you think the boys told Eddie to STFU with the politics?

LikeAnOpeningBandForTheSun

(lets see how many seconds it takes before people start talking politics and this gets dumped to the politics section... can we keep this party neutral here?)

im finding it incredibly refreshing that the overt political lyrics of the last 3 albums seems to be history in Backspacer. it seems like a reversal after S/T to ignore politics altogether in this one (at least so obviously). im not opposed to politics as a theme, but a few songs or at most one album dedicated to it is all i can stand. by the time i got to Unemployable or Army Reserve, i was ready to vomit.

This is just my opinion, but i thought Ed's lyrics were becoming more hamfisted and obvious by the song, culminating in the absolutely awful No More.

It seems they've gotten back to the more abstract, metaphorical lyrics from before, and it sounds so much more natural. i can actually relate to these songs, even if they are simple.

So glad they are giving politics a breather.

btw, i agree with him on most of it, i just really dont want to hear it any more songs. im worn out.

pazman

Agreed!
Love Ed's lyrics but enough with the politics.
Maybe the change in government changed Ed's themes

Cannot wait for Backspacer to drop!

tacet

I seriously doubt that

1) "the boys" would ever tell Ed to STFU about anything
2) that Ed would give a shit if they did.

Anyone who wears lime green pants on stage doesn't really care what others tell him.

He got the change he was hoping for and now it's time to write about something else that
inspires him.

LikeAnOcean

It's a welcome change, but I hardly think they told him what to do. I think the band just wanted to give politics a breather on this one. Maybe Into the Wild helped influence this approach. Maybe Bush out of office. Who knows.

I wouldn't classify Unemployable as a political song. It's a story about a mans struggles and it was written before the economy tanked.

Wobbie

SS25454 wrote:

Anyone who wears lime green pants on stage doesn't really care what others tell him.

Esp. if THAT person is wearing plaid pants and a cowboy hat. **cough cough**

EBowie

SS25454 wrote:

I seriously doubt that

1) "the boys" would ever tell Ed to STFU about anything
2) that Ed would give a shit if they did.

Anyone who wears lime green pants on stage doesn't really care what others tell him.

He got the change he was hoping for and now it's time to write about something else that
inspires him.

I disagree with you 100%.

1.) I would bet that over the years they have all taken turns telling each other to shut the fuck up about certain issues.
2.) Ed would absolutely care. Just because Ed is the "face" of the band---no denying that---one of their greatest strengths is that they all respect the band as being a unit of five.

And I agree with the original post that dropping the political lyrics is refreshing. Of course the change in the political landscape in the US has probably influenced some of the change in direction of these songs. But to say that is the only reason would be presumptuous on our part as fans. What if Ed just felt like doing something different? There isn't always some mystical reason that we can put a label on that is driving the song writing.

Backspacer_Backer

I am one who doesn't mind when intellectually valid points are made about politics by Ed or any other celeb (I put it this way to discount the opinions of 99.9% of the political statements coming out of celeb mouths).

Ed drove away a fair number of people I think, over the last few years by going too over the top with his constant lecturing, so to speak. Many people just want their rock stars to sing about loss and love and nothing about current events or politics. I don't, but there's got to be a happy medium. Maybe 1 or 2 songs about politics on a 12-15 song album is fair, I don't know. It seemed like Riot Act and Binaural were more like 50% political. And Avacado had a few songs with an underlying political theme.

I don't know if Obama's election changed Ed's writing, or if he just didn't feel he had anything political to say on Backspacer (although Got Some does have an Anti-War message). Either way, I'm loving the Backspacer songs I have heard so far. That's all I care about.

tacet

EBowie wrote:

SS25454 wrote:

I seriously doubt that

1) "the boys" would ever tell Ed to STFU about anything
2) that Ed would give a shit if they did.

Anyone who wears lime green pants on stage doesn't really care what others tell him.

He got the change he was hoping for and now it's time to write about something else that
inspires him.

I disagree with you 100%.

1.) I would bet that over the years they have all taken turns telling each other to shut the fuck up about certain issues.
2.) Ed would absolutely care. Just because Ed is the "face" of the band---no denying that---one of their greatest strengths is that they all respect the band as being a unit of five.

nah, sorry. I disagree with you 200%

U R A Crazy Breed

I like deep and thought provoking lyrics as opposed to "light/fun" lyrics.

i think/hope Ed is on a brief vacation from his senses....the world is not getting any better and the change has been for the worse....let him take a breather for a little while to regain his sanity..i know i need to do this every so often being a person who makes it a point to educate himself as to our "world leaders" "activities"....as the shit continues to hit the fan and this country is further into it's death throe...he'll be back with the angry, passionate patriotic lyrics i know and love!!


or maybe he will turn into another Bono and i will lose all respect for him...that would really suck!!....who knows what the future holds...we can only judge by the past...and if that's the case...Ed's political type shit will be back

and as someone said..do you think anyone in the band would have the balls to tell Ed to stuff it?? i sure as fuck don't!!!

YieldToNothing

pearl jam is gonna tell ed to shut up?
the same pearl jam who was so scared to lose ed that they went ahead and offered him a bigger piece of the pie than the rest of them are getting?
surely, you jest


the politics in the lyrics went away because the bush administration went away. pretty simple

Claireack

Any friend who thought their mate was going on about anything too much would probably tell them to STFU eventually.

IMO he's probably just feeling slightly more optomistic about the world of politics with the change in the US government. Which I could feel them same over here. :roll:

Umbertotamba

YieldToNothing wrote:

the politics in the lyrics went away because the bush administration went away. pretty simple

Yup you nailed that one on the head... I thopught everyone already knew this.

Backspacer_Backer

U R A Crazy Breed wrote:

I like deep and thought provoking lyrics as opposed to "light/fun" lyrics.

i think/hope Ed is on a brief vacation from his senses....the world is not getting any better and the change has been for the worse....let him take a breather for a little while to regain his sanity..i know i need to do this every so often being a person who makes it a point to educate himself as to our "world leaders" "activities"....as the shit continues to hit the fan and this country is further into it's death throe...he'll be back with the angry, passionate patriotic lyrics i know and love!!


or maybe he will turn into another Bono and i will lose all respect for him...that would really suck!!....who knows what the future holds...we can only judge by the past...and if that's the case...Ed's political type shit will be back

and as someone said..do you think anyone in the band would have the balls to tell Ed to stuff it?? i sure as fuck don't!!!

man, Bono may be a cheesy rock star type with the sunglasses and slicked back hair, but you can't take away the fact that he has donated and raised MILLIONS of dollars to directly benefit people who are suffering. If you do .000000001% of what Bono or EV have done for people in your life, you'll be a very solid human being. I know I'll be lucky if I do.

kiljoythemerciful

No

EBowie

SS25454 wrote:

EBowie wrote:

SS25454 wrote:

I seriously doubt that

1) "the boys" would ever tell Ed to STFU about anything
2) that Ed would give a shit if they did.

Anyone who wears lime green pants on stage doesn't really care what others tell him.

He got the change he was hoping for and now it's time to write about something else that
inspires him.

I disagree with you 100%.

1.) I would bet that over the years they have all taken turns telling each other to shut the fuck up about certain issues.
2.) Ed would absolutely care. Just because Ed is the "face" of the band---no denying that---one of their greatest strengths is that they all respect the band as being a unit of five.

nah, sorry. I disagree with you 200%

So I guess that makes you 200% correct then.