Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
dirtyfrank0705 wrote:
A number of people have mentioned that Sad should have been part of this competition, for lack of a better word. First, I didn't choose the songs for this battle; I was simply asked to do the write-up given the three predetermined songs. Sad might just be featured in another "best of" series in the future.
Second, Sad is a bit different from these 3 songs because it's not written from a first-person perspective. The narrator of Sad isn't coping with death personally. And Man of the Hour, also suggested, doesn't quite fit for the same reason IMO. It's not so much a song about coping with death as it is a father/son story.
Just my two cents.
I left sad out for that reason.
As always, if people have ideas for this thing PLEASE pm me. I'm starting to run out.
_________________ "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 May 30, 2006 2:48 pm Posts: 3115 Location: Edinburgh/Lincoln, UK
Raziel wrote:
iceagecoming wrote:
I think it's the almost cheesy ballad style of Come back that makes it harder to feel the emotion and sentiment of it. Also all the lines seem rather cliched...
Yeah but if someone you're close to dies you go through all this. At least I did pretty much every time it happened to me.
I was unfortunate to lose someone a couple of years ago and Light Years was some consolation through that..
Had I lost someone more recently, i dare say it would have changed the way i first heard come back.
I'm not going to say that it's wrong for you to relate to and get more emotion from Come Back than me - I think, if anything, we can be grateful for being able to get something different from each song.
Joined: Mon Mar 13, 2006 1:02 am Posts: 2560 Location: Dallas/Atlanta/Savannah
Light years
both the song that got me into the group, and just a beautiful song in general.
if otherside was on this I would have chosen that. sad would have also been a good choice.
long road is a strong second
Come Back just Sucks period. while in and of itself not a bad song per se... for some reason it feels like im being sold a cheap macdonalds' pearl jam song... feels a bit cheesy with lots of perservatives.
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Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 3:51 am Posts: 43609 Location: My city smells like Cheerios Gender: Male
driving home from this girls house after watching the episode of scrubs where they play Long Road after they accept this old lady dying, I was listening to light years and thought that we should do this Best of... lo and behold, it is already up. Light Years is my favorite PJ song, so it gets the nod
_________________ "No matter how hard you kill Jesus, he would always just come back and hit you twice as hard."
Joined: Mon Sep 05, 2005 3:29 am Posts: 199 Location: US
I love Light Years, but Long Road and Come Back are light years better. Light Years has a catchy chorus and some great lyrics, but the muddy production and muted delivery take away from the impact. Long Road's lyrics are the best out of all three, without question. The simple music lends itself well here, and it's an all-around gorgeous song that Ed always sounds great on, then or now.
Still, Come Back wins out in the end for me, due to the perfect delivery. Some of the lyrics are clunky, but death is messy and emotional. Death isn't poetic and straightforward, it's an emotionally confusing and draining time for everyone involved, and I think this song shows Ed at his most stripped-bare, like he wrote this song while actually mourning Johnny. There is some imagery, but it's an extremely straightforward song that I think is much easier to connect with. I also think it shows not only how talented a vocalist Ed is that he makes it work, but also how talented the band is that you don't even really notice or care about any of the clunky lyrics. Long Road and Light Years, like I said, are beautiful. I just rarely connect with a song or become emotionally invested in it like I did with Come Back. For that kind of delivery, it wins in a landslide.
Long Road is still one my favorite openers at a concert.
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:40 am Posts: 965 Location: Poland/Canada Gender: Male
Long Road has always been one of the songs that I can say about - "This is why I love Pearl Jam".
I first heard it over ten years ago on the radio, and it immediately grabbed my attention and I didn't even know English that well back then.
I was just thinking about how the song came to be, about the story Ed told about it on the last tour. About how it just 'happened', how it was created, or inspired by the moment, the moment he learned about the death of his former teacher.
I guess truly great music is created like that, when you just let the feelings flow, moved by some event, and translate those feelings into words and music without thinking too much, without analyzing. This could also explain why such spiritual music is relatively rare - because moments like these don't happen very often.
The fact that I was so taken by the song even when I didn't understand the lyrics that well, to me suggests that there is something truly universal in the music itself and in the delivery, something that goes beyond language barriers and is captured by feelings common to every human being.
So, yeah, Long Road wins for me.
_________________ "Heh heh.. I'm just going to let you ramble.." - AJF
"How I choose to feel is how I am" - MM
Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 11:31 pm Posts: 7162 Location: The Only "Non-NESN" County CT Gender: Male
Junco Partner wrote:
Come Back just Sucks period. while in and of itself not a bad song per se... for some reason it feels like im being sold a cheap macdonalds' pearl jam song... feels a bit cheesy with lots of perservatives.
exactly...no real emotion for me either or special sauce, lettuce, cheese etc etc
kinda feel that way about the entire album...its just good rock n roll
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dirtyfrank0705 wrote:
At the age of 40, PunkDavid will check his own prostate and then bill his doctor.
Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 11:31 pm Posts: 7162 Location: The Only "Non-NESN" County CT Gender: Male
Ender wrote:
Long Road has always been one of the songs that I can say about - "This is why I love Pearl Jam".
I first heard it over ten years ago on the radio, and it immediately grabbed my attention and I didn't even know English that well back then.
I was just thinking about how the song came to be, about the story Ed told about it on the last tour. About how it just 'happened', how it was created, or inspired by the moment, the moment he learned about the death of his former teacher.
I guess truly great music is created like that, when you just let the feelings flow, moved by some event, and translate those feelings into words and music without thinking too much, without analyzing. This could also explain why such spiritual music is relatively rare - because moments like these don't happen very often.
The fact that I was so taken by the song even when I didn't understand the lyrics that well, to me suggests that there is something truly universal in the music itself and in the delivery, something that goes beyond language barriers and is captured by feelings common to every human being.
So, yeah, Long Road wins for me.
other than the not understanding english part when i first heard it everything else you said sums it up for me perfectly...its not why i got into them but after they released it i too can say this is why i love pearl jam...doesn't get much better lyrically and emotionally...just an amazing and powerful song
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dirtyfrank0705 wrote:
At the age of 40, PunkDavid will check his own prostate and then bill his doctor.
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 1:03 am Posts: 24177 Location: Australia
Ender wrote:
I first heard it over ten years ago on the radio, and it immediately grabbed my attention and I didn't even know English that well back then.
And here you are ten years later, still a fan and writing in English with perfect eloquence. That's impressive.
_________________ Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear, Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer. The sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay.
I think the choice here is always gonna be personal- for me, certain songs are comforting, even if not death related, at different times of grief-Release, Oceans, Thumbing My Way are examples
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 11:54 pm Posts: 12287 Location: Manguetown Gender: Male
Come Back sounds more like the guys are covering a slow elvis's song...it doesnt sound like real PJ. So i love both Long Road and Light Years, but Come Back does nothing for me.
_________________ There's just no mercy in your eyes There ain't no time to set things right And I'm afraid I've lost the fight I'm just a painful reminder Another day you leave behind
Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 11:31 pm Posts: 7162 Location: The Only "Non-NESN" County CT Gender: Male
I went w/ long road even though light years has more meaning to me...it was released (Binaural) a couple of months before my mother died and hearing those lyrics at that time helped a lot especially because that was my mother she was the person that even as sick as she was for so long would always light up a room and make people laugh as well as laugh allot herself-we were but stones your light made us stars-perfect...it also helped that Ed mentioned somewhere that it was written about his aunt who had died i couldn't help but relate it to my mother...so its a very close second only cause the music just doesn't fit as well as long roads...
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dirtyfrank0705 wrote:
At the age of 40, PunkDavid will check his own prostate and then bill his doctor.
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:40 am Posts: 965 Location: Poland/Canada Gender: Male
I was just thinking about the version of Light Years they did back in 2000 at the Pinkpop festival. I can't remember what exactly Ed said before the song, but he mentioned somebody they lost (I think it might've been someone form their record label working in Holland).
Anyways, at the end of the song added some words "I love you, good bye"... it was a little thing, but unexpected, and I remember it really moved me. Just the way he sang it, I thought it was brilliant.
_________________ "Heh heh.. I'm just going to let you ramble.." - AJF
"How I choose to feel is how I am" - MM
Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 11:31 pm Posts: 7162 Location: The Only "Non-NESN" County CT Gender: Male
warehouse wrote:
my second vote is for it's okay
from va beach...first show in states after roskilde...amazing! and sad...
my mother died a month after, then my father was in the hospital for nearly a month with an unknown illness and almost died, then i, stupidly, nearly killed myself in a car accident a month later...the end of 2000 really sucked!
but all is well now!!!!!
had to end this on a lighter note...
sorry just venting...
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dirtyfrank0705 wrote:
At the age of 40, PunkDavid will check his own prostate and then bill his doctor.
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 12:47 pm Posts: 218 Location: the zooniverse
Ender wrote:
Long Road has always been one of the songs that I can say about - "This is why I love Pearl Jam".
You hit the nail on the head with that statement
Long Road is definitely my favorite out of those three choices.
That said I think Light Years fits the category better. For me Long Road and Come Back have the ability to be more flexible in interpretation depending on what you want to take from them at the time.
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