Post subject: SOTM: Nothing back there for you to find...
Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2006 10:13 pm
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Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
Life Wasted
You're always saying that there's something wrong,... I'm starting to believe it's your plan all along,... Death came around, forced to hear its song,... And know tomorrow can't be depended on.
I seen the home inside your head,... All locked doors and unmade beds. Open sores unattended Let me say just once that
I have faced it,... A life wasted,... I'm never going back again. I escaped it,... A life wasted,.. I'm never going back again. Having tasted,... A life wasted,... I'm never going back again
The world awaits just up the stairs Leave the pain for someone else. Nothing back there for you to find,... Or was it you, you left behind?
You're always saying you're too weak to be strong,... You're harder on yourself than just about anyone,... Why swim the channel just to get this far? Halfway there, why would you turn around?
Darkness comes in waves,... tell me, why invite it to stay? You're warm with negativity, Yes, comfort is an energy,... But why let the sad song play?
I have faced it,... A life wasted,... I'm never going back again. Oh I escaped it,... A life wasted,... I'm never going back again. Having tasted,... A life wasted,... I'm never going back again. Oh I erased it,... A life wasted,... I'm never going back again.
_________________ "Better the occasional faults of a Government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a Government frozen in the ice of its own indifference."--FDR
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
I’m recycling a big chunk of this from my avocado thread since I don’t have time to do something from scratch
Life Wasted covers ground they’ve covered before, but with a twist. Pearl Jam’s music has always been about the feeling of alienation—learning to cope with a world you cannot understand, control, or feel an attachment to. But there was a sense of solidarity in the lyrics. Eddie was right there with us. Not this time. He’s over forty and you can’t help but view the world differently than you did at 15, 20, or 28. This time he’s speaking from the standpoint of an elder statesman, trying to give away the wisdom that the old can’t usually give away. And the message is simple enough. Until you learn to let go of whatever it is that tears away at you inside you will not be able to truly live. He knows, because he’s been there, and moved past it. Life Wasted fulfills the promise of the earlier records. They floated the possibility that things could get better if we stand together. Here he’s telling us that they will, if we let them. We have a choice to make…
Some important themes and images are introduced here that will recur throughout the album. One is the idea of a home. Ideally a home is a source of security—where we are safe and grounded. It’s the foundation from which we will build the rest of our lives. Without a home that can fulfill that need we’re lost. The person life wasted is directed at has lost that sense of security—the home inside their head. It’s much easier to just revel in feeling disaffected, to be one with negativity, but there are consequences.
The other major image introduced here is the idea of movement (escape, swimming the channel, darkness coming in waves, ascending stairs, etc)—probably the dominant image throughout the entire album. Movement carries with it a sense of possibilities. As long as we can travel, as long as we have that freedom, we can change the direction of our lives, our culture, our country, and our world. The problem with movement is that the outcome depends entirely on the direction you’re going in. The songs on this record are an attempt to steer that movement away from a life wasted.
Overall this song has aged real well for me so far. At one point it was my second favorite opener behind Last Exit, and I’m not quite sure if it still is, but it is close. A great dirty jagged riff, a catchy chorus, and a nice extended solo at the end. Once you get past that hideous opening set of lyrics it is quite well written, and Eddie sings it with a controlled fire that hasn’t been present for a long time. There is passion, but he isn’t shouting himself hoarse.
Favorite lyrics
I seen the home inside your head,...
All locked doors and unmade beds.
Great image
The world awaits just up the stairs
Leave the pain for someone else.
Nothing back there for you to find,...
Or was it you you left behind?
I love the idea that if the person isn’t careful, they’ve got nothing left of themselves but their pain.
Anyway, this is a 4.5 song but probably closer to a 4 than a 5.
_________________ "Better the occasional faults of a Government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a Government frozen in the ice of its own indifference."--FDR
Joined: Fri Mar 24, 2006 9:49 pm Posts: 286 Location: Costa Rica
For some reason I am not a fan of Life Wasted. I really like the theme in the lyrics, but the chorus just doesn't thrill me at all...One of my least favorite openers and tracks on Avocado.
I rather hear Wasted Reprise...but hopefully this song will someday "click" to me
2.5 stars
_________________ I will hold the candle till it burns up my arm
WPB 06/11/08 - Tampa 06/12/08 - Columbia 06/16/08 - V. Beach 06/17/08
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 12:00 am Posts: 1584 Location: Huntsville, Tx Gender: Male
I love the theme in this song. The way I see it is that this person finally has their life where they want it to be by overcoming what was ever holding them back. This person is now looking back thinking I almost had nothing and they will never let that happen again. Good song 4 stars.
_________________ I won't change direction, and I won't change my mind
Joined: Wed Oct 05, 2005 2:40 am Posts: 12509 Location: Pittsburgh Gender: Male
This song doesn't really do much for me. Nice lyrics, mediocre music.
2 stars
_________________ "i'm the crescent, the sickle, so sharp the blade i'm the flick of the shank that opened your veins i'm the dusk, i'm the frightening calm i'm a hole in the pipeline, i'm a road side bomb..."
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 10:08 pm Posts: 1467 Location: Sarasota, Florida Gender: Male
This song should just about murder anyone that thought Pearl Jam was going soft. Maybe the lyrics are the soft touch of this song, but at the same time, it all screams, "Get the fuck up and don't waste it!" to me.
Be blessed,
Jared
_________________ So it's Barack Obama now? Good luck.
Joined: Mon Sep 05, 2005 3:29 am Posts: 199 Location: US
Life Wasted is one of the most straight-forward rockers Pearl Jam has done in a while. There are no weird, garage-y tones to it and it has little experimentation. It's layout is simple: guitar riff, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, etc. (with a little bridge thrown in) and then an extended solo that Mike just tears to shreds. The chorus is obvious and catchy. I love it!
I was totally satisfied with their past experimentations, but was so pleasantly shocked by this album, and this song as its opener.
As for why: listen to something like SoLaT, Ed's voice was so huge back then he pretty much overcomes everything else in the song. He's more reserved now, more complimentary to the music rather than simply taking it over, and from the opening line to the last chorus it's all sung perfectly. The lyrics, especially those that Stip mentioned (I've seen the home inside your head ... all locked doors and unmade beds), are simple, profound and much more positive than Ed usually gives us. It's really nice to hear, especially on top of such a rocking song.
The guitars, from the way Stone and Mike play off each other during the opening riffs to the awesome solo at the end, are nearly perfect (although a slightly warmer tone to that opening riff, more like the older records, would have been welcome). Still, there's really nothing to complain about here.
I'm sorry for those who feel bored by this song, I know we've all come to take them being weird and experimental for granted. It's really great to be someone who came to like them so late in the game, I learned to appreciate all their music around the same time, so getting a song and album like this is like getting a portrait of their entire career, and it's more than I could have ever asked for.
If you can't tell, I appreciate this album as much as I did the day I bought it and love being all pretentious about it, sorry.
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 2:29 pm Posts: 6984 Location: if anyone wants me, i'll be in my room Gender: Male
i love this song. many of you at some point or another have claimed that a song has chaned your life... and this one changed mine. for a long time i was drinking every single night (not just a beer or 2, but like 8-10 shots of rum or vodka) and smoking a lot of weed. i still like to do these things, but there is a time and a place. ive cut down on my bad habits, i quit smoking cigs completely, and ive been doubling my efforts with my karate and working out.
i was living a life 'wasted', and i hope to never go back again.
(though in the last 2 weeks i have been slipping.. gotta pull myself together again).
anyway... this song has quickly permeated my top ten, and maybe even my top 5.
Joined: Wed May 24, 2006 5:23 pm Posts: 12793 Location: Tours, FR Gender: Male
Like I already said, I just find the lyrics to be awfully written, even the "I seen the home inside your head" thing doesn't do it for me, I skip this song, 1 star
_________________ There has never been a silence like this before
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2004 5:47 am Posts: 27904 Location: Philadelphia Gender: Male
5 stars. Fantastic opener. However, for some reason I wish they'd have opened with the music/lyrics of Wasted Reprise and then jumped into Life Wasted (as in one joint track). That would have been really cool IMO.
_________________ It's always the fallen ones who think they're always gonna save me.
Five stars. Probably the best bit of songwriting on the album. There are other songs that have a cooler moment, a better solo, or that simply feel less like songs they've done before. But the songwriting peaks right here. I didn't like it at all when the album came out, but it kept growing on me until it was my favorite by far.
Joined: Mon Mar 13, 2006 1:02 am Posts: 2560 Location: Dallas/Atlanta/Savannah
I kinda wonder if this song wasnt too serious to be released as a single. being as this seems to be the first the public has had a real taste of PJ in a long time, I wouldv thought something a little more fun, like comatose or severed hand. I like the moral of the song, but it seems like people could potentially be turned off by it. just an observation.
on a side note, wasted reprise is lame.
_________________ "is that a fucking pearl jam shirt?" Courtney Love
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Frank
