Man of the Hour was an incredibly moving song the first time I heard it (I'm pretty sure I teared up) and if it catches me in the right moment it can still do that. The sentiment is wonderful, the lyrics evocative, the delivery delicate and wistful.

Most of the time.

I also think man of the hour falls victim to the same slap dashed one shot faux authenticity vibe that hurt so many of the songs of the riot act era. It is obvious that eddie was very moved by Big Fish, that he had johnny ramone or other issues on his mind, and wanted to write a song that dealt with those issues, but in his rush to get those feelings out we're left with a final product that is much more hit or miss than it needs to be.

Vocally there are never really any moments in the studio here where Eddie's voice lifts itself out of the fog that it inhabits for most of the song--especially during the bridge "and the road..." It's a moment where he should be rising above his memories to commune with the father figure in some way and he stays right where he's been during the rest of the song. It's a mistake I think he realized as he sings this part much more effectively live than in the studio. You also get a sense of this in the Hawaii 78 song from the 06 tour. It was ensign9 I think who described that song as what man of the hour was supposed to sound like, and he's absolutley right.

Musically Eddie came up wtih a very compelling riff to drive the song, but the band adds very little to it, and in many places (starting with nature has its own religion, the bridge again) it sounds like they are working against the song--struggling to include their instrument so that they are heard rather than doing what needs to be done in service of the song. it ends up being distracting, rather than coloring the song.

Lyrically Man of the Hour is also hit or miss, although mostly hit. There are some absolutley gorgeous lines here. The opening lyric is just outstanding (you just get an immediate sense of the power of the father's personality, and the subject starts grappling with important questions of forgiveness and acceptance in oblique but compelling ways--can a tidal wave even ask for forgiveness?). Likewise the chorus is very powerful, and the 'man of the hour is taking his final bow' has a remarkable mix of celebration and finality to it, as well as the hopeful uncertainty (goodbye for now) that we lean on whenever someone leaves us. They're gone, but we'll see them again someday.

But the second verse can't really compete with the first. I've never liked the 'nature has its own religion/gospel from the land' lyric, and the sky breaks at dawn...verse is a little too much telling, not enough showing, an awkward moment of narrative in a song that otherwise steers clear of it.

There is a five star song lurking within man of the hour. Had eddie spent a little more time with it I think he could have found it. As is it is a 3.5 star song for me, but closer to 4 than 3.

Favorite slow song of theirs in recent years. Love the sound of Ed's voice, especially the inflection at the end of recent live versions. Simple but effective lyrics, finely tiptoe-ing cliche at times. The man knows how to write songs of passing/mourning and a good version is hard to beat. Works fine either solo or with the full band. That said while I really like the song I wouldn't put it on the top shelf. It doesn't quite soar but maybe that wasn't the idea.
Man of the Hour wasn't played in '07 and I would hate to see it disappear.
****

I love the song. Love the mood and atmosphere and I love how it still hold that acoustic style.

I don't like the line "snowflake falls in May." blah!

4 stars

This is a 4/5 star song for me...i went for 5 because sometimes i really love it.

I agree with others that the opening lyric is great, and also that Eddie's delivery of the bridge in live versions is a biig improvement. i can't really add mcuh to SLH's eloquent post, but i'm in similar opinion.

Stip, i disagree that the other instruments become a distraction. i think mike colours it beautifully, and the other members practically mirror Ed. I'd like to see Stone be a little more inventive with his guitar parts in Ed's songs in general though. In this song, and others like Better Man, RVM, Off He Goes, Light Years, Sad, Education, I am Mine etc etc he just doubles Ed's parts. I'm interested as to why this is...is he following Ed's instructions? Is it to emphasise and enrichen Ed's parts in a live setting so Ed isn't 'carrying the song' when the whole band kicks in? Whatever it is, i'd love to see Stone adding some more counter melodies....inversions...some of those quirky phrasing we know he dabbles with. Sure a lot of the songs stand up perfectly well without them, but a few raked chords phrased higher up the fret board could really lift MOTH in certain places.

5 stars. Love it. Saw them debut it at Benaroya. Great little surprise release by PJ, as they tend to do from time to time. God, I love this band.

For rocking out purposes, Even Flow is obviously better. Duh.

How about if they speeded up the riff, and Jeff broke out his fretless bass. Would it rock then?

man of the hour needs a drum solo.

Although I was a 10c member and all, I wasn't getting any PJ info apart from the 10c newlsetter and occasional emails at the time this came out, not on any of the boards tehn 9waht did I do all day?!;))

I remember sitting at the cinema at the end of Big Fish, which I enjoyed but wasn't bowled over by, and suddenly sitting up straight when the song came up, turning to my, non-PJ, friend in astonishment..'it's Eddie!'..then waiting through the whole credits (i do often anyway) to see if it was just Ed or PJ..
can't say I took too much of the song the first time as I was too surprised, I knew nothing about them having penned that song.

I really like it, like the music and love Ed's voice on it ..far more than the 'other' soundtrack song, Dead Man.
but it wasn't until one of the shows in Europe, not sure which one, Prague probably, that the song really hit me, thinking of my own Dad that passed away a couple of years before.

I think I see what Stip means by the other instruments..it would work just as well as a solo piece with just Ed on the guitar, the other instruments are not needed, they're kind of superfluous.

I really like it, though not quite love it (sometimes I do though), so it's a 4.


it won't.

I disagree. With both the full version and the demo on the single, it's easy to compare them and, for me, the full band version (not surprisingly) gives the song much needed depth. There's a lot of subtle things going on in the background of the full band version that I just love as I feel they accent the song wonderfully. The demo version, which is pretty much Ed and a guitar with some layered vocals, just doesn't resonate as well with me as it seems flat and dry. I have to think Ed and/or the band felt it was lacking, too, otherwise why not just release the demo or re-record it as is?

there's a demo version on the single?
damn..I should have offered it to my friend as Xmas present without listening to it!

agree with Stip....you can just hear where the song should go but as usual Ed holds back cause god forbid he looks like he is trying...this song could have been a classic, but why give the fans what they want...I'm bitter tonight....

Are you talking about Eddie staying in his lower register in the bridge instead of moving up as he does live? Remember that this was a somber song played over the closing credits of a movie following a funeral scene. I think that he wanted to preserve the wistful quality of the ending of the movie instead of calling attention to the song. I like it. I like the way that the percussion finishes each phrase. He sang it this way at Benaroya Hall, and it sounds beautiful with the natural echo in the symphony hall. Live, I think that it works better when he moves up, and if Pearl Jam were just recording this tune for themselves that might be nice, but it works for me as it is.

that's your answer for everything

This is a masterpiece to me. One of the best songs of the 21st century.

Only one bum line, "father ruled by long division". What the fook does that mean??? If it refers to doing division by hand and the metaphor is supposed to show that father ruled by hand then it's clunky and doesn't really work. Sometimes I think Ed tries to be too clever, maybe confusing clever with being deep. "Father ruled by long division" sounds like something a really stoned friend would come up with out of the blue sitting round a fire. "You know dude............................................. father ruled by long division. Have any chips?"

I can't say enough good about this song. It showcases everything great about Ed's writing.

this song makes me very sad

5 stars

4 stars. Definitely up there but not 5 star elite status.

oh and i vote 4 stars

I'm sorry kids... it's a good song, but not my cup of tea.