I'm looking forward to seeing how this aged. A lot of people really swore by this song when the record first came out

3 stars. I really liked it at first, but now I think it's ok. I love the last part of the song, though.

I remember when I really liked this. Now I don't care for it anymore. If another band would release this, I'd probably laugh at it.

my thoughts exactly.

i have to disagree with many. i love this song and it has held up over the year+ it's been out. in my life i've been fortunate to not lose many loved ones, but in my journeys i've encountered tales of people who have lost husbands, daughters, mothers, etc. when i look at things from their perspective, and try to imagine losing my girlfriend, brother, or mother, this song hits me like a rock and forces me to count my blessings and realize how lucky i am.

the whole song has sort of a desperate feeling - "if i keep holding out, will the light shine through?" until the final simple chorus - "come back, i'll be here" - it just reeks of hopelessness and, again, desperation. the narrator has just been hit in the face with the fact that death is final, that there is no going back again, and is clearly struggling to put his arms around that fact. all he wants his loved one back, knows it can't happen but refuses to accept that final conclusion. it's so chilling in that regard...many times i have listened to this song and gotten a lump in my throat during the final stanzas, thinking the people close to me and hoping that i won't have to be in the narrator's shoes.

musically - the guitars fit the song perfectly and let the lyrics stand out on their own. i also think the pace in which matt plays the song is perfect, although the few live versions i've heard, including the one i was fortunate to see in person in chicago, i think it goes a little too slow (still great live, in my opinion).

the placement on the album - again, perfect. it is, as someone mentioned earlier in the thread, sort of like the back-end to life wasted. additionally, it works great coming before the more hopeful inside job. in come back you have the letting out of emotion and the cries of despair, but then inside job comes and lifts you up out of your misery and makes you ready to start living again. possibly the best two-song combo to end any pj album.

the boys couldn't have done a better job with this gem. 5 stars.

I loved Come Back when S/T came out. I still like it but not as much.
The only live version I have heard is San Diego. I thought it would have been a good choice for last year's Bridge set.
From day one this struck me as a song I would like to hear Willie Nelson cover, only slowed down even more so. As a high compliment lyrically it sounds very much like something he would write.
That is all

hands down worst pj song

Dissident?

I always skip this song. I really don't care for it much. Pearl Jam is good at doing a lot of things. R&B, however, is not one of them. Part of the problem is Matt's drumming. The man is a machine and probably one of my favorite drummers of all time. But when it comes to playing something simple like this song requires he winds up sounding so stiff. It's the same thing with Last Kiss.


And the guitar solo is God awful to boot.

I like this song, a solid 3 stars from me. My dissapointment is with the solo. I find it horribly boring and unispired - "Gee Stone, I don't know what to play either but Eddie wants a solo. How about I play a scale?" I truly think a better producer would have challenged and pushed Mike and Stone here. Do something new to differentiate this song from the masses. A country twang solo, a 50's style solo, a feedback noise solo even. Anything but the blah we got.

How can you say Dissident or Come Back are worse than Evacuation?

Thinking about it, I don't really know what this solo sounds like (not a good thing) since I am usually focused on Eddie--but I still do love the way it chimes in and begins

Dissident is easily worse than Evacuation. The only songs that come close to being as bad as Dissident are Glorified G, Deep and Hold On.

Pearl Jam definitely win the "best musicians playing it way too safe" award.

Having said that, this is still a better song than the borrowed-riff scratch of Comatose, or the murdered-by-lyrics Inside Job. It's not a bad tune at all.

This was probably my favorite song when it first came out. It isn't quite my favorite now, but I still really like the song.

I'd agree that it tends to be more on the cheesy side than most PJ songs, but Ed's voice is just so good it doesn't matter. It just sounds like pure emotion, and I'm all for that.

Very solid song. Could have been amazing, but its still a great 4 star song.

Hold On's good too. The worst song on Lost Dogs is Sweet Lew. I also think that's PJ's worst song. You don't know how long I've spent trying to figure out why that one got on there but Leatherman didn't.

4 stars. Coulda been a classic, but is still a good song.

I'll join the "it's only the last minute or so that salvages this song from total crapitude" crew.

2 stars.

I love this song. I love screaming along. I love the outro and echoy guitar break and the wahwah guitar solo. Similar to Parachutes, I wish the music wouldn't stop after Ed stops singing. If they played 2-3 more bars...the song would be legendary.

5 stars!