Sleight Of Hand

Sir. PJ

Here is a really good Sleight Of Hand video on youtube. It is with the studio version...but it gets very intense visually. At the beginning the guy who made it even warns "prepare for sonic extacy". It delivers really good visuals for the feel and lyrics of the song. And its also high sound quality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfuxWfVapqw

dimitrispearljam

Gbegenyi wrote:

Here is a really good Sleight Of Hand video on youtube. It is with the studio version...but it gets very intense visually. At the beginning the guy who made it even warns "prepare for sonic extacy". It delivers really good visuals for the feel and lyrics of the song. And its also high sound quality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfuxWfVapqw

thanks for that..i love that song!!!

UNH1995

maybe the most sad, haunting song they have ever produced
mansfield in july 2003 accoustic set, this song was pretty incredible
it is a very sad song though...pretty painful if you've ever lost someone to suicide

Sir. PJ

The closest I've gotten to hearing Sleight of Hand live was to hear them sound checking it before the 10/9 San Diego concert. That was one of the best memories of that concert for me...and they didn't even play it during the actual concert!

Sir. PJ

They better play it in Philly...I'm guessing night 4, Saturday, during the 1st encore!!!

dimitrispearljam

PJ Greg wrote:

They better play it in Philly...I'm guessing night 4, Saturday, during the 1st encore!!!

its was ok,wondering..

Sir. PJ

Anybody care to take a stab at interpreting the lyrics... in paragraph form?

WMAmorican

Wow, suicide? I never got that at all...I just thought it was about once-idealistic people or people who once had big dreams realizing years have passed and they're in some shit job and wondering how they got there. Though I can see it now, at the end...I just thought it was metaphorical, i.e., pushing the thoughts away, focusing back on his lame life, telling his old, optimistic self that it's too late, maybe in another life he'll really follow his dreams. (By the way, by far my favorite song on the record...I was lucky enough to see them play this at my Binaural show in '00, given how little they've played it since then...)

Routine was the theme... he'd wake up, wash and pour himself into uniform...something he hadn't imagined being...

As the merging traffic passed, he found himself staring down at his own hands
Not remembering the change, not recalling the plan
Was it...?

He was okay... but wondering... about wandering
Was it age? By consequence? Or was he moved by sleight of hand?

Mondays were made to fall... lost on a road he knew by heart
It was like a book he read in his sleep, endlessly...
Sometimes he hid in his radio... watching others pull into their homes
While he was drifting...

On a line... of his own... off the line... on the side
Bye the by.... as dirt turned to sand
As if moved by sleight of hand...

When he reached the shore of his clip-on world...he resurfaced to the norm
Organized his few things, his coat and keys
Any new realizations would have to wait...til he had more time, more time...

Time to dream... to himself... he waves goodbye to himself... I'll see you on the other side...

Another man...moved by sleight of hand...

skyeriverwinter

this is one of my top 5 songs...so intense...especially if you are/were one of the people who have found themselves wondering...

shades are RAISED

I'd always imagined this guy was a bus driver or a railway worker. Maybe I'm taking some things too literally but check it out:

uniform
traffic
"lost on a road he knew by heart"
Seems as though he sees people come and go, but he stays in the same place.
"clip-on world" Think of guys on mass transit, they wear ties, but it's not a white collar job.
organizes his few things.. his coat and keys

I'm not trying to say this is what it's about, but it's what I always think of

...and I never got suicide, either. "waves goodbye to himself" I think is more about what was said earlier that he has lost his optimism of his youth.

dcfaithful

Probably one of my favorite Pearl Jam tracks -- the Benaroya Hall version is incredible.

pandora

I never got suicide either
I'm getting older now and I think its just about the tricks of life thats played on us.
It goes so fast. We change physically. I too look at my hands sometimes and think they are not mine and mentally my priorities opinions change without really realizing until I speak what I think- make sense?
Its like a trick. Just day in day out it goes and we change.
What's fun though is my husband just really fell in love with this song recently never paying much attention to it. Its almost like rediscovering it myself. PJ songs are like that- a new discovery comes often.

Ricsard

one truly moving and inspiring piece of art!

dcfaithful

SM8002 wrote:

I was lucky enough to see them play this at my Binaural show in '00, given how little they've played it since then...)

No kidding. This should be a regular in setlists I tihnk. It's a mind-blowing song. When I first showed the Binaural version to my girlfriend she couldn't believe it was a Pearl Jam track.

To all the haters: Binaural is the SHIT.

helplessdancer

one of my fave songs. ever.

i remember that 2000 tour, and was hoping then, that this sweet nugget would become a standard for future shows/tours

little did i know then, what i know now...

Kevinman

A great song that gets forgotten about, by the band and myself. When I do hear it again, I can't stop listening to it over and over again. I had always had the interpretation of a man that took a job he hated and wasted his life by not doing anything to change it.

Great to read other interpretations. Any of them could make sense.

mosquitoman

a chilling song, it really rang true with me when i was working at a super market (or grocery store) as you lot in the states call them. where i woke up washed and poured myself into uniform and even clipped on the name badge... not the tie!

I think its about losing idealism and even hope and winding up a slave to some kind of company that slowly crushes you and takes ur identity slowly day by day. im not sure if the character in the song committs suicide or not... but its a chilling vision of what can happen to anyone

I am lucy enough to have seen it played live... manchester 2009... i was in shock that they played it and am truly thankful and priviliged to have heard it live... just a beautiful song, often forgotten... definitely should be played live more often

skyeriverwinter

skyeriverwinter wrote:

this is one of my top 5 songs...so intense...especially if you are/were one of the people who have found themselves wondering...

when I made this statement I hadn't read anything pertaining to it being about suicide...I just wanted to say how much I loved the song...to me this song was always about someone waking up...literally and metaphorically...and wondering..."what???? this is my life??? how the F*@!did this happen...how did I get here...never dreamed this for myself..." have had that moment myself...

behindtheeyes

I was lucky enough to see this in Asheville- so intense because I was 5th row center and it was one of those times when you feel like Ed is singing directly to you. They nailed it, too- such a great performance. Its always been one of my favorite songs- they should do Sleight of Hand and go right into Life Wasted Or add another song in there to make it another trilogy!

jbmulder9

this has always been a top fave of mine ...was lucky enough to see it in mansfield in '03...i'd love to see a full electric version thou...

yellowled24

I always felt this song was about suicide too, mainly because he is mentioned waving goodbye to himself and "see you on the other side"...

I love that you can get so many meanings from one song, and interpret that in your own way!