview:

"I think 'Pilate' was the question I was asking myself, and 'Low Light' was the answer, the realization. Have you ever read The Master and Margarita (by Mikhail Bulgakov)? I just read that book, and at the end they talk about Pontius Pilate being all alone on a mountain with his dog. He couldn't sleep and he couldn't function. It really struck me hard, because at that point I was feeling very alone. I've always had this recurring dream about being old and just me and my dog sitting on the porch.

It wasn't necessarily a sad dream or a premonition, but it did get me to thinking about why Pilate was so alone and freaked out. Then I realized he didn't get to finish his conversation with Jesus—that's why he can't function, because he didn't tie up the loose ends in his life.

Later, I was playing the guitar, and I was hit so hard by this amazing, emotion. In that moment the words "low light" came out, and somehow those were the only words to explain what I was feeling. It was a kind of gratefulness at finding that place of calm and peace at my center and getting a glimpse of the person I could choose to be.

It was the purest happiness that I've experienced in a long time, that particular emotion. God, I thought I was going to explode. I feel very lucky to have been able to put it down on tape that morning and work thorough it until it became a song."

Amazing find. It's things like this that make me love reading this board!

I love Pilate. I think the entire song is solid, and the bridge is amazing. Yield is the first album that I think the fans really connected with on an intimate level (at least for me). It's so personal, and almost life changing. That's what makes a record amazing. It's stood the test of time.

dimitrispearljam

edvedder913 wrote:

Like many others have already said, I dislike the chorus, but enjoy the bridge. damn shame.

+1

BALLBOY

Thumbs up here. Perfect PJ such an obscure song that most passing "fans" would not bother with. Plus i am very biased as i named my dog Pilate. He is sitting right next to me & wants to say hi to all out there on this board. Wish i could take to the London show in August. Obeys(getting better) Listens(almost there) Kisses(frequent) Loves(untold). Sorry he isn't saying hi i am having some ice cream while i type! Soon mate soon.

Wolf At Bay

I like the weirdness of the chorus, it sticks out, plus if you listen with headphones, you get the left-then-right bounce of the guitars, and the verses are beautiful, so it combines to form a great song. I think someone else said this too, but that verse that ends "not unlike a friend that politely drags you down" has stuck in my head for years, probably since I started listening to yeild.

let the song protest

Wolf At Bay wrote:

I like the weirdness of the chorus, it sticks out, plus if you listen with headphones, you get the left-then-right bounce of the guitars, and the verses are beautiful, so it combines to form a great song. I think someone else said this too, but that verse that ends "not unlike a friend that politely drags you down" has stuck in my head for years, probably since I started listening to yeild.

yeah i agree with all of this, and it made me realize how many times since i first heard yield back when it came out in '98 that i've caught myself quietly singing the lyrics to this song in my head! the lyrics are spectacular. damn what a song!!

a couple other PJ songs that i often find myself singing, out of nowhere, are sometimes, insignificance and grievance. my god, sometimes this band's least known songs are just absolutely killer, aren't they? it just shows how deep their catalog is, how strong it is from the well-known hits down to the lesser known deep cuts. just proves again how much fun you can have digging into their catalog for songs you might have spent years not paying enough attention to! this band continually impresses me.

paper tiger

thumbs up. great thread