They found a Betterman-->Save It For Later

CantKeepMeHere

The studio version of Betterman from the early vinyl release on November 22, 1994 and even a few days before that on radio helped push Pearl Jam even further into the hearts and minds of the public. However it is a double edged sword. Some love them for their hard-punk-fast-rockin jams and others for their mid-tempo or slower introspective pieces. Betterman falls into a category of it’s own – one that is unequivocally Pearl Jam.
Like starting up a car that has sat too long during the winter it begins slow. While you back it up the driveway and lug your way towards the interstate the whole thing starts to gain some real momentum. When you signal from the on-ramp making your way into the driving lane it all comes together – beautiful full bodied sound with motion and life.
The last movement is the song’s crescendo with your car signaling and moving into the passing lane because the band, the song and all of us are on a roll. That was 1994.
Pearl Jam gets the radio shaft for the most part – Alive, Even Flow, Jeremy, Black, Daughter and Betterman get the most play. Live Betterman gets played a lot. It is a great song and Ed and the band should be proud of it and lots of folks look forward to hearing it – however, much like Daughter it has become stale all by itself. No ones at fault - it is just an old ’94 Chevy that has sat in the driveway to long during the winter.
Daughter gets it’s octane boost from the improve tags Vedder lays down at the end – 12/06/2002 “WAR!! FUCK WAR!! FUCK ME!! FUCK YOU!! NO WAR!!
Hey wait Save It For Later does the same for Betterman.
Without this tag Betterman BLOWS – meaning it can’t support its own weight and would just float away because it has no mass. Not being rude, played live it is the truth. Everyone, even the fan who has heard the track 1,000,000 times and those at their fist Pearl Jam show chooses then to take a break, catch their breath or have a seat. Once the songs final movement is coming to a close and everyone is signaling for the exit ramp it happens - BANG!
A few odd notes grab your attention.
Wait… What is this… Hey…
Without signaling you swerve back onto the interstate put the pedal to the floor and turn it up. Now the song has a renewed life and this old Chevy is the road master. Passing cars, flashing it’s light to move even the big EvenFlow rigs out of the way. “Don’t runaway, don’t runaway, don’t runaway… runaway runaway runaway runaway runaway runaway runaway runaway runaway runaway!!!!”
We are all lost in this timeless moment.
When the song and its tag are over we are reminded just how great Betterman is. We remember 1994 when we were young and heard it for first time – that Chevy was brand new and shinny. Well it is again my friend and will continue to be as long Save It For Later is in the passenger seat and your stuffed kitty kat is suction cupped to the back window.
Just Vitology in the cd player – Betterman is great – a live bootleg with Betterman missing Save It For Later are like those hairless cats. Yeah, I get it, but no thanks.
…Be Sound…

satansbed

sometimes i agree with what your saying here and somethings i dont, i can never make my mind up with this song, although that save it for later tag is amazing

CranMalReign

Much better post this time. You had a pretty good, vibrant description. Too bad you insist on holding on to your "blows" comment and trying to awkwardly shoehorn it into something non-crass and non-trolling.

At any rate, I agree that Better Man live is incomplete and lacking w/o the tag, and that the tags of late don't match the tags of yore.

I don't think it blows... either in the sense that it has no mass and gets blown by the wind (nice try) or in that it performs oral sex on men.

Enjoy your day!

Ledbetterman10

cantkeepmehere wrote:

Pearl Jam gets the radio shaft for the most part – Alive, Even Flow, Jeremy, Black, Daughter and Betterman get the most play.

I disagree. I hear I Got Shit, Glorified G, Yellow Ledbetter, Corduroy, and Animal on the radio all the time. Given To Fly and Once get a lot of play too.

But I've always cried foul that Do The Evolution doesn't get regular play on alternative stations.