Red Mosquito
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SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
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Author:  SLH916 [ Thu Aug 16, 2007 11:22 am ]
Post subject:  SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
Marker in the Sand

There is a marker,... No one sees it cause the sand
Has covered over,... All the messages it kept
Misunderstanding,... What original truth was
And out expanding,... In a faith, but not in love

What went wrong?

Walking tightrope high,... Over moral ground
Seeing visions of,............. Falling up somehow
Do come down

With the living, Let,..... What is living love
So unforgiving, yet,.... Needing forgiveness first

God, what do you say?

Those undecided,........ Needn't have faith to be free
And those misguided, There was a plan for them to be
Now you got both sides.....Claiming killing in Gods name
But God is nowhere,..... To be found, conveniently

What goes on?

Walking tightrope high,... Over moral ground
Walk the bridges,............. Before you burn them down
Do come round

With a living, let,...... What is living love
So unforgiving, yet... Needing forgiveness first

God, what do you say? What do you say?

There is a sickness,...... A sickness coming over me
Like watching freedom,. Being sucked straight out to sea
And the solution?,........ Well, from me far would it be
But the delusion,.......... Is feeling dangerous to me

What goes wrong?

Walking tightrope high,... Over moral ground
Seeing visions of,............. Falling up somehow
Do come down

With a living, let,...... What is living love
So unforgiving, yet... Needing forgiveness first

God, what do you say? What do you say?

Calling out,......... Calling out.
Calling out,......... I'm calling you out.

Previous Songs of the Moment
1. In My Tree
2. Red Mosquito
3. Porch
4. I Got Id
5. Release
6. Do The Evolution
7. Breath
8. Corduroy
9. Elderly Woman...
10. Leash
11. Hail Hail
12. Grievance
13. Love Boat Captain
14. Even Flow
15. Black Red Yellow
16. In Hiding
17. Can't Keep
18. Indifference
19. Insignificance
20. Whipping
21. Black
22. Smile
23. Push Me Pull Me
24. Rats
25. God's Dice
26. All or None
27. Yellow Ledbetter
28. Last Exit
29. Who You Are
30. Rearview Mirror
31. Hold On
32. Present Tense
33. Light Years
34. Alive
35. Brain of J
36. Thumbing My Way
37. Hard to Imagine
38. Tremor Christ
39. Rival
40. Animal
41. Lukin
42. You Are
43. betterman
44. Given to Fly
45. Once
46. Low Light
47. Parting Ways
48. Off He Goes
49. Go
50. get right
51. World Wide Suicide
52. Angel
53. MFC
54. Long Road
55. Why Go
56. Nothingman
57. Save You
58. Of A Girl
59. Habit
60. Satan's Bed
61. Faithful
62. Oceans
63. Gone
64. WMA
65. State of Love and Trust
66. Spin The Black Circle
67. Life Wasted
68. Arc
69. Garden
70. All Those Yesterdays
71. Sleight of Hand
72. Other Side
73. Let Me Sleep
74. I'm Open
75. Blood
76. Nothing As It Seems
77. All Night
78. Jeremy
79. No Way
80. Around The Bend
81. Immortality
82. Comatose
83. Daughter
84. Alone
85. I am Mine
86. Down
87. Cropduster
88. Strangest Tribe
89. Inside Job
90. Drifting
91. Wishlist
92. Big Wave
93. Sad
94. Stupid Mop
95. Come Back
96. Glorified G
97. Puzzles and Games (Light Years Demo)
98. Dirty Frank
99. Ghost
Author:  SLH916 [ Thu Aug 16, 2007 11:25 am ]
Post subject:  Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no subject that Eddie Vedder is unwilling to tackle in a song, and no piece of music that he is afraid to work with. We can debate which songs are failures with respect to this tendency, but, in my opinion, MARKER IN THE SAND is not one of those. Mike McCready’s music is complex, with distinct sections that vary in tone and texture. But somehow the music and themes merge into one unified body.

MARKER IN THE SAND may be the purest manifestation of Eddie Vedder’s Deist religious philosophy. Although the lyrics have political overtones, this song is not primarily about politics. It is about the way that religion has been subverted to serve the cause of politics.

The song starts off rocking hard with an almost tribal sounding drumbeat. The vocals in the verses convey frustration and exasperation. And why shouldn’t they? Each of the three tightly focused verses tells a piece of the story. The “marker in the sand” in verse one represents the humanistic principles, the “natural law,” that the founding fathers of the United States were so fond of referencing. In the course of building our religions, we seem to have lost sight of these principles. They have been covered over by the trappings of religion.

The second verse deals with individuals, the “undecided” and the “misguided,” caught up in the maelstrom that modern religion has become, who use the name of God to justify the atrocities they commit. The third verse deals with the heart-sickness that comes with being a witness to the delusions, religious and political, that are sapping us of our freedom and our humanity.

So,

“What went wrong?”

The intro to the first chorus asks, and the answer that is given is a troubling one. The majestic pace, resounding cymbal clashes and the deliberateness of the major chord progression give the choruses an epic quality. We walk “tightrope high over moral ground” ignoring our own humanity in the name of religion. The only solution is to reconnect with our fellow man;

“Walk the bridges,............. Before you burn them down.”

Each chorus contains an outro in which the singer calls out to God. These calls become more urgent with each iteration until the outro of the song itself is reached. Here Eddie Vedder does what he does best, which is personalize the abstract. He invites us to call upon God to examine the consequences of the religious framework built in His name. The music is sweeping, and the feeling of a community rising to its highest impulses is palpable, even on record. This song gets 5 stars from me. I can’t stop myself from singing along to the chorus every time I hear it.
Author:  pearljamfan80 [ Thu Aug 16, 2007 11:30 am ]
Post subject:  Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
Wait Eddie is a deist?! :shock:
Author:  stip [ Thu Aug 16, 2007 2:29 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
pearljamfan80 wrote:
Wait Eddie is a deist?! :shock:


I could also see him as a tentitive atheist. He is definitely hostile to religion, but he doesn't seem quite willing to surrender the possibilty of something larger than ourselves (something that is an emobidment of love). I've also gotten the impression that he wants to believe but can't reconcile the existence of evil with a god of love


Nice write up SLH :) I've said what I had to say about this song in my avocado walkthrough so I don't have much to add here, except to say that I've always thought the 'misguided' and 'undecided' are not religious fanatics, but the people who fundamentalists view as sinners and obligated to either save or punish--telling the fundamentalists that god made them that way for a reason and back off
Author:  warehouse [ Thu Aug 16, 2007 2:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
SLH pretty much summed up my feelings on this song. 5 stars, one of the best pj songs ever
Author:  Angus [ Thu Aug 16, 2007 3:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
I could talk about this song for hours. 5 stars. Only Given to Fly is definitely higher in my ranking. Present Tense and Parting Ways... don't know...close call...
Author:  Angus [ Thu Aug 16, 2007 3:34 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
Eddie's voice on the last "what do you saaaaaayyyyy" in the song makes me want to have his babies.
Author:  stip [ Thu Aug 16, 2007 3:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
4 stars for me, although some days it flirts with five

usually this isn't the case but marker sounds a bit too raw for me. given the effect they were going for with the chorus I feel like a bit more polish on this one probably would have popped it up to 5 for sure
Author:  mastaflatch [ Thu Aug 16, 2007 3:58 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
first, i really love the lyrics to this song and the music to the verses (the evolution of the drum patterns :thumbsup: ) and the intrumental bridge is interresting as well.
but, alas, i can't stand the chorus and the outro. well, i can stand them - this doesn't make MITS a bad song in my opinion - but i really don't like the popiness of the chorus music and vocal harmonies. i have the same problem with the outro to this song than with Grievance's i.e. some kind of vocal ad-libbing that could have been a lot more inspired.
3 stars
Author:  Junco Partner [ Thu Aug 16, 2007 4:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
:bammer: :bammer: :bammer: :bammer: :bammer: :bammer:

love this song, beggining to end, esp the organ outro.
great subject matter, very relevant, an oppinion I share greatly. great energy, esp. live.

I dont think eddie is an atheist, perhaps a song like sometimes points to him having a beleif in a concept of faith.
there is defenitely a hostility towards the religeous, which I think in this case is very warranted.

5 stars
Author:  SLH916 [ Thu Aug 16, 2007 4:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
Angus wrote:
Eddie's voice on the last "what do you saaaaaayyyyy" in the song makes me want to have his babies.


Me too. And unlike you, I really can.
Author:  LostDog1079 [ Thu Aug 16, 2007 5:46 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
4 stars. Good song, much better live.
Author:  inmytree [ Thu Aug 16, 2007 8:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
Superb lyrics. Amazing music. The best off avocado, and a top 10 ever for me.

5 stars
Author:  AndySlash [ Thu Aug 16, 2007 10:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
Unlike the OP, I don't think the lyrics here mesh as well with the music. It's my only real complaint with the song. Both are strong- the lyrics are certainly some of Eddies best outward looking lyrics. But at times it just doesn't seem like the subject matter is fitting what's musically going on around it.

Also, this is one of a couple Avocado songs that I felt the band never was able to sound as strong on live compared to the studio version. Prior to seeing any shows on the 06 tour, I was sure this one was going to play well for the band and to the crowd, but in the few shows I saw it performed at, it just never seemed to get where it could've been.

All that said, I still give it 4 stars. One of the best on Pearl Jam, for sure.
Author:  Jammer91 [ Fri Aug 17, 2007 5:39 am ]
Post subject:  Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
5 stars, a top 3 for s/t (maybe number 2) :thumbsup:
Author:  pearljamfan80 [ Fri Aug 17, 2007 9:20 am ]
Post subject:  Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
I like how the 5 star and 0 star option are exactly the same. :lol:

That being said 5 stars, it's in a constant battle with WWS and Comatose for #2 on Avocado.
Author:  iceagecoming [ Fri Aug 17, 2007 12:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
AndySlash wrote:
Also, this is one of a couple Avocado songs that I felt the band never was able to sound as strong on live compared to the studio version. Prior to seeing any shows on the 06 tour, I was sure this one was going to play well for the band and to the crowd, but in the few shows I saw it performed at, it just never seemed to get where it could've been.



I thought the same based oon videos i'd seen on youtube etc...but at Wembley a couple of months back everyone was so into it...the crowd went crazy for it, and the band played it pretty much spot on.
Author:  conoalias [ Fri Aug 17, 2007 2:27 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
i've never really understood the hype around this song. Musically it's kinda cool since its different than anything else they've done. Unlike most of you i find the lyrics to be kind of bland. I see what Eddie was trying to get at, but he kind of got there too easy almost. And the chorus is musically about the worst transition coming out of a verse ever in a Pearl Jam song.
Author:  4/5 [ Fri Aug 17, 2007 5:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
stip wrote:
pearljamfan80 wrote:
Wait Eddie is a deist?! :shock:


I could also see him as a tentitive atheist. He is definitely hostile to religion, but he doesn't seem quite willing to surrender the possibilty of something larger than ourselves (something that is an emobidment of love). I've also gotten the impression that he wants to believe but can't reconcile the existence of evil with a god of love.


On Iconoclasts, when hes up in the chopper, he really shows that he feels like their must be some sort of Higher Power.


The song is a masterpiece. Best of the album for sure. I don't view it as Eddie stating his own views of a God, but rather his views of what man has done in the name of God. How could this happen? How could something that is supposed to be such the personification of love be turned into something that stirs hatred?

In my opinion, that's the theme of the song.
Author:  mray10 [ Fri Aug 17, 2007 10:27 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
5 stars

It's the first song off Avocado that clicked for me and I still love it. It's insanely catchy at times, but has also has a nice subversive quality given the topic. And the music drives and recedes very nicely, never going overboard in either direction until the end.
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