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

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.

pearljamgirl07

benito wrote:

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...

the same in my country ....and I love the band too:)

gobrowns19

Sure, it could have been a hit. But a music hit today means something totally different than it did 15 years ago.

dustinpardue

Best song on the record.........
Would have been a radio hit is payola had been involved. That's hoevery radio hit becomes a radio hit