Post subject: SOTM # 101: All This Hope and Nowhere to Go
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 5:44 pm
Global Moderator
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
UNDONE
Last stop on the west coast line South of the northern border One small corner on my mind Everybody, they know me there Don't get any second glances Chances are that they don't care
The world has come undone Like to change it everyday Change don't come at once It's a wave... building before it breaks
Can't wait for election day Witness the occupation Corporations rule the day Well you know the pendulum throws Farther out to the one side, swinging Has to sweep back the other way
The world has come undone Another day and who can wait Change don't come at once It's a wave building before it breaks
All this hope and nowhere to go This is how I used to feel, but no more
The world has come undone Like a game that few can play Change don't come from one It's a wave... building before it breaks
_________________ "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
Post subject: Re: SOTM # 100: All This Hope and Nowhere to Go
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 5:45 pm
Global Moderator
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
I love Undone. The only song I like more from this period is I Am Mine. I love the groove, almost New Wave feel to the song, the way it manages to be both relaxing and propulsive at the same time. Musically this song is an absolute gem, one of my favorite instrumental pieces in their entire catalogue (and probably my favorite Matt Cameron performance) and the mix that made it onto Lost Dogs (which is slightly fuller than the one on the single) made a great song even better. Since the next bit is going to sound pretty critical I just wanted to establish my love for the song right off the bat
My complaint, as is so often the case with songs from this period, is with Ed, both vocally and lyrically. Vocally you can definitely tell that this came from the Riot Act period, as it has the same tired, subdued vocals that everything from this period shares. On certain songs this makes a great deal of sense artistically (all or none, thumbing my way) if not aesthetically. On other songs like I Am Mine it works for most of the song. But stuff like Undone, Down, Save You, and Love Boat Captain--songs about energy, anger, or hope—are not served by the choices Eddie made here. This is a song where he needs to soar, not drift. Take a listen to Hard Sun. That is how Eddie needs to sound in Undone, and if he did this would have been a five star song
Lyrically Undone is actually pretty weak. Eddie is really hit or miss when he is trying to write political song. His instincts and sentiments are usually right on target but that doesn’t always translate out into a powerful final product
I am not a fan of the way the song starts on the train—the sentiment is fine for what it is—wanting to be small, wanting to disappear or feel at home and at peace—but that isn’t what undone is about. It’s about holding out hope for political change, and this beginning derails the song before it even begins.
The chorus is decent. “Like to change it everyday” is a bit too easy but the wave metaphor is nice. He usually times those well
The second verse is hit or miss. Again his instincts are correct—corporate power is increasingly influential, undemocratic, and unaccountable but I’d like to hear this expressed in a way other than ‘corporations are bad’. Show me, don’t tell me. He gets this right in the second half of the verse with a really great set of lines about the pendulum which evokes the sense of inevitability and shifts that he wants to convey without coming out and directly saying it. He makes the listener work for the meaning—not too hard, but you still have to dig just a tiny bit and it is a stronger song for it. That’s what he did so well in a song like Grievance or Insignificance and he shows here that he can still do it, but the rest of the song is a bit lazy
The all this hope and nowhere to go is a bit heavy handed, but forgivable. It wouldn’t bother me nearly as much if the rest of the lyrics are strong. One thing he does do that I like is vary slightly the second lyric in the chorus (another day and who can wait/like a game that few can play/like to change it every day). He does the same thing in I am Mine and it is good writing. It keeps the familiarity of the chorus so you have the hook but it alters it slightly enough to reward the listener with something different. Unfortunately there just isn’t enough of it to really carry the song into 5 star category
4.5 stars but rounded down to 4
_________________ "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
Post subject: Re: SOTM # 100: All This Hope and Nowhere to Go
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 6:15 pm
Johnny Guitar
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2007 2:04 pm Posts: 116 Location: sucked by the undertow and pulled out deep Gender: Female
3 stars. it's a nice song, not good, not bad. good thing it was on LD, not RA.
_________________
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Post subject: Re: SOTM # 100: All This Hope and Nowhere to Go
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 7:23 pm
Yeah Yeah Yeah
Joined: Mon Apr 25, 2005 5:15 pm Posts: 3875
I really like this song and love the first verse. I have alwasy thought what an inventive way to refer to Seattle, last stop on the west coast line, south of the northern border. And I think it's sung to perfection. However after the first verse things go downhill. It's like he's not sure if he should be hopeful, and looking to the future "Can't wait for election day", or live in the past by focusing on "Corporations rule the day".
Then he gets completely confused "All this hope and nowhere to go. This is how I used to feel, but no more." This would make sense if he had previously figured out if he was going to be optimistic but the second verse does a piss poor job of that. But I'm not one to let critical analysis of lyrics get in the way of just enjoying the shit out of a great song.
As far as political songs go I don't think Ed will ever be able to match Grievance or Insignificance.
Post subject: Re: SOTM # 100: All This Hope and Nowhere to Go
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 7:28 pm
Epitome of cool
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2004 5:47 am Posts: 27904 Location: Philadelphia Gender: Male
4 stars. I never get sick of this track, but then again I don't listen to it all the time, either. As much as I like it, it really doesn't have a place on Riot Act. It's perfect as a b-side - it's a real possibility that we never would have heard it at all if not for its b-side status.
My only complaint lyrically is the "can't wait for election day" lyric. It's way too simple. Ed's clever enough to get his point across without being so blatantly obvious. But this is a small gripe.
_________________ It's always the fallen ones who think they're always gonna save me.
Post subject: Re: SOTM # 100: All This Hope and Nowhere to Go
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 8:23 pm
Team Binaural
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:39 pm Posts: 9981 Location: NYC/Savannah
stip wrote:
I love Undone. I love the groove, almost New Wave feel to the song, the way it manages to be both relaxing and propulsive at the same time. Musically this song is an absolute gem, one of my favorite instrumental pieces in their entire catalogue...
agree, agree, agree
4 stars.
I was so excited when I heard this on the I am Mine single. I couldn't believe this did not make the record.
_________________ I don’t understand a word of these emails and I am ok with that. -KC
I just try to ask as many questions as I can, and then I try to sit down and write a story that people will want to read. – Chris Jones
super music. very hit or miss lyrics. i like the wave line, as well as the pendulum line, but there are some clunkers too. and i agree with stip. eddies vocals are lacking. soaring vocals would match the music, if not the lyrics, but would still improve the song.
3.5 stars. round down to 3.
_________________ "Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." -- John Steinbeck
Post subject: Re: SOTM # 101: All This Hope and Nowhere to Go
Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 9:26 am
Unthought Known
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:55 am Posts: 9080 Location: Londres
I actually did pee in my pants when they pulled this out of the bag in Newcastle last year. Lyrics? I never really looked too much into them- they didn't grab me at first, and they never did, but that tune. That tune. Soooooo gorgeous.
Post subject: Re: SOTM # 101: All This Hope and Nowhere to Go
Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 3:06 pm
Got Some
Joined: Sat Jul 29, 2006 7:04 pm Posts: 1875 Location: Atlanta, SE of Disorder Gender: Male
I like this song. The music is fun; a poppy little melody. Like others have said it's lyrics aren't the best but there are a few clever ones and the words do flow well with the music. I think Ed sounds okay on it but there are certainly other songs from that time that I completely agree with Stip. I understand why it didn't make Riot Act but I am glad it was released as a b-side and Lost Dogs. I can't give it a four but a high three for sure. ***
_________________ From under my lone palm i can look out on the day
Post subject: Re: SOTM # 101: All This Hope and Nowhere to Go
Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 3:13 am
Yeah Yeah Yeah
Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2007 4:48 pm Posts: 4320 Location: Philadelphia, PA
dkfan9 wrote:
i'm gonna say that this might just be my favorite pearl jam song at the moment, or for that matter any song. 5 stars for sure.
This is the one Pearl Jam song that I've never listened to the lyrics to. I don't care what the lyrics are. I love this song.
When it's playing, I might be sitting on my sofa with my eyes closed, but it makes my feel like I'm going 90 mph in my '66 Mustang with the top down. Love the groove, the melody. The vocal is just laid-back enough. Maybe Eddie was stoned when he sang it.
Post subject: Re: SOTM # 101: All This Hope and Nowhere to Go
Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 12:04 pm
Global Moderator
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
let me make my usual offer. If anyone wants to write up a SOTM just send me a pm
_________________ "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
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