This is a little more than "just" an improv. There's definite structure on this. Even "Out of My Mind" had lyrics, and that was much more of an improv than Falling Down.

Just because Ed never sings it the same way twice doesn't mean Yellow Ledbetter is just an improv.

I think some of those are correct. I still hear that bridge as "You're a boy, you're a boy, you're a boy," with just light variations on how he sings each phrase. And then the ending sounds more like "I can't apolo... I can't apolo... I can't apologize." But the other changes you made sound pretty good.

I love PJ's "Falling Down," but it's got a long way to go to match Tom Waits's.

Got mines in the mail yesterday. First time ever any vinyl I got from them didn't have a bend in the corner, so I'm happy about that.

I certainly hope between this and the PJ20 soundtrack, we'll see a few of those '95 shows come out of the vault.

pjs falling down is pretty good stuff.. so much better than ole

i never heard tom waits version but id imagine it sounds like hes singin like 28 beers deep and is hilarious

Plus in the "vault" photo in the Lost Dogs packaging, there's several tapes that have "Falling Down" listed on them along with some other No Code-era tracks...which means that they definitely worked on this in the studio as a full-fledged song.

Oh, the music on "Falling Down" is absolutely written, to a point. You can tell they're just improvising around the end, but there's a verse and chorus. But Ed clearly doesn't have his lyrics or melodies in order.

Also, "Out of My Mind" was something that was fixed in the studio. Listen to the bootleg version and then the B-side. Ed punched in a few lines to fix it up, make it more of a "song."

Ed is very good at making up lyrics on the spot. Always has been.

Oh, yeah, they definitely were working on it in the studio at some point, as those tape boxes prove. But I'm saying that what you hear in that live performance is a half-fleshed-out song with largely improvised vocals. No point in sussing out what Ed's saying, because he's mostly not saying anything.

They'd still be able to work out these new songs and ideas live if it weren't for this godsdamned Internet and all it's many, many leeches..

That's such a bogus excuse.

yes and no. Obviously they could do it, but I understand not wanting to. The internet often has a pack judgement mentality to it and I can see wanting to protect your art until you think it is ready.

They are probably saving the studio version of Falling Down for the No Code/Yield re-release.

Yeah, I respect what they say about the internet affecting the desire to put unfinished material out there for select audiences--that notion was pretty much at the core of Metallica's whole Napster hissy fit back in the late '90's, wasn't it? On the one hand, right or wrong, it's naive for bands to think anything they do in a public forum isn't open to being bootlegged in some form; on the other, I think fans pretend to know a lot more than they probably do about how the internet has changed things, from bands' perspectives.

I guess I think (selfishly) it's not a big deal, though of course that's the band's decision ultimately.

Radiohead debut new material live quite often, fans go nuts dissecting those early versions but also do the same when the eventual studio cut comes out. It's fascinating from a fan's perspective to see how a song might've evolved from an early sketch into the finished product.

I think Pearl Jam is a little too precious about it. So what if some nerds on the internet said your new song sucked?

I asnt making an excuse. I'd call it a fact. Like it or lump it.

Fans used to bootleg early songs BEFORE the internet too, though. It's not as though it's something that's sprung up because of the internet, though it's made it more widespread.

It might also seem that some band members care more than others - Vedder's never seemed to shy away from debuting new material in his solo sets.

I know it's the band decision - I just don't think it'd be the end of the world. We'd all talk about it then when the album version came out, we'd talk about that too. My feeling was just that they don't want to debut new material live anymore, the internet's just a handy excuse.

It's a different time. We're more willig to spend time with songs or records we don't like if we've paid for them. It's all become so disposable and almost throwaway. But aside from that, certain songs or ideas they have worked on live that never came to anything, such as falling down, how do we know the fact that they got out there isn't the reason they haven't been developed? Or even demos? The fixer for example. I wouldn't be sharing my stuff if the demo gets praised, the finished product gets trashed and I get abused for having not just left it alone. It's a no brainer. Be nice if pj fully embraced the Internet but they never will.

Probably the best packaging/sleeve/design of any 10c single I've ever gotten

(my first was Soldier of Love/Last Kiss, 1999 I think?)

I guess this is it, ultimately.

I said all of that above, then I remembered they played the unreleased Of the Earth a bunch of times last year - so what am I (and Jeff Ament) talking about?!

(Though they've ignored it so far this year, despite soundchecking it a few times.)