60 Days of Pearl Jam; Part Deux

Wobbie

The Top Ten (almost). We've made it this far...there's no turning back.

Somehow, this dude had an STP song at #10. WTF?? What little credibility he had, is diminished a bit more.

9 - Faithful (Yield)

Some of my favorite Ed lyrics all thrown into one song? Awesome. I think McCready wrote it just going by sound, but I'd have to double check I guess. Verse/Chorus/Instrumentals/Chorus/Verse. Very interesting structure, and it works great. It's a musical palindrome! Whatever the notion, we lacen our prayers to the man upstairs. He's used to all of this noise. I'm through with screaming. But then the "We're Faithful" "We All Believe." The song is a spiritual journey filled with a load of questions and doubt. However, we still remain faithful through this questioning. Nobody hears it goes it goes. in the end, we don't know what is true up there, because we don't seem to be getting any answers. So in the last verse, he just breaks down and says that we should just be faithful to each other and not different gods, tearing ourselves apart. Differences in religion bring us away from humanity, yet putting our faith in each other drags us back into it. I could have sworn the "keeps us in a box of fear" was "box of beer." But the first makes sense! Such an emotional song.

8 - I Got Id/I Got **** (Merkin Ball)

Note the name of this song is I Got Id. (id, ego, super-ego) Not ID. Eddie is not saying that he has valid identification in this song. Ed is the only remaining band member on the official recording with Uncle Neil Young playing guitar and long-time producer Brendan O’Brien on bass. (Jack Irons is on drums). Song appears as "I Got Id" because being released as a single they couldn't officially call it ****. I think the label made them change it... ?

Some of the most desolate imageries one can find in a song. "My lips are shaking, my nails are bit off. It's been a month since I heard myself talk. Only advantage this life's got on me, picture a cup drifting in the middle of the sea." The opening guitar riff is pretty simple (even I can play it) but it just sounds so epic. For a song that is lyrically driven such as this, there aren't THAT many words to be seen in this. But the words that are there are so good so it doesn't matter. I must admit though. I can never crack what some of this song means. Who is the person he keeps talking about? Who is the "you?" as this person sounds if he is complete isolation for a rather long period of time. "I've got all these questions, don't know who I'm gonna ask." Is he reverting back to a time so far gone by? "I've got memories I've got ****." Who helped this guy walk the line when they held him in that night? And what's up with the "I've never held you in real life" line? "If only once, I could feel love." The song is so eerie and odd.

Musically and lyrically the song matches itself as both as haunting as the other. And when you have haunting and haunting, it doesn't add... it doesn't multiply... it exponeniates! And why does he choose to say "my lips are shaking" a second time to finish the song off? Why that line? It doesn't seem like the most important to me.

Hey! I finally figured out the meaning. "I've all these questions, don't know who I'm gonna ask." That's the whole point. I'm asking these questions too, but got no one to ask. Brilliant...

7 - Given to Fly (Yield)

Given to Going to California to Fly! They actually played Going to California into Given to Fly with Plant and it was awesome, but that goes without saying! Now correct me if I'm wrong, but is this song about dealing drugs? The guy first does it in the first verse (had a smoke in the tree) in the chorus it describes his high (he's flying). Next verse, he starts dealing (wanted to share his key to the locks on the chains he saw everywhere). And gets held down by the cops (first he was stripped and then he ws stabbed... but ****ers he still stands.) And he continues to do it (still gives his love he just gives it away). No way man! It's about peace and love! Who cares what it's "about" though. It's such a lucid song. That opening riff becomes embedded inside of you and you can feel it. This song should be played at my funeral. It can be viewed as being angelified (is that a word), when you get your wings, no? Because now I can fly!

A lot of buildup in this song musically. The post chorus "Why's" are always nice to listen to. They hit the reset button after the first chorus and just do it all over again, and they could have hit it a third or fourth time for good measure. Verses are filled with low register with a roaring high-register for the pre-chorus and beyond. Inspiring! The song literally sounds as if it was Given to Fly.

The song means a lot to me personally, and I just listened and listened and listened during some rough periods I had. It's interesting. You can listen to depressing songs when you are depressed, or you can listen to inspiring ones. I chose the latter but any method is personal I guess. It's one of those "just ****ing go for it" songs without ever getting the message across cheesily or directly which is incredibly difficult to do. So that warrants something at least.

Someone check my aim name please.

6 - Release (Ten)

Pearl Jam chooses concert openers for specific purposes. You have the ones that set the tone that this show will rock: Go, Severed Hand, Corduroy. You have the ones that set the tone that the show will be filled with slower tracks: Long Road, Of the Girl. And then you have the opener that sets the tone that the show will be epic: Release.

The opening riff is a simple practice, warm-up riff the band used in order to get into Pearl Jam mode. One day, Eddie put lyrics for it and thank God he did. The closer to Ten became the band's concert opener. "Oh dear dad, can you see me now? I am myself, like you somehow." The vocal performance is legendary. It's a rather simple song musically, but they use that simpleness and harness into power and emotion. Once you hear that riff, you can't help but know that you are in store for something epic. From the moaning in the beginning to the crying in the end, this song just builds up into an amazing ballad. Probably the reason for it's effectiveness as a concert opener too. "I will wait up in the dark for you to speak to me." This is the way I felt as a child. It's amazing Ed can take emotions like that, turn them universal, but somehow keep it insanely personal. "I'll ride the wave where it takes me! I hold the pain, release me!" Sounds emo, but instead of whining, it's pure desperation. (I like emo, don't bash me)... I'll leave you with one last thing about this song, the greatest tragedy I have so far in my Pearl Jam experiences... and it's the only thing left for me to do. Perhaps it's the reason that I consider this song so sacred.

I have never gotten to hear it live... yet.

i shit and i stink

'Release' is overrated, as usual. Apart from the STP song at number ten, Faithfull and I Got Id are nice choices for the top ten.

satansbed

this always keeps me entertained

Wobbie

satansbed wrote:

this always keeps me entertained

I'm glad 2 or 3 of you like it.

I'm going to keep you in suspense until Sunday for the Top 5.

Wobbie

drumroll, please :roll:

The Top Five

5 - Breath (Singles Soundtrack)

The Breath campaign of 1998 is one of the greatest moments in Pearl Jam history. Having not played it four years, people just barraged the band with signs and signs all saying one word. Breath. For two nights the band oddly refused to play it, with Ed joking about it, so at least he recognized the dedication! "YOU ****ING ****SUCKERS. YOU ****ING ****S! YOU ****ING. WE COME UP HERE AS A COLLECTIVE BAND AND WE GIVE AND WE GIVE, AND YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DESERVED. IT'S LIKE AN ORGANIZED RELIGION HERE." Third night in a row, at Madison Square on 9/11/98, they played it. The next night, hundreds of "Thank You" signs made its way through the arena. Legendary. How's that?

Do do do do dooo dodododododoo... Amazing display of a hard rock song driven not by it's musicality oddly enough but it's melodic and lyrical content. In many ways it is the quintessential Pearl Jam song. Jeff has that warm fuzzy cuddly bass buzzing about the song, and once again the imagery of the porch returns. What's the fascination Ed? The bridge is perhaps my favorite of all time as well. If I knew where it was! I would take you there! There's much more than this! At Live at the Garden, he changes it to "not much more than this" which was nice to hear. It's the quintessential song because everyone does "their" thing. You have the classic Stone riff, the great Jeff bassline, Ed's raging melodies, *insert drummer here*'s pounding force, and Mike's solo. Nothing more needs to be said about Mike's solo, remember? I think he actually pocketed this solo and used it for another song, but why shouldn't he have? He's Mike McCready!

The song is the second written for "Singles," the horrible movie. However, just to hear this and State of Love and Trust is reason enough to watch this. It's amazing that two of their best were written for a movie soundtrack, but since the movie was based around the grunge scene as it's backdrop, I suppose they needed to bring out the goods for this one. It's hard to imagine what can top this...

If I didn't say it already, would you think Hard to Imagine would be next? Maybe it'll make a reprise. >_> ?

4 - Indifference (Vs.)

Epic. It's just a basic jazz song musically, really. But the vocals and lyrics are filled with the greatest irony of all. Passionate Indifference. I'm gonna put myself through all this crap, and I don't give a ****, because hey, how much difference does it make? But in fact, the music matches this Indifference, so what I said before is basically bs. Don't listen to everything I say, ok? The baseline is hypnotic and (I don't think ever changes)... ba-dum... da-dum... over and over, with a really tripped organ (the instrument's first Pearl Jam song appearance? can't be too sure). Perhaps their least in your face song, but it's completely in your face at the same time because you are sitting looking at this guy waste away and do nothing about it.

The opening line says it all, really. I will light the match this morning so I won't be alone. But listen, dude. You are alone. Alone. And that's what has caused your anguish. The song runs down a list of these pretty horrible things one can do to oneself, but still who cares? "I will stare the sun down, until my eyes go blind." "I'll keep taking punches until their will goes tired." "I will swallow poison, until I grow immune." He's putting himself through these impossible situations, and will wait not until he quits, but until he becomes so used to the pain, nothing will matter anymore.

Ladies and Gentlemen... Ben Harper. He squeals on this song, but gives it special meaning whenever he plays it. He forgets the words, but how much difference does that make? Beautiful harmonies when he and Ed sing together. My lap-top battery is about to shut off, but I'll keep on typing until it gives out. Because how much differe

3 - In Hiding (Yield)

Unlike a lot of other songs on this list, this one is hear for only one reason, and one merit: the strength of the song. There is no personal meaning, nor do I have a story behind tell regarding me and the song. Listening to it is a musical revelation. Ation, not Ution. There are no external reasons for liking this song that I can come up with other than the fact that In Hiding is the best song on my favorite CD (eehhh... maybe it's No Code, but 3 in the top 10 speaks for itself.)

The song starts off with a powering riff that Stone kept using as his practice routine until someone in the band stopped and said wow that's awesome. He was all, Hey guys look at me! Awesome Riff Stone. Gossard really is a riff-master if you think about it. You can put his name up against anybody and he'd be able to hold his ground. The song is about being afraid and rising above that. I should have locked the front door, no way in or out. Pulled the curtains down. Literally this guy is In Hiding. I'MM IN HIDDDING!! Raucous sing-along chorus, and if you have the Vic bootleg from this year, you'll know how amazing this song can be with a crowd that understands it. In Hiding has the greatest pre-chorus I've ever heard and I just love Stone's little distorted backing to it. "I swallowed my words to keep from lying. I swallowed my breath, went deep, I was diving." Song hits reset (like Given to Fly, also on Yield interesting) and the third chorus plays out as the revelation where this guy overcomes his problems. It's been about three days now since I've been a ground. No longer overwhelmed and it seems so simple now. When Eddie says "it's funny when things change so much it's all state of mind" he gives a little chuckle. Very subtle, but you know its there. Subtleties such as this can turn a great song into a legendary one. In Hiding, for me at least, is legendary. I actually don't know/am not sure if it gets a ton of respect, if any at all. But it should.... obviously.


2 - Off He Goes (No Code)

*fools around with the bass and drums* 1 2.. 1 2..

An acoustic song propelled by a simple story about a guy trying to find his way, told in the perspective of an old friend. Here is his story.

Verse 1: The man recalls the last time he has seen his friend. He describes him to be extremely tense, suggests that he should relax, but he's always moving much too fast. As usually, the guy leaves without any prospect of seeing him again. Maybe he will, maybe he won't. "There he goes, with his perfect, holy unkempt glow."

Mike has a short melodic solo interacting with acoustic guitar riff that propels the song.

Verse 2: "He's yet to come back." The man wonders about his friend... what he is going through. He's seen a picture yet he doesn't look the same as he remembered. "... yea we go way back..." With this line he turns to the listener, and is basically tries to convince us that he really does know this guy. Because from what we can see so far, he's nothing more than a passer-byer in his life. He answers our question of where the hell is this guy? "Where? I don't know." Off he goes. With his perfectly... unkept hope... there he goes...

Another Mike solo interlude.

Verse 3: Our friend has come back into the man's life, much to his surprise. The friend is smiling and strong. Nothing has changed, but the surrounding bull**** that has grown. The man is finally beginning to see his friend what he truly is. And while they are talking as if he never left at all, the man knows what is about to go down. " I saw the strain creep in... He seems distracted and I know just what is gonna happen next... Before his first step... he is off again."

Outro

The story isn't resolved and we never know what comes of the man or his friend. In my opinion, the story just cycles itself never changing. The man appears and disappears in need of searching for himself. We actually learn more about the narrator and the kind of person he is throughout the song, even though all he talks about is his friend, who after six minutes of music still remains a mystery to us. The song is said to be written by Ed about Ed, him being the friend referring to him through the eyes of one of his friends and shows himself in the third person. It takes a special writer to be able to do that.


1 - Black (Ten)

I dare you to sing Black and not feel it. I dare you, - Eddie Vedder

The definition of simplicity wrapped in complexity is Black. The song that was never released as a single yet still managed to hit #3 on the charts. The song with so much emotion, I've literally seen people cry while listening to it at shows. <--- though that's even a little weird for me. *looks at this thread* Ok! You can get weirder. Coming in at number one is my favorite song of all time and the most beautiful song ever written. Black.

One night in late 1999, my friend approached me and said he just heard this wicked song called Black by Pearl Jam. I gave it a listen and it in fact literally changed my life. The song has been done a million times. This guy misses his woman. What made this song different? I actually do not know if I have the answer to that question. I'm guessing it has to do with the word play/Ed's emotion, yet I'm not sure. It sounds genuine. It's not "I miss you." it's not "I want you back." It's "I know someday you'll have a beautiful life, I know you'll be a star, in somebody else's sky but why can't it be mine?" That's ****ing real. The song is incredibly human. It's trying to cope with something so universally insignificant yet so personally significant within everyday life, facing with memories of someone you've missed out on. One event can "turn my world to black." It changes everything. Who you are, what you do how you think. "All that I am. All that I'll be." Present and future, nothing will ever be the same. "All the pictures [memories] have been washed in black... tatooed everything." Black is such an interesting simple imagery, because it gives no room for anything else. When this guy looks back on his past, he gets nothing but Black.

The song is build-up as I've said before, not so much musically, but mentally. The guy in the song is talking. Telling the facts. As he dives deeper into his mind, he starts to go flipping nuts. It doesn't get any better, but progressively worse. The song isn't about getting over it, it's about completely losing your ****ing mind. She gave you everything, yet now you having nothing to show for it. Nothing. Twisted thoughts spin around his head... he's spinning woah he's spinning. The sun drops away. All light... all imagery of light within this song is completely shot. Gone. Forever.

Lyrically the song ends, but that is the point where it really starts to get interesting. Do do do dododo. It's so repetitious. Over and Over and Over. It's so damn haunting. This is this guys mind right now. He's ****ing flipped out of his mind. He's screaming over these basically happy "do's" and such pain. The "do's" are his mind masking what he feels trying to escape all pain that he possibly feels yet over that the shouting is still there, it still persists. Nothing will change that, no matter what he can tell himself.

Thanks to both of you who followed this thread!

pearljamtrojans

You have a third follower, ha!

Great read, really enjoyed it...

i shit and i stink

Okay, I preferred the other guys list and writing, but this list had a very, very solid top ten and didn't have Release in the top 5, which I was happy about. I'd have expected Corduroy, RVM or SOLAT in there, but you have to say that the top 5 is fucking great. 'Breath' is so underrated, 'In Hiding' has taken a on a whole new menaing for me recently and about half the people on these boards have 'Black' as number 1 on another thread running right now about the greatest song the band have.

I have no idea what it is about that song that can make it stand out so much compared to about 200 others in PJ's catalogue but it just has something untouchable, indescribable, majestic...

Thanks for the effort, it was a nice read - after my initial reaction to this guy being a dope - and he pulled out some interesting stuff, especially towards the end. If you post the whole thing on the front page of a new thread it might be nice for posterity and easier for people to get into, no scanning through to find the lists...
Thanks again, T

Wobbie

i shit and i stink wrote:

Thanks for the effort, it was a nice read - after my initial reaction to this guy being a dope - and he pulled out some interesting stuff, especially towards the end.
Thanks again, T

no....thank you!

I stumbled across this on the internet a few years back. For some reason (OCD?), I copied and pasted it into a document. I tried to find it again on the net, with zero success. I have no idea who wrote it other than I doubt he's hanging around "here." :?

i shit and i stink

Come on! Admit it, you wrote it yourself!

HeavyHands

imalive wrote:

Thanks to both of you who followed this thread!

You're welcome. It's always interesting to read other people's justifications for why they choose the things they do whether I agree with them or not. Thanks for providing the content.