Song of the day(W.M.A.)
JDE-PJ
Posts: 721
The sixth tune off of VS, this song is always a pleasure to be heard live when they tag it with another song off of this album titled Daughter.
W.M.A.
RrVwMirror
1/12/01 8:26 PM
SOTD: .....W.M.A.
El Conquistador
9/3/99 10:31 AM
he won the lottery when he was born......W.M.A.
W.M.A.
He won the lottery when he was born
Took his mothers white breast to his tongue
Trained like dogs, color and smell
Walks by me to get to him
Police man (2x)
He won the lottery by being born
Big hand slapped a white male 'merican
Do no wrong, so clean cut...
Dirty his hands, it comes right off
Police man (2x)
Police stopped my brother again (3x)
Police man (2x)
Jesus greets me...looks just like me...
Do no wrong, so clean cut
Dirty his hands, it comes right off
Police man (3x)
Police stopped my brother again (3x)
Police man (2x)
Police stopped my brother again (3x)
Police man (3X)
All my pieces set me free...human devices set me free...
All my pieces set me free... (2x) } (2x)
Human devices set me free... (2x) }
Elegant-Waste
9/3/99 1:24 PM
Re: he won the lottery when he was born......W.M.A.
Isn't the story behind this something like: Ed & a friend (who was African-American) were walking through some neighbourhood or something like that - they were approached by a policeman, and only the African-American was being hassled. ("Walks by me...to get to him") That's what I heard. And the police doesn't feel guilty for the way they opress coloured people ("Dirty his hands...it comes right off"). I'm not good at this interpretation stuff. Let the smarter people give a decent interpretation...
*Note: Didn't we miss "Dissident"?*
-My My Hey Hey Pearl Jam Is Here To Stay-
jcborges
9/3/99 2:02 PM
WHAT ABOUT "DISSIDENT" ?!?!
I can't believe it... we just missed one of my favorite songs!!! BOOHOOWHOOHOOHOO...
El Conquistador... I urge you to make amends on Monday, or I'm REALLY going to pout...
))
Well, I guess I'll give it a shot on "W.M.A.", but speaking of "Dissident", be sure to look up East Timor in the news this weekend. The long-ignored 24-year struggle for freedom of an oppressed people may be coming to its end... or to its climax. The referendum on independence will have its results known on Monday, and it will be then the duty of the international community to demand and enforce a stop to the terror, violence and massacres perpetrated by Indonesia and its supporters throughout the last quarter of a century...
FREE EAST TIMOR
<b>João da Câmara Borges</b>
"Shower the people you love with love, show them the way you feel"
jcborges
9/3/99 3:08 PM
Re: he won the lottery when he was born......W.M.A.
Well, I didn't know that, and it fits well with the first part of the song, but I believe there is more to it.
In the liner notes of this song there is a picture of a Black (sorry, but I hate the "politically correct" term "African-American", and all the PC lexicon for that matter) with a caption that says something like "the autopsy results show that Green died of several blows to his head" (I left my CD collection at my other house this weekend, so I can't be sure). So I'd say it is speaking of that case too. Look at the line "Jesus greets me... looks just like me", it's the perfect dying man's quote. And the reference "Big hand slapped a white male american" looks also as part of another context. But the structure of the song, like the ramblings of someone who is dreaming or semi-unconscious, makes it very difficult to draw the story out.
But forget the lyrics for once. What really sets this song apart is the music, so unlike anything else PJ had done before. In fact, so unlike that I felt estranged to it, and it was a song that I skipped frequently. It was only after Vitalogy, after I reconciliating myself with the fact that they simply weren't going to put out more versions of "Ten", that I could really listen to it, really immerse myself in its sounds.
Eerie and ethereal. That's how it sounds. Ir rises and descends, ebbs and floats in a slow, loose and seemingly chaotic rythm, while Eddie's voice is just a subdued drone flowing and blending with it. It speaks of violence, yet it bears no rage, except in the chorus, only a detached look. Fill the air with this song and you are transported to a OBE (Outer-Body Experience) atmosphere, like if you floated in a different plane, between the worlds, not soaring like a rocket, as in Given To Fly, or hovering in the heights of the falcon waiting for the moment of the plunge, like in Deep, but just floating relentlessly, like none of the cares of the world are your own. Only a very mild tinge of regret for something that was left behind is still fading, until a point when it too feels like something someone else once felt, like a dream. And feel his aura starting to glow as we approach the "Jesus greets me" part, to finally dissolve himelf into light at the end, freed from pain and from prejudice, from the world and from himself...
I had never tried to put it into words before. Because it's at best a clumsy effort, because this is one of those songs that you really can't dissect and discribe, you have to let yourself go in its tide and just feel it. And that is after all what good music is about, a flow of emotion captured in the sound.
<b>João da Câmara Borges</b>
"Shower the people you love with love, show them the way you feel"
brokenarrow
9/4/99 7:06 PM
W.M.A.............
.....wHATSAMATTA???? No one like this tune? Or did it just get lost amongst the other posts????
W.M.A......WOW!
The first time I heard this tune, I was just like "Holy Shit"....
This is a great friggin tune.......
I have to tell you, my favorite part of the whole song, is the chanting at the end.......The singing and drums remind me of a Native American drum circle....
Same rythym.....same type of song being sung by Ed.....
It really sets the tone for me....very somber and very serious....
Having grown up in NYC, I needed no explanation of the line "Walks by me to get to him...." but at the same time I've gotta tell ya...
Not all cops are like that....no matter where you live on the planet, you'll have your bad seed cops. I need to add that because I know a few VERY DECENT, and FAIR cops.......If your a bad guy, your a bad guy....doesn't matter what color you are..........
Human devices set me free....oh, oh, ohhhhhh, oh.......
brokenarrow>
(the symbol of the broken arrow stands for PEACE by the way......)
JamFan
9/5/99 00:14 AM
Re: W.M.A.............
I love this song, especially as a tag to Daughter. This song is the basis for my favorite pj shirt. It has a guy getting beat up on the front (looks like a street sign.) And on the back it says police. Pretty cool
I don't want to take what you can give. I would rather starve that eat your bread.-EV
MFC
9/5/99 02:02 AM
Re: W.M.A.............
im not one to ever read lyrics.. i usually just like my original idea of what i think a song goes.. ive had some pretty cool versions goin on for awhile.. *take, for example Green Days 'BasketCase'.. i coulda SWORN he was saying 'my mom plays tricks on me..' not his mind..* but WMA was one of those songs i had no CLUE as to what it was about.. couldnt pick up a word until the second verse.. when i finally broke down and read the lyrics, it knocked me out. The way he puts everything is so powerful.. and for it to be coming from a WHITE MALE AMERICAN makes it even more so. This is just one of the many examples of why Pearl Jam's music has affected my life.. for such a message to be even put out.. im finding it really hard to describe the feeling i get everytime i listen to WMA, that im not even gonna try... My guess is THATS why we have sofew replies. *btw, sorry im a day late.. but i havnt been online in awhile because of work and football and my sis being in the hospital.. but now everythings gotten alot better*
'there's alot to be said for Nowhere.'
-robby
CandleOfThought
9/7/99 10:56 AM
One more spin to this one...
Since we're not moving on to another song today, and since we got so little response to this one, and since it should have gone AFTER "Dissident" anyway, I'm bringing it up again to give everyone another shot.
El Conquistador: I believe you should keep explaining that we are commenting on a song each day (one brief sentence at the start of each thread, before the lyrics, would do) so that occasional and new posters understand what's going on (if you use threaded view and open the thread, all you see is the lyrics slammed in front of you, which could be confusing).
*** CandleOfThought ***
"Shower the people you love with love, show them the way you feel"
I let my music take me where my heart wants to go....
~C.S.
W.M.A.
RrVwMirror
1/12/01 8:26 PM
SOTD: .....W.M.A.
El Conquistador
9/3/99 10:31 AM
he won the lottery when he was born......W.M.A.
W.M.A.
He won the lottery when he was born
Took his mothers white breast to his tongue
Trained like dogs, color and smell
Walks by me to get to him
Police man (2x)
He won the lottery by being born
Big hand slapped a white male 'merican
Do no wrong, so clean cut...
Dirty his hands, it comes right off
Police man (2x)
Police stopped my brother again (3x)
Police man (2x)
Jesus greets me...looks just like me...
Do no wrong, so clean cut
Dirty his hands, it comes right off
Police man (3x)
Police stopped my brother again (3x)
Police man (2x)
Police stopped my brother again (3x)
Police man (3X)
All my pieces set me free...human devices set me free...
All my pieces set me free... (2x) } (2x)
Human devices set me free... (2x) }
Elegant-Waste
9/3/99 1:24 PM
Re: he won the lottery when he was born......W.M.A.
Isn't the story behind this something like: Ed & a friend (who was African-American) were walking through some neighbourhood or something like that - they were approached by a policeman, and only the African-American was being hassled. ("Walks by me...to get to him") That's what I heard. And the police doesn't feel guilty for the way they opress coloured people ("Dirty his hands...it comes right off"). I'm not good at this interpretation stuff. Let the smarter people give a decent interpretation...
*Note: Didn't we miss "Dissident"?*
-My My Hey Hey Pearl Jam Is Here To Stay-
jcborges
9/3/99 2:02 PM
WHAT ABOUT "DISSIDENT" ?!?!
I can't believe it... we just missed one of my favorite songs!!! BOOHOOWHOOHOOHOO...
El Conquistador... I urge you to make amends on Monday, or I'm REALLY going to pout...
))Well, I guess I'll give it a shot on "W.M.A.", but speaking of "Dissident", be sure to look up East Timor in the news this weekend. The long-ignored 24-year struggle for freedom of an oppressed people may be coming to its end... or to its climax. The referendum on independence will have its results known on Monday, and it will be then the duty of the international community to demand and enforce a stop to the terror, violence and massacres perpetrated by Indonesia and its supporters throughout the last quarter of a century...
FREE EAST TIMOR
<b>João da Câmara Borges</b>
"Shower the people you love with love, show them the way you feel"
jcborges
9/3/99 3:08 PM
Re: he won the lottery when he was born......W.M.A.
Well, I didn't know that, and it fits well with the first part of the song, but I believe there is more to it.
In the liner notes of this song there is a picture of a Black (sorry, but I hate the "politically correct" term "African-American", and all the PC lexicon for that matter) with a caption that says something like "the autopsy results show that Green died of several blows to his head" (I left my CD collection at my other house this weekend, so I can't be sure). So I'd say it is speaking of that case too. Look at the line "Jesus greets me... looks just like me", it's the perfect dying man's quote. And the reference "Big hand slapped a white male american" looks also as part of another context. But the structure of the song, like the ramblings of someone who is dreaming or semi-unconscious, makes it very difficult to draw the story out.
But forget the lyrics for once. What really sets this song apart is the music, so unlike anything else PJ had done before. In fact, so unlike that I felt estranged to it, and it was a song that I skipped frequently. It was only after Vitalogy, after I reconciliating myself with the fact that they simply weren't going to put out more versions of "Ten", that I could really listen to it, really immerse myself in its sounds.
Eerie and ethereal. That's how it sounds. Ir rises and descends, ebbs and floats in a slow, loose and seemingly chaotic rythm, while Eddie's voice is just a subdued drone flowing and blending with it. It speaks of violence, yet it bears no rage, except in the chorus, only a detached look. Fill the air with this song and you are transported to a OBE (Outer-Body Experience) atmosphere, like if you floated in a different plane, between the worlds, not soaring like a rocket, as in Given To Fly, or hovering in the heights of the falcon waiting for the moment of the plunge, like in Deep, but just floating relentlessly, like none of the cares of the world are your own. Only a very mild tinge of regret for something that was left behind is still fading, until a point when it too feels like something someone else once felt, like a dream. And feel his aura starting to glow as we approach the "Jesus greets me" part, to finally dissolve himelf into light at the end, freed from pain and from prejudice, from the world and from himself...
I had never tried to put it into words before. Because it's at best a clumsy effort, because this is one of those songs that you really can't dissect and discribe, you have to let yourself go in its tide and just feel it. And that is after all what good music is about, a flow of emotion captured in the sound.
<b>João da Câmara Borges</b>
"Shower the people you love with love, show them the way you feel"
brokenarrow
9/4/99 7:06 PM
W.M.A.............
.....wHATSAMATTA???? No one like this tune? Or did it just get lost amongst the other posts????
W.M.A......WOW!
The first time I heard this tune, I was just like "Holy Shit"....
This is a great friggin tune.......
I have to tell you, my favorite part of the whole song, is the chanting at the end.......The singing and drums remind me of a Native American drum circle....
Same rythym.....same type of song being sung by Ed.....
It really sets the tone for me....very somber and very serious....
Having grown up in NYC, I needed no explanation of the line "Walks by me to get to him...." but at the same time I've gotta tell ya...
Not all cops are like that....no matter where you live on the planet, you'll have your bad seed cops. I need to add that because I know a few VERY DECENT, and FAIR cops.......If your a bad guy, your a bad guy....doesn't matter what color you are..........
Human devices set me free....oh, oh, ohhhhhh, oh.......
brokenarrow>
(the symbol of the broken arrow stands for PEACE by the way......)
JamFan
9/5/99 00:14 AM
Re: W.M.A.............
I love this song, especially as a tag to Daughter. This song is the basis for my favorite pj shirt. It has a guy getting beat up on the front (looks like a street sign.) And on the back it says police. Pretty cool
I don't want to take what you can give. I would rather starve that eat your bread.-EV
MFC
9/5/99 02:02 AM
Re: W.M.A.............
im not one to ever read lyrics.. i usually just like my original idea of what i think a song goes.. ive had some pretty cool versions goin on for awhile.. *take, for example Green Days 'BasketCase'.. i coulda SWORN he was saying 'my mom plays tricks on me..' not his mind..* but WMA was one of those songs i had no CLUE as to what it was about.. couldnt pick up a word until the second verse.. when i finally broke down and read the lyrics, it knocked me out. The way he puts everything is so powerful.. and for it to be coming from a WHITE MALE AMERICAN makes it even more so. This is just one of the many examples of why Pearl Jam's music has affected my life.. for such a message to be even put out.. im finding it really hard to describe the feeling i get everytime i listen to WMA, that im not even gonna try... My guess is THATS why we have sofew replies. *btw, sorry im a day late.. but i havnt been online in awhile because of work and football and my sis being in the hospital.. but now everythings gotten alot better*
'there's alot to be said for Nowhere.'
-robby
CandleOfThought
9/7/99 10:56 AM
One more spin to this one...
Since we're not moving on to another song today, and since we got so little response to this one, and since it should have gone AFTER "Dissident" anyway, I'm bringing it up again to give everyone another shot.
El Conquistador: I believe you should keep explaining that we are commenting on a song each day (one brief sentence at the start of each thread, before the lyrics, would do) so that occasional and new posters understand what's going on (if you use threaded view and open the thread, all you see is the lyrics slammed in front of you, which could be confusing).
*** CandleOfThought ***
"Shower the people you love with love, show them the way you feel"
I let my music take me where my heart wants to go....
~C.S.
I know someday you will have a beautiful Life
Jason
Jason
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
they should play it live :(
Don't let me know we're invisible
We could dance, dance, dance thru' the fire
Dance, dance, dance thru' the fire
You make me feel uncalm and I think I like it - 311
JEFF ROX MY SOX!
"Jeff is just a badass all the way across the board" ~aNiMaL~
"Chill out Kaddikat"