Question about Parting Ways

Driftin'Along

I am going through my bootlegs chronolgically and I got to 11/21/1996 - Barcelona, Spain. The first track is labled Parting Ways and it is definitely the same song after listening to it. There is no crowd noise at all before, during or after the song. It is followed by some tuning and then Master/Slave. There is more tunings and Around the Bend, In My Tree (multiple takes) and Hard to Imagine (multiple takes) along with several other songs before the actual setlist listed on this website kicks in. Wondering if this is a soundcheck (the most obvious answer). Seems rather long for a soundcheck and I had no idea that Parting Ways dated back to '96. Anybody else able to back this up or is this bootleg completely mislabeled?

WMAmorican

That is odd if true because "Parting Ways" is about Ed and Beth breaking up but they'd just gotten married in '95 and there were songs on No Code ("Hail, Hail") and Yield ("Wishlist") about their relationship that were positive.

mcgruff10

it's the sound check from that show.
11/21/96 – Sports Palace: Barcelona, Spain [125m]
attendance: 8,000
support act: The Fastbacks
soundcheck: Parting Ways, ? (instrumental), Around the Bend, In My Tree, In My Tree, Hard to Imagine (16m version), Garden, Leaving Here, I’m Open (10m version) [70m = entire soundcheck]
set: Wash, Last Exit, Hail Hail, Animal, Red Mosquito, Who You Are, Corduroy, Better Man, Off He Goes, Habit, Even Flow, Jeremy, Daughter/(Happiness is a Warm Gun)/(Bull in the Heather)/(Androgynous Mind), Sometimes, Lukin, Rearviewmirror, Immortality, Alive, Porch
enc 1: Mankind, Once, State of Love and Trust, Present Tense, Smile, Blood/(Fame)
enc 2: Around the Bend
notes: ‘Parting Ways,’ a song which is not released for four years on Binaural, is soundchecked. Ed breaks out a bit of his Spanish to communicate: “Cuidado” (“be careful”) a few times to the crowd; during ‘Habit,’ “Hablando como un niño de los 90s.” Stone gets into the act opening ‘Mankind’ with, “Que pasa? I’m gonna sing one for you.” A “hey, hey” chant between the crowd and PJ gets going during the ‘Blood’ jam. Returning for a final encore, Ed says, “OK, in English; this one’s a lullabye, so when you go home, have nice dreams tonight, leading to ‘Around the Bend,’ and a “Adios, amigos. Buenos noches.” ‘Smile’ from this show later appears on the ’96 fan club single.

Driftin'Along

Thanks for that info. I was just very surprised to know that song goes back to 96. That would have made a pretty good addition to No Code.

mcgruff10

It's one of my favorite songs; I wish they'd ay that one more

BinFrog

Driftin'Along said:

Thanks for that info. I was just very surprised to know that song goes back to 96. That would have made a pretty good addition to No Code.

I always thought the guitar part sounded a lot like Dead Man, which is from the No Code era...so that makes sense!

hrd2imgn

This is the best soundcheck ever, I even burned a cd of it back in the day. Yep it is that old in music. Sure the lyrics came later, but the song was there much earlier.

Driftin'Along

I heard lyrics in this soundcheck though. They may have not been exactly what ended up on Binaural but some sounded the same. I also wasn't listening to it very loudly as I am at work but for sure there were words.

fortyshades

WMAmorican said:

That is odd if true because "Parting Ways" is about Ed and Beth breaking up but they'd just gotten married in '95 and there were songs on No Code ("Hail, Hail") and Yield ("Wishlist") about their relationship that were positive.

I wouldn't consider Hail Hail a positive love song btw. "Hail Hail for the lucky ones, I refer to those in love yeah"; he is not talking about himself but others.

That said: the lyrics of PW are heartbreaking. " A chin of clay... Curtains behind her eyes". The lyrics save the song. Whole Binuaral is lyric wise mind blowing.

red mos

So glad they played this in OKC 13. One of my fave Binaural tracks. Got to see Ed do it solo as well.

shetellsherself

red mos said:

So glad they played this in OKC 13. One of my fave Binaural tracks. Got to see Ed do it solo as well.

Love this song so much. I wasn't at okc but my brother was in the pit. He called me and let me listen live during parting ways. I was so happy and shocked they were playing it. Sound was surprisingly good for cell phone. It was quite a moment. Hope I can witness it some time.

Yes binaural lyrically blows my mind

northerndragon

"Pearl Jam plays a seventy minute soundcheck before this show that becomes a fan favorite in bootleg trading circles. The band practices the song 'Parting Ways,' which would not be released until the Binaural album in 2000, a sixteen minute version of 'Hard to Imagine,' and a ten minute exploration of 'I'm Open.'" - from PJ20 book

pdalowsky

yes that's a fab soundcheck.......

wish they would play Parting ways more - never been played outside the states

mcgruff10

Seriously Paul? That's crazy!

Myluckyhand

I saw Ed play it in New Zealand, part of Neil Finns set of shows it was amazing!

pdalowsky

Also saw Ed play it solo, but as a full band its a USA exclusive

WhyNotSweden

Eddie played it in Stockholm 2000 in his 5 song pre-set and first time they played it in front of public:

Last Kiss
Trouble
Dead Man
Parting Ways
Throw Your Arms Around Me

aurynsdad

This almost seems like something for the obscure fact repository. Super cool.

ceska

Not sure why they keep saying "16 minute version", "10 minute version" etc. They did the song three times. It's not uncommon to play a song multiple times in soundcheck.

Thats aid, it was a killer setlist, as much of the stuff was rare then.

gvn2fly12

pdalowsky said:

Also saw Ed play it solo, but as a full band its a USA exclusive

It was played in Vancouver, 03, I think or 05, so has been played outside USA
Was fantastic last night in Perth, Solo EV
7 worlds collide is not bad either.

Must look for this sound check would love to hear this.

PB11041

I'm bumping this up because I was listening to master/slave and it dawned on me that the bass line sounded so damn familiar and I dug up by Barca 96 cds and the soundcheck that 2nd track jam which is largely Jeff grooving on his bass is basically his master/slave bass line with a quicker tempo.  Pretty interesting to A/B so was kicking tires on if this had been discussed on the interwebs much.

HesCalledDyer

fortyshades said:

That is odd if true because "Parting Ways" is about Ed and Beth breaking up but they'd just gotten married in '95 and there were songs on No Code ("Hail, Hail") and Yield ("Wishlist") about their relationship that were positive.

I wouldn't consider Hail Hail a positive love song btw. "Hail Hail for the lucky ones, I refer to those in love yeah"; he is not talking about himself but others. That said: the lyrics of PW are heartbreaking. " A chin of clay... Curtains behind her eyes". The lyrics save the song. Whole Binuaral is lyric wise mind blowing.

shetellsherself said:

So glad they played this in OKC 13. One of my fave Binaural tracks. Got to see Ed do it solo as well.

Love this song so much. I wasn't at okc but my brother was in the pit. He called me and let me listen live during parting ways. I was so happy and shocked they were playing it. Sound was surprisingly good for cell phone. It was quite a moment. Hope I can witness it some time. Yes binaural lyrically blows my mind

I'll third this sentiment. Musical poetry.

jhager79

pdalowsky said:

yes that's a fab soundcheck....... wish they would play Parting ways more - never been played outside the states
May 16 2016 in Toronto 

trees

I would like a copy of that please on OFFICIAL bootlegs ,or some how

KN219077

This song should replace RITFW’s end of show spot