Marker in the sand may have been a radio hit if:

DCRONIN

It had different, more commercail lyrics.

Jesika537

but than it wouldn't be Marker in the Sand...

JordyWordy

you could probably say that about most pearl jam songs!

I_Got_Shit

...if this country wasn't run by religious wingnuts?

DeLukin

WWS did pretty well on the radio and its lyrics were pretty critical of the current administration...

vluggage

DeLukin wrote:

WWS did pretty well on the radio and its lyrics were pretty critical of the current administration...

It is not the political issues with the song that makes it "controversial". It is the religious aspects of the song that that some would have issues with.

DeLukin

1/2 Empty wrote:

It is not the political issues with the song that makes it "controversial". It is the religious aspects of the song that that some would have issues with.

Possibly. But would they have enough issue with the religious aspects of the song to not make it a 'radio hit.' I doubt it...

OmahaJammer

BeerBaron wrote:

Exactly.

Marker wasn't it radio hit because Marker isn't a radio hit. Plain and simple.

Has nothing to do with the lyrics.

I disagree. From the first time I heard the record, right up to this very day, I think Marker is the closest thing to a radio hit that was on that record. WWS was okay, but Marker should have been the 2nd single. No doubt about it.

LikeAnOpeningBandForTheSun

maybe if they changed the music and the lyrics.

Fahka

Pearl Jam is not a commercially accepted band because they are better than that. Its not a bad thing. The radio sucks, you should kill yours (unless its Sirius radio, of course)

Ryan_WFC

It would also help if the production didn't make it sound like a dubbed cassette.

QuestionAuthority

For me, the lyrics are what make the song outstanding.. so I am glad it was not a radio hit for that reason alone.

12345AGNST1

Pearl Jam doesn't really care about radio play. I'll admit, it was pretty obvious they tried to get back into the spotlight with avocado, but they clearly didn't try too hard.

Proof that PJ doesn't care: Save You could've easily been their single to gain some fans. They could've easily cut out the fucker parts, instead they chose the "not single friendly" I am Mine.

ledvedderman

Lyrics have nothing to do with anything being a hit. For the first time in a long time, I listened to pop radio for a bit, just to hear what was going on---and the first thing is a song that says "How am I supposed to breathe with no air", to which my brains first reply was "You're not...you would die".

Let's not forget that Fergie has a lot of hits and her lyrics are about as deep as...well...something not deep at all

Child Of The 90s

OmahaJammer wrote:

I disagree. From the first time I heard the record, right up to this very day, I think Marker is the closest thing to a radio hit that was on that record. WWS was okay, but Marker should have been the 2nd single. No doubt about it.

I definitely agree. Marker is the catchiest song on the album, and I thought single as soon as I heard it. I don't think that's a bad thing either. It's my favorite song on the album

SoapMakesUTaller

12345AGNST1 wrote:

Pearl Jam doesn't really care about radio play. I'll admit, it was pretty obvious they tried to get back into the spotlight with avocado, but they clearly didn't try too hard.

Proof that PJ doesn't care: Save You could've easily been their single to gain some fans. They could've easily cut out the fucker parts, instead they chose the "not single friendly" I am Mine.

That was the 2nd single......it didn't catch on.

washedinblack91

i think lyrics have little to do with a song being a hit or not. i think if the melody is something that really speaks to people they'll respond to that first and figure out the lyrics second. even if they do know what the lyrics are, who's to say they'll figure out what it means? we would know what it meant because we're used to having to figure out what ed means in other songs but a lot of people listen to songs with straightforward meaning. not to say that someone has to be smart to understand that song, but there are a ton of people out there that misinterpret lyrics all the time. look at that police song "every breath you take", do you know how many people think it's a beautiful love song? so yeah, lyrics have little to do with whether a song is a hit or not.

LikeAnOpeningBandForTheSun

I think marker is too mid-tempo music-wise to play on rock radio, and too weird to play on top40. pretty much all their stuff since Yield falls under that category except a handful of songs they dont want to release (severed hand). they're just not on the same page as radio nowadays. not even close.

benito

Is the radio thing a big issue anyway???? I live in France. I've never heard a single Pearl Jam song on the radio and still i love the band...

digster

1/2 Empty wrote:

It is not the political issues with the song that makes it "controversial". It is the religious aspects of the song that that some would have issues with.

I don't know, when R.E.M. has a hit song called "Losing my Religion" it's hard to believe Pearl Jam would have been censored for it's lyrics which are pretty subtle in their critique.

josevolution

glad it wasn't a hit at all as a matter of fact i hope they don't ever have another hit for mainstream radio again ,keep the mainstream out of here ...

Ledbetterman10

DCRONIN wrote:

It had different, more commercail lyrics.

enough about commercial hits. why do you think that if the lyrics were different it would have been a hit? newsflash: Pearl Jam is DONE having hits. Worldwide Suicide was not a hit. will the masses even remember it years from now, even the really big rock fans? no. wow #1 on the rock charts. woopdedoo. and I couldn't stand the people who thought that Come Back could be a "hit." my god in heaven. get a clue. the only people who care about new Pearl Jam is us. 20 years from now, Avocado, Riot Act and Binaural will become nice little finds in the bargain bin for some 16 year old hardcore PJ fan trying to complete his/her discography (like when I found "Presence" by Zeppelin). but they'll never have another mainstream "hit" other than for nostalgic reasons. WWS reminded people a little the PJ they loved years ago and so it got some spins on radio, big deal.

so yeah, I disagree that Marker In The Sand would could have been a hit with different, more 'commercail' lyrics

MattyJoe

I_Got_Shit wrote:

...if this country wasn't run by religious wingnuts?

Ok, calm down. The country is actually "run" by fairly anti-religious people (media-wise anyway).

Rhinocerous Surprise

Marker was far too discordant (in the nicest way possible) to be a hit. The verses were too angular and harsh to hook most "radio" listeners, and by the time the big chorus rolls around, they'd either be already lost, or just confused.

igotid88

it's whatever the radio stations want to play.

pearljammer

Rhinocerous Surprise wrote:

Marker was far too discordant (in the nicest way possible) to be a hit. The verses were too angular and harsh to hook most "radio" listeners, and by the time the big chorus rolls around, they'd either be already lost, or just confused.

This is another way of saying it's a great song. Music written by Mr. McCready, himself.

Rhinocerous Surprise

pearljammer wrote:

This is another way of saying it's a great song. Music written by Mr. McCready, himself.

Oh, absolutely. I'd describe most of Tom Waits music very similiarly, and I love Tom Waits like I love my own right hand.

jesse

i remember reading that bono said that marker in the sand was the best song he heard all year (2006) to me thats a pretty strong indication that it had potential! it also got played a lot on footy replays here in oz which was pretty cool at the time

Gmoney

DCRONIN wrote:

It had different, more commercail lyrics.

marker would have been a radio hit, had it been released to radio...

mattosborne

WWS performed about the best a PJ single is going to be perform. With exceptions like Last Kiss or something. It was really popular on rock radio, topping a couple different rock charts. Life Wasted also caught on very well, the video got quite a bit of play considering what it was. And, it ended up on Guitar Hero, I'd argue that both were very successful by PJ standards in terms of single performance.

RiotAct10

12345AGNST1 wrote:

Pearl Jam doesn't really care about radio play. I'll admit, it was pretty obvious they tried to get back into the spotlight with avocado, but they clearly didn't try too hard.

Proof that PJ doesn't care: Save You could've easily been their single to gain some fans. They could've easily cut out the fucker parts, instead they chose the "not single friendly" I am Mine.

I think one of the problems here, is that everyone has different opinions of what would work on the radio, and what wouldn't. In regards to this comment, Save You is probably on my list of my 5 least favorite PJ songs, right behind Sweet Lew. So, my point, a song that one person thinks might work brilliantly as a single, someone else is going to think it's a terrible idea.