IN THE MOONLIGHT

In the Moonlight…

Gettin'. Wide out to get back. It's a...
Steady shore to relax.
It's gettin' closer to all things.
In the moonlight...

Givin'. Two lost wings.
A beautiful star sea.
A wonderful sense of feelin’.
In the moonlight...
It's a love drawn nearer.
Darkened days are spent in.

A night bird is followin' you all the time.

Under a star-lined ceiling...
And darkness so sleep. Ah,...
Your sense is revealed...
In the moonlight...
It's a love drawn nearer.
Darkened days are spent in.

A night bird is followin' you all the time.

It's a love drawn nearer.
Darkened days are spent in.

A night bird is followin' you,... it's followin' you.
A night bird is followin' you all the time.

Matt Cameron tunes are usually interesting. I don’t necessarily find that they are my favorite tunes on a given album, but I always find something about them that catches my interest. IN THE MOONLIGHT is no exception. It’s characterized by an interesting rhythm cadence that grows organically out of the song rather than acting as just a backdrop. The vocal and guitar lines are subservient to the cadence. I sometimes wonder if he played in a drum and bugle corps when he was a kid.

The other thing that I hear a lot in Cameron tunes and actually a lot of Pearl Jam tunes is elements that come from surf rock. A lot of tunes are a touch modal/chromatic. This might be my imagination. I sometimes wonder if Matt might have been a fan of the Surfaris, especially Ron Wilson, their drummer (remember WIPE OUT?). Matt does a lot of the same things that Ron Wilson did. He creates the cadence by dropping some of the beats out of square time signatures and placing interesting accents within the context of the cadence. IN THE MOONLIGHT, in particular, makes me think “surfer at night.” What does a surfer at night do? He compresses the meter from 4 to 2 and extends the pattern over three measures. It slows down the song while hitting the downbeats hard. It gives the song a jerky, off-balance quality. Some might say a “nighttime” quality.

Another thing that Matt does is extend the cadence to the vocal lines. When Eddie writes the lyrics (EVACUATION, ARMY RESERVE), he preserves this quality while superimposing a narrative consistent with the concept on the song. When Matt writes the lyrics, he doesn’t have as much interest in narrative. This has the effect of making the words virtually meaningless. The words are chosen for the syllables and stresses, and Matt-penned lyrics such as those from IN THE MOONLIGHT tend to contain evocative imagery rather than cohesive ideas. This works well on IN THE MOONLIGHT although there’s an incomplete quality to the thoughts. Darkened days are spent in…what? A cage with a night bird?

3 stars.

Some people are very down on this song but I really like it - it's a filthy, scuzzy and dark song. And a lot better than Evacuation.

3 stars.

i dont like this one. it is, however, interesting and note worthy in the sense that you can tell why they left it off - it is so soundgarden sounding its unbelievable.

I too hear the Soundgarden-ish feel of this one, I can easily imagine Chris wailing on it.

Anyway, great song. I love lyrics that paint evocative pictures rather than tell a concrete story, sometimes I wish Ed's lyrics were more like this. I'd love, love, love to hear this one live one day.

4 stars.

That's out of fucking order.

I still maintain Evacuation is probably one of the best songs the band's done.

Sure, I like In The Moonlight, but not quite that much.

You, sir, win the prize. There's only a handful of good tunes on Binaural, and this is one of them. I nearly poo-ed in my pants when I finally got to see it in Virginia Beach last year.

I really enjoy this one, has a dark and at the same tim upbeat vibe.

Is that not a contradiction in terms?

Yup, an intetional one.

I should have called night-feeling or nightness, but I wanted to look ambiguous.

Fuck off, chud.

chud! yes! i love that insult.

what?

Great song. Mad props to Mike on the solos.

I think if "Evacuation" didn't have him screaming the title over and over it would get alot more appreciation. It is a song I hated for years until I got past that fact and felt the greatness of the rest of the song.

As for "In The Moonlight", it's a great song but it almost feels like it was made for a b-sides album. Which when it comes to Pearl Jam isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I agree. I think Unemployable also suffers from the "wuh-oh oh oh"s.

Why is that a problem? I really don't understand, nor with the Evacuation problem.

It's like saying I'd really love Animal, if it weren't for the goddamn GUITARS all the damn way through it. Oh, and those irritating drums.

It's just something that comes off as cheesy to me. It's aesthetic. And it's not like saying the guitars throughout a song fuck it up, it's like saying a cheesy/laughable little guitar lick throws off a songs greatness.