_________________ "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
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
Sleight of Hand is probably the king of pearl jam songs that I can appreciate, but not love. The hazy, heavy, disjointed, washed out music fits the isolation of the song perfectly, Eddie’s lyrics are very good, and the whole thing comes together beautifully—perhaps too well, as I’m just left on the outside watching. But that might also be the point
Sleight of Hand might be Pearl Jam’s best song abut alienation. There is more going on here than not being satisfied with life, or even feeling trapped or alone, although all those elements are present. Sleight of Hand is ultimately a song about distance—about being utterly removed from meaningful experience (even a powerfully negative one), living life on auto-pilot because it is what you’ve always done, and ending up having lived a life that signifies absolutely nothing. Think Ed Norton’s character in Fight Club before he meets Tyler Durden
The tragedy of the song is the lost moment of redemption. In his morning fog (I love the line ‘pour himself into uniform), the singer has a vague moment of clarity, wondering what happened to trap him in the prison of his routine. When did his dreams cease to be the guiding principle of his life? At what point did everything go wrong? The sleight of hand image is great, as it implies that there was never really a choice made. While he was watching/living the act there was the slightest subtle twist, and the act he was living had changed without him knowing it, just like you fail to spot the moment where a magician rigs the deck during his card tricks.
The singer is introspective enough to recognize that things weren’t always like this, nor did they have to be this way forever, but the dreams are thick and distant, and not something he is comfortable with for very long. They are a nagging presence, one that disturbs the enervating tranquility of the life he lives on auto-pilot. So he never lingers long enough for them to take root. They are for some other time, some other place, some other man…
It all works, but it works a bit too well. In the end I find myself alienated from the song—and whatever appreciation I have for it is intellectual, not emotional. It works a bit better for me as an acoustic number. There is less atmosphere, but more immediacy. It gives me a way in
I’d give it 3 stars. 2 stars in terms of enjoyment but I’ll bump it up to 3 for appreciation of it as art.
_________________ "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
Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2004 3:00 pm Posts: 19826 Location: Alone in a corridor
4 stars. Not in my top-10 but definitely better a fantastic song.
Listen to Binaural with headphones. The background noises during the verse are magnificent. The whole song actually is better with headphones. (The whole album actually...). Incredibly haunting song.
Pay attention to the end of the song. It just keeps fading out. Wow. You start thinking, you start wondering, and then enters a soft ukelele song, before another deep, even more haunting song (Parting Ways). Second half Binaural is such a trip.
I had never thought I would get to hear this live, but there it came in Ottawa, after another dream (I believe in miracles acoustic). It isn't as haunting live as on the album, but it's still a definite treasure whenever it pops up on a setlist.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 9:50 am Posts: 1838 Location: Perth, Australia Gender: Male
great SOTM!
my absolute, number 1, favourite Pearl Jam song.
it is lyrically brilliant. Ed wrote the lyrics while stuck in traffic (lets hope this happens more often). i love the atmosphere of this song and you can't go past listening to it with headphones. can't get enough of it.
this song is the reason i want Jeff to write more.
_________________ a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively there's no such thing as death life is only a dream and we are the imagination of ourselves
i heard this song twice live. hearing it once was more than enough. i think the only one song that i dislike, by PJ. i don;t hate it, i can't listen to it. but it just does not do it for me.
_________________ GO LEAFS GO GO LEAFS GO GO LEAFS GO
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Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 8:26 pm Posts: 736 Location: Sussex by the sea
Brilliant song 5 stars.
I love the music to this it really works with the songs theme. Like angus says listening to it with headphones adds an extra something to it, you can hear the sound of chains being dragged (also crops up in NAIS) like that are attached to person in the song and they are dragging this heavy weight around like they arent free, such a striking image.
This is a song about society and how we can be trapped in to a life we don't want because we are at the hands of the rich.
Awesome
_________________ I Am Free - I Am Trapped My LastFM
Reading '06, Katowice '07, Wembley '07, Copenhagen '07, London O2 '09, London '10, Arras '10
Joined: Wed May 24, 2006 5:23 pm Posts: 12793 Location: Tours, FR Gender: Male
Very emotional song with great lyrics and images. I love the way Ed plays with words ("in his sleep... endlessly", "wondering about wandering"), I love the way the verses are just spoken and the way the music explodes after them into more sung parts
_________________ There has never been a silence like this before
Joined: Fri Mar 24, 2006 9:49 pm Posts: 286 Location: Costa Rica
5 stars.
Second favorite song from Binaural after Grievance.
Although I don't enjoy the music as much, it fits the mood of the lyrics perfectly, and I love the lyrics, I think it goes side by side with Life Wasted, instead as probably someone who could not get out of that wasted life. In any case, it gives me a sense of warning even greater than life wasted can.
_________________ I will hold the candle till it burns up my arm
WPB 06/11/08 - Tampa 06/12/08 - Columbia 06/16/08 - V. Beach 06/17/08
Joined: Wed Oct 05, 2005 2:40 am Posts: 12509 Location: Pittsburgh Gender: Male
Sunny wrote:
amazing. easily the best psychedelic PJ song ever.
agreed
I was gonna give it 4 stars...but after reading "Another Man Moved by Sleight of Hand" for the 5 Star option, I was moved, and therefore had to go with 5 stars
_________________ "i'm the crescent, the sickle, so sharp the blade i'm the flick of the shank that opened your veins i'm the dusk, i'm the frightening calm i'm a hole in the pipeline, i'm a road side bomb..."
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2005 10:49 am Posts: 7777 Location: In your pants
dirtyfrank0705 wrote:
2 stars. This song just bores me to death, which is strange for me because I love most of Pearl Jam's slower songs. Binaural's weakest point.
Ditto for me. I guess it's a bit late in the track listing and it wouldn't fit where Sleight of Hand is, but Sad needed to make Binaural. I wish I could get into this song but I've never liked it and I never will. Skipped straight through into Soon Forget/Parting Ways.
_________________ Baby there's something about the hula.....
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 6:28 pm Posts: 5361 Location: St. Paul Gender: Male
SoH has grown on me over the years. Seeing it live again this year (in St. Paul, a Petty show, of all places) inched it up another notch. It's still only a 3-star song to me, but if you'd have asked me a couple years ago it would've been a 1-star song. I'd say I probably identify more with the lyrics now than I did back then, so that plays a part. Musically it's difficult to get into. It's arguably one of PJs most experimental songs on their most experimental album, and I don't think it's as successful an experiment as they might have hoped.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:34 am Posts: 12700 Location: ...a town in north Ontario...
I love it and all of the emotion of both the music and lyrics, but it doesn't have that "gets me every time" factor that so many Pearl Jam songs have. Sometimes it's one of my favourites, sometimes it just doesn't interest me. I'll give it a 4... but like I said, it's a 5 some days, but it's a 3 others.
_________________ I think we relinquished enough... and it's still dark enough... and it goes on and on and on...
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Frank
