Sweet Lew

Power high, power low
You could take 'em all to school
You could fly, wilt the stilt had nothing on you
Lambchops and afro-do, Milwaukee Bucks and a barbecue
33 just like you

Sweet Lew, how could you?
Sweet Lew, makin' me blue

A laker trade their bobby-d for a house, a guru by the sea
A little help from 32, showtime, and worthy
Those were the days, pre-investment spree

Sweet Lew, is it true?
Sweet Lew, how could you?

I grew up trying to copy you, Bruce Lee, and a kung-fu
Act a jazzman, yogi too
Little did I know, a loose screw
But you had your own shoe
Build him high, build him tall, a haiku with a basketball
Tear 'em down, one and all
7 foot 2 is a long way to fall

Sweet Lew, how's the view?
Sweet Lew, how could you?



It's weird. A lot of the pearl jam 'fun' songs I really can't stand. Hitchhiker, Mankind, U, Leatherman, (DGNL before they did it live a few times. Now I enjoy it then at least), Gremmie, Whale Song. But every now and then they manage to do one I'll enjoy. All Night (if that counts), Black Red Yellow, Get Right, Dirty Frank, and sweet lew.

And I confess, I like sweet lew. Really like it. I think the groove is great, I think the vocals are fun, and its just an enjoyable, bizzare little tribute to a hero of Jeff's. I don't know enough of Kareem Abdul Jabbar's history to comment on any of the specific references, but they're what helps make the song fun. It's an innocent exercise in hero worship, and I think if Eddie tried to write a similar song about one of his sports heroes it would end up weighted down by Eddie's Eddieness, which he can't ever quite escape even when he's trying. But Jeff pulls it off.

Sweet Lew is a very fun song. it's not one I can say that much more about in terms of its stubstance, but I really have never understood the hate this song recieives. They left it off Binaural (which they should have), and it has no aspirations to be anything other than fun, which it is. Plus it makes a nice 1-2 bass combination with Dirty Frank on Lost Dogs. I've never skipped this song when it comes up, and even put it on a mix or two.

To end this post on a good note, the following is a list of songs I like less than sweet lew (note that these are not necessarily songs I think are worse, but I'd rather hear sweet lew)

Garden
Deep
Glorified G
Off He Goes
Mankind
I'm Open
Around the Bend
Lowlight
Gods Dice
Evacuation
Thin Air
Soon Forget
Cropduster
Green Disease
Bushleaguer
Hitchhiker
Don't Gimie No Lip
In the Moonlight
Gremmie
Whale Song
Otherside
Dead Man

These get skipped almost every time they come up on shuffle. But I'll listen to sweet lew damn it! And so should you

For some reason, this song will always make me think of Copenhagen.

at the thread title

A fun quirky little song. 2 stars.

Stip, has anyone ever told you you're a crazy, crazy man?

i fucking hate this song.

a dedication to the man who inspired this SOTM

Strange, funny track. Nothing to be taken seriously, but fun.

Also:





Get Right is one of their "fun" humor-type songs?

I was thinking the same thing until I looked at the lyrics:

I want for to lay down
I'm waiting 'till sundown
I'm searching the haystacks, water is sunshine
Wait for the moment
The moment between us, the fire is made now
Harder to touch

I wanted to get right
I wanted to get right
I wanted to get right with you

Bakers dozen parades
Stand and debate
Out single file, nine in a row, swear if you must
Keeping your boots on, float with the now
Hot to the touch
Concrete underground, cast out everyday
The dregs of society
Underbelly, beside me, rejoice and follow thee

I wonder if Stone helped him.

God I hate Get Right. Awful song.

It's not completely awful, it does have funky little bassline. It isn't even close to being counted as a Pearl Jam song but there are some that rank lower. Still I can't be more generous than one star.
*

Like stip, I think this is a fun song that shouldn't be taken too seriously. 3 stars.

stip, I'm pretty sure the 2nd verse references his trade to the Lakers and the dominant teams of the eighties(#32 being Magic Johnson and "showtime" being the nickname of those Laker teams). The name of the song itself is in reference to his given name Lew Alcindor until he changed his name to Kareem after converting to Islam.

good list. the 4 bottom songs and the top 2

'I want for to lay down' has to be up there for worst opening lines of a Pearl Jam song. Also, 'Underbelly, beside me, rejoice and follow thee' has to be up there for the worst closing lines of a Pearl Jam song.

It's a good job everything inbetween these lines is GOLD.

2.5 stars... good for what it is.

yeah, just about every lyric in that song is a serious contedor for worst pearl jam lyric. Get right makes in the moonlight look like it was written by Leonard Cohen.

And McP, I've always taken get right to be a fun throw away song. It's got hand clapping in the chorus damn it!

A fun little song that I do not hate as much as I used to, still do not want to hear it very often though. I give it two stars. I take it that we are scraping the bottom of the barrel for SOTM.

Me too

I gave this two stars, since it's not a song to be taken seriously.

And putting Dead Man in a list with this one, Deep and Evacuation is just crazy talk.

bad ass bass line

And the lyrics to GET RIGHT make the lyrics to SWEET LEW look like Bob Dylan wrote them.

I'm still wondering if Stone helped him.