My newly found appreciation for 'Mankind'

Ledbetterman10
Ledbetterman10 Posts: 16,994
edited December 2007 in The Porch
ya know, I've alway just thought of Mankind as a token song that Stone sings that, while it has a pretty fun riff, has terrible lyrics. 'Playing with my magazine, using up my Listerine...what the fuck? that's horrible. I thought this for years

however, on recent listens to it I've realized that I couldn't have been more wrong. the lyrics are so completely ridiculous that they're actually pretty brilliant. not unlike 'I Am the Walrus' or some Zappa tunes and stuff like that. 'Dipping in my battleship, for the latest tip.' it's poetry really




also, can you believe that there are actually people going to a LED ZEPPELIN CONCERT TONIGHT!!?!??! what the fuck?! I say good for them! get me a bootleg for the love of God!!!
2000: Camden 1, 2003: Philly, State College, Camden 1, MSG 2, Hershey, 2004: Reading, 2005: Philly, 2006: Camden 1, 2, East Rutherford 1, 2007: Lollapalooza, 2008: Camden 1, Washington D.C., MSG 1, 2, 2009: Philly 1, 2, 3, 4, 2010: Bristol, MSG 2, 2011: PJ20 1, 2, 2012: Made In America, 2013: Brooklyn 2, Philly 2, 2014: Denver, 2015: Global Citizen Festival, 2016: Philly 2, Fenway 1, 2018: Fenway 1, 2, 2021: Sea. Hear. Now. 2022: Camden, 2024: Philly 2, 2025: Pittsburgh 1

Pearl Jam bootlegs:
http://wegotshit.blogspot.com
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • potluck
    potluck Posts: 170
    ive always thought mankind was brilliant. There is a strong message in the song, great riff, and you got to love it anytime stone sings
    06/24/1998 SD
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    Kill Fascists.... or at least make them realize what they are.
  • slightofjeff
    slightofjeff Posts: 7,762
    The verse lyrics are nonsensical for a reason.

    The song is about how all pop music sounds the same, in cookie-cutter fashion. It doesn't matter what the lyrics are, just that it's "catchy."

    That's why it's the most pop-ish song Pearl Jam had written to that point, and why the lyrics were basically just silly rhymes.

    It IS brilliant.

    "It's all just inadvertent imitation, a pattern in all mankind ... what's got the whole world faking?"
    everybody wants the most they can possibly get
    for the least they could possibly do
  • lance_gray
    lance_gray Posts: 166
    One of my all-time favorite PJ songs! It's all across this nation!
    Dallas '98 - Dallas '00 - OKC '03 - Dallas '03

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  • snozeges
    snozeges Posts: 12
    The song rules, it's really fun and Stone is singing and A I love stone B I love stones voice and C it's always good when multiple people sing, it varies albums and adds different character. And D Stone has a happy face :D
  • nutmeg81
    nutmeg81 Posts: 627
    lance_gray wrote:
    One of my all-time favorite PJ songs! It's all across this nation!


    fuck yeah it rocks!!

    i remember the day i bought NO Code on cassette (didnt own cd player!!)
    twas 26th oct 96......same day as forst ever gig....PJ in the Point!!

    anyway loved the song since the first listen!!
    26/10/96 dublin
    01/06/00 dublin
    23/08/06 dublin
    11/09/06 paris
    18/06/07 london
    17/08/09 manchester
    18/08/09 london

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