Post subject: SOTM#102:A satiation,.. with occupation
Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 4:09 am
Yeah Yeah Yeah
Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2007 4:48 pm Posts: 4320 Location: Philadelphia, PA
GREEN DISEASE
It's a disease,... and they're all green It emanates from their being A satiation,.. with occupation
And like weeds,.. with big leaves Stealing light from what's beneath Where they have more,... Still they take more
Course I know,.. then I don't There's a stowaway with my throat It's deceiving... I don't believe him
We can scream,.. out our doors Behind the wall a fat man snores In his dreams he's,... Choking Ti leaves
Well I guess There's nothing wrong with what you say But don't sell me, 'There can't be better ways'
Tell the captain 'This boats not safe And we're drowning.' Turns out He's the one making waves
I said There's nothing wrong with what you say Believe me Just asking you to sway No white Or black Just grey Can you feel this... World with your heart and not your brain?
Post subject: Re: SOTM#102:A satiation,.. with occupation
Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 4:13 am
Yeah Yeah Yeah
Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2007 4:48 pm Posts: 4320 Location: Philadelphia, PA
I admit that I have a soft spot for Riot Act. I like being able to explore the deep, resonant corners of Eddie’s voice without the screaming. I love the live feel of many of the tracks. And I enjoy observing superior musicianship and some creativity elevating some rather mediocre songwriting. That brings me to GREEN DISEASE. It is not one of those previously mentioned mediocre songs. It has the basic components for a good song, a terrific basic riff, catchy chorus and a nice vocal melody, on an album that really could have used more of them. So what went wrong?
The story of GREEN DISEASE is not a happy one. Let’s start with the recording process. Many of the songs were rehearsed, and then recorded virtually live. GREEN DISEASE was not one of those. It never made it past the rehearsal stage. The rhythm and vocal tracks were recorded at once, but all of the guitar parts were overdubbed later. This might explain the dull sounding drums, the lack of dynamic contrast and the sparse-sounding live versions.
Finally, there are the lyrics. Possibly Eddie’s worst. One can only guess at where these come from. Ostensibly about greed, they never focus enough to elicit any sustained response. My favorite verse:
We can scream,.. out our doors Behind the wall a fat man snores In his dreams he's,... Choking Ti leaves
Say, what?
It does sort of work in the context of Riot Act. As a stand-alone song, 2 stars.
A missed opportunity on an album that lavished attention on inferior material. File this song under “ones that got away.”
Where did you get that recording info - that's really interesting and goes part way to explaining why the song doesn't really sound right. It reminds me of breakherfall in the way that it should be good but isn't. It waivers between short ditty, rocker, pop song, arena rock and garage rock and not in a good way. I don't like the guitar tones on this either - it would have sounded better with some more classic tones.
I like the 'stealing light from what's beneath line'. I also think it's 'tea leaves' not 'ti leaves'. Makes more sense as tea leaves are used to predict the future and so might be the fact that the fat man is struggling / trying to deny his spiritual side or trying to deny us our futures.
Also the reference to LBC is mildly clever as is the idea that you register your grievances with the lords who are creating them.
Post subject: Re: SOTM#102:A satiation,.. with occupation
Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 1:20 pm
Yeah Yeah Yeah
Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2007 4:48 pm Posts: 4320 Location: Philadelphia, PA
leopold wrote:
Where did you get that recording info - that's really interesting and goes part way to explaining why the song doesn't really sound right. It reminds me of breakherfall in the way that it should be good but isn't. It waivers between short ditty, rocker, pop song, arena rock and garage rock and not in a good way. I don't like the guitar tones on this either - it would have sounded better with some more classic tones.
I like the 'stealing light from what's beneath line'. I also think it's 'tea leaves' not 'ti leaves'. Makes more sense as tea leaves are used to predict the future and so might be the fact that the fat man is struggling / trying to deny his spiritual side or trying to deny us our futures.
Also the reference to LBC is mildly clever as is the idea that you register your grievances with the lords who are creating them.
The recording information is from the online session guide that has disappeared from the internets since yesterday. A very interesting development. But the guitar parts sound like overdubs anyway. The guitar arpeggio that makes the verses quite interesting is not played live as far as I can tell. The rhythm parts sound like they were laid down without any idea of where the song might be going. Too bad really.
It is definitely Ti leaves. These are Hawaiian Ti leaves, believed to ward off evil spirits. The evil spirits being the excesses resulting from greed. Making him fat perhaps?
And, yes, there are memorable lines. This is Eddie Vedder we're talking about. But usually we're talking about songs with mostly memorable lines and a few clunkers. My personal opinion on this song is that we have mostly clunkers with a few memorable lines.
Post subject: Re: SOTM#102:A satiation,.. with occupation
Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 1:52 pm
Global Moderator
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
SLH916 wrote:
leopold wrote:
Where did you get that recording info - that's really interesting and goes part way to explaining why the song doesn't really sound right. It reminds me of breakherfall in the way that it should be good but isn't. It waivers between short ditty, rocker, pop song, arena rock and garage rock and not in a good way. I don't like the guitar tones on this either - it would have sounded better with some more classic tones.
I like the 'stealing light from what's beneath line'. I also think it's 'tea leaves' not 'ti leaves'. Makes more sense as tea leaves are used to predict the future and so might be the fact that the fat man is struggling / trying to deny his spiritual side or trying to deny us our futures.
Also the reference to LBC is mildly clever as is the idea that you register your grievances with the lords who are creating them.
The recording information is from the online session guide that has disappeared from the internets since yesterday. A very interesting development. But the guitar parts sound like overdubs anyway. The guitar arpeggio that makes the verses quite interesting is not played live as far as I can tell. The rhythm parts sound like they were laid down without any idea of where the song might be going. Too bad really.
It is definitely Ti leaves. These are Hawaiian Ti leaves, believed to ward off evil spirits. The evil spirits being the excesses resulting from greed. Making him fat perhaps?
And, yes, there are memorable lines. This is Eddie Vedder we're talking about. But usually we're talking about songs with mostly memorable lines and a few clunkers. My personal opinion on this song is that we have mostly clunkers with a few memorable lines.
You summed up my thoughts on this one perfectly. A terrific vocal melody, especially on the 'chorus' but the music doesn't feel finished and doesn't quite fit. And like bushleaguer, eddie never really focused on making any sort of sustained critque of capitalism and oligarchy, or make any point for that matter (and the g-r-e-e-d lyric makes me cringe). It is easy to sympathize wtih the sentiment, but the execution is pretty bad
It's a disease,... and they're all green It emanates from their being A satiation,.. with occupation
Terrible lyrics
And like weeds,.. with big leaves Stealing light from what's beneath Where they have more,... Still they take more
This lyric is nice--The weed metaphor is well done--espeically since we usually take for granted that the generation of wealth is a good thing that benefits everyone, rather than take a more critical perspective that argues that the whole process is often parasitical
Course I know,.. then I don't There's a stowaway with my throat It's deceiving... I don't believe him
Ugh
We can scream,.. out our doors Behind the wall a fat man snores In his dreams he's,... Choking Ti leaves
What?
Well I guess There's nothing wrong with what you say But don't sell me, 'There can't be better ways'
the first lyric takes all the fire out of the previous critique, such as it is.
Tell the captain 'This boats not safe And we're drowning.' Turns out He's the one making waves
Along with the weed lyric this is the other high point of the song, although it is too vague to really mean much (the other lyrics didn't do the heavy lifting necessary for this to work). It would be better in a stronger song
I said There's nothing wrong with what you say Believe me Just asking you to sway
I understand the sentiment here, but this is weak writing
No white Or black Just grey Can you feel this... World with your heart and not your brain?
A decent set of lyrics that would again work better with a stronger build, but they don't feel earned at this point
2 stars
_________________ "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#102:A satiation,.. with occupation
Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 3:56 pm
Got Some
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2005 8:52 pm Posts: 2647 Location: Where gila monsters meet you at the airport
leopold wrote:
It reminds me of breakherfall in the way that it should be good but isn't.
I agree with most of what's been said. There's just enough good here that I can trick myself into enjoying this song, but really it languishes with a lot of other Riot Act material that I feel has potential but for some reason was just never finished (or, in some cases, finished but not well).
I've seen it live a couple of times and it's got some energy thanks to the riff, so it's a better live tune than a lot of the RA material.
And there are some lyrics I really like here:
And like weeds,.. with big leaves Stealing light from what's beneath Where they have more,... Still they take more
is one of the best anti-corporate lyrics Ed ever wrote. and
Tell the captain 'This boats not safe And we're drowning.' Turns out He's the one making waves
is one of his better anti-Bush lyrics, certainly far better than anything in Bushleaguer, and with the added benefit of being applicable to any irresponsible leader.
Too bad the rest of the lyrics in the song are, at best, incomprehensible, and at worst downright cringe-worthy.
Post subject: Re: SOTM#102:A satiation,.. with occupation
Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 8:31 pm
Yeah Yeah Yeah
Joined: Tue May 30, 2006 2:48 pm Posts: 3115 Location: Edinburgh/Lincoln, UK
It does little for me. I like the overdubbed guitars, they're interesting and fairly unusual, but they give the song an extra little layer. As has been said, the recording of this song is pretty flat. It sounds like it's recorded inside a biscuit tin. If that makes any sense. It's lifeless, but maybe production is partly to blame for that? The bare bones of the song are worth 3 stars, but it only really earns that sort of grading in a live setting.
as you can tell from my screen name - this song has always set well with me. Except live - I agree it's a little flat. The lyrics aren't Ed's best - but they are good enough. There certainly are worst lyrics on Riot Act (LBC, Bushleaguer).
I love the frantic feel to this song - it's a new wave punk type song. I think that's a quote from RS. I think you guys are missing the boat on this, it's a solid rocker that's different from what they have done before. It was a sure sign to me the band was progressing, moving in different ways, trying new things. They should of worked a little harder on this song - it's got that pop feel but it still rocks. Should of been polished off and released as a single. Four stars.
Post subject: Re: SOTM#102:A satiation,.. with occupation
Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 9:40 pm
Yeah Yeah Yeah
Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2007 4:48 pm Posts: 4320 Location: Philadelphia, PA
WorldWithYourHeart wrote:
as you can tell from my screen name - this song has always set well with me. Except live - I agree it's a little flat. The lyrics aren't Ed's best - but they are good enough. There certainly are worst lyrics on Riot Act (LBC, Bushleaguer).
I love the frantic feel to this song - it's a new wave punk type song. I think that's a quote from RS. I think you guys are missing the boat on this, it's a solid rocker that's different from what they have done before. It was a sure sign to me the band was progressing, moving in different ways, trying new things. They should of worked a little harder on this song - it's got that pop feel but it still rocks. Should of been polished off and released as a single. Four stars.
I wrote the OP, but I'm with you on the song itself. It's a great song. But they should have put way more attention into a great song like this rather than getting out a vocoder and working up the terrific ending on a song that goes nowhere like HELP HELP.
That what's such a shame. A 5 star song reduced to 2 stars, at least for me. That why I refer to it as "one that got away."
Post subject: Re: SOTM#102:A satiation,.. with occupation
Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 1:49 pm
Global Moderator
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
Juvenal wrote:
I just... can't get into it. Meh.
Gods Dice > Green Disease?
They're about the same for me.
_________________ "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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