Yield

I think if you had to send one representative of each record...GTF and NAIS would be the ones.

So, maybe that's hindsight, but they serve as good introductions to the masses.

YieldInHiding wrote:

I meant that they knew YIELD was more accessible when they were deciding what the first single would be. I've stated as have many others that YIELD was an accidental concept album. I don't think the guys ever go into the studio saying "Let's try to make this one more accessible."

Yeah, but I think it was subconscious in their efforts in writing the songs.
With all the aftermath from Who You Are...it had to be on their minds to make some sounds that were more open...I think the lyrics are a bit more cryptic, and that's great.
But I will argue there must have been some effort, conscious or not, to make YIELD a bit more friendly.

likepilateihaveadog wrote:

Rhino, this is great, thanks for adding to the discussion. I'll have to think about this, but that is a great observation.

Maybe there's some sort of similarity in the sounds of these songs as well...the car songs are about pushing it forward, about getting over something in a way. They're about the future.

The circle songs are cycling back, about the past. I'd include ATY here as well (paper plate is a circle)

The angel songs are about these mystical things that don't really have an explanation, they're about faith. I'd put Faithfull in this group as well.

Cool.

Thanks for expounding on my ideas. I realized after reading your post that my symbolism doesn't cover all the bases. Noticable gaps in the theory include spots that should tie Brain of J, Faithfull, and All Those Yesterdays into the narrative.

If pressed, I might be willing to toss Faithfull into the same arena as the songs containing the angel lyrics. They all seem to deal with questions of the spirit realm, love, and participation in something greater than one's self.

As I've thought about it a bit more, I think the Brain of J / All Those Yesterdays combination is a really important one in the context of the cycle/circle metaphor--but not explicitly, mind you. For a collection of songs to open with such a raw, emotive, and highly-volatile track as it does, the listener rightly expects that "the whole world will be different soon" and that s/he is about to begin a journey alongside the musicians/storytellers. And if the lyrics and music are correct, the difference may be powerful, swift, and pack a wallop. The cycle of life for humans is more about transformation and progression, not necessarily about arriving at the same place you started (like on a circle).

In sharp contrast, ATY reminds the listener that motion/progression/evolution takes a toll one's person. All the stretching and growth of the mind/soul to grapple with large questions will lead to a place where the self needs to "lay your head down" and rest. If successful on the journey, one should come to a point of harmony and peace with the chaos around him/her. From striving to make a difference to surviving a 'car crash', from wishing for hundreds of things in the world to going into hiding from the world, YIELD seems to produce a need for a well-deserved moment of pause and reflection. "Don't you think you've done enough? Don't you think you oughta rest?"

So, I say, treat BoJ/ATY as bookends to the story of progression and cast Faithfull's lot with the angel symbolism. I suppose that makes Hummus the coda or epilogue. As someone said earlier, perhaps this line of rationale has some legs after all.

Would distantsun care to offer the first tackling of ATY as a single track, instead of within the unit of The Album? I'd be fascinated to read it.

.

YieldInHiding wrote:

Hey, I'm just the glue...

You are, I kid.

YieldInHiding wrote:

Brain of J was Salt Lake City 95.

Couldn't think of a better song to try on the Mormons.

So...do we think songs were developed lyrically around these two? And if so, which ones in particular.

With the great balance in songwriting, and we know Mike wrote those three at home in the blizzard, right, I find this theory a bit of a stretch.