Hey, I reckon the new album is swell, but I have one bone of contention that I want to canvas you guys on. What do you think of Eddies lyrical themes? Personally I am getting a little tired of the same moftifs, metaphor and subject matter that run throughout his lyrics. The ocean, the sea, waves,the currents, the shoreline. I mean it's a nice image, but bro you've used it a few times now.
I was kinda hoping that this album would see him looking elsewhere for inspiration than past albums. I admit there are deviations, (comatose, severed hand) but on other songs the lyrics and themes could come straight from a random eddie lyric generator. Addiction song (check,) song about getting out of town (check,) world going to hell in a hand basket (check). In saying that on this album I feel Ed has managed to convey these themes better than ever, but so he should after all these years of practise. Prehaps he is trying to give his lyrics an auteuristic quality, similar to a director or a novelist using a similar theme throughout a body of work, developing and building on it until it gains a greater resonance.

Whatya reckon?


Dung.

ok

that's what he feels most passionately about...you can't just conjure up lyrics on subjects that you have no affiliation with or do not feel particularly interested in....


aren't you glad we don't have to hear songs with lyrics like 90% of what you hear on the radio, namely, stupid shit?

Ed has written four songs about Yours Truly.

One is Stupid Mop.

I'll let you guess the other 3.

Yeh, like "dance, dancing" and whatnot ewww i'll stick with waves, bro

I guess I sort of understand what you're saying. However, I tend to disagree because in my opinion Ed's lyrics are poetry and I know a thing or two about reading and writing poetry. I think Ed writes lyrics from a spot within himself that is passionate and it only seems fitting that one thing he's passionate about is surfing/waves/shore so it only makes sense that the symbolism he uses will draw from this place of passion. Personally I hear the 'falling' symbolism used a lot on this new record and I'm wondering why and what that exact symbol means to him. Anyway, I happen to love the lyrical territory that Ed covers and no I don't get tired of it.

I love Ed's use of metaphors and recurring "ocean" themes. Keep 'em coming. I think he does a fantastic job at working those images into his songs and I never get tired of hearing them. It may partly be because I love the ocean, waves, etc.

Anyway, I'd much rather have him using metaphors than some of the direct political attacks that just don't age well and don't connect well with me.

"she swallows my wad and keeps me smiling"

from in hiding
I love that line

It's a heck of a lot better than Chris Cornell, who definitely can sing, but continually uses metaphors involving suns and roads in the same way over and over. His Audioslave lyrics, to me, seem pretty tired. I'm still loving Ed's.

Ed sings from who he is and how he feels. You can't change who you are.

I don't think there's anything wrong with exploring the same themes continually, as long as how they're delivered is mixed up. Johnny Cash and Bruce Springsteen are legendary songwriters because they're both smart enough to know how to do it correctly. And I think Ed is doing a very good job himself.

that's like telling jim morrison no more indians, lizard kings, or highways... and that's dumb

i agree with you on the chris cornell thing... i LOVE like a stone though, one of my fav songs

that's something of a new theme for him too. Frank and others are right--revisiting old themes (a la springsteen) is fine provided you continue to do so in new ways. All PJ songs are at their core about maintaining a sense of hope in the face of adversity so there is going to be a lot of repetition, but as far as themes go it is a good one.

I do think the water imagery was overdone a bit on this record

What kinds of themes would you want to see him address?

nice post, by the way

Interesting... that's one reason Binaural is my favorite album by the boys. Even if so many people don't like it. There's so many brilliant lyrics on that album... blows me away every time I listen to it... so much of what I've been through these last years... there's always a song in Binaural that relates to how I feel. It's just beautiful.

On to the new album... I really enjoy all the lyrics I know on this new album, since I don't know all the lyrics yet I can't make too many comparisons... but every song sans Big Wave has great lyrics... and Big Wave is just a damn fun rocking song. So it definitely deserves some recognition as well. Maybe I need to try and surf one day and attempt to get that bonding feeling with the ocean....