Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2004 5:47 am Posts: 27904 Location: Philadelphia Gender: Male
Around the Bend
I am wishing you a well Mind at peace within your cell Covers up, I cast you off I'll be watching as you breathe I lie still, you move, I send You,... off around the bend
I hold your head deep in my arms My fingertips they close your eyes Off you dream, my little child There's a sun around the bend There's a sun around the bend
All the evenings close like this All these moments that I've missed Please forgive me, won't you, dear? Please forgive and let me share... With... you... around the bend
You're an angel when you sleep How I want your soul to keep On and on around the bend
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2004 5:47 am Posts: 27904 Location: Philadelphia Gender: Male
Picture this: a father sitting in a dark room, holding his peaceful infant child and watching the child as he/she falls asleep. The feeling of absenteeism weighs heavy on his conscience, but it doesn’t detract from the indescribable love he has for his brood. During this moment, the world disappears. There is no past or perils of parenthood, just the precious present and the future as the father sings the child a lullaby. This is Around the Bend.
The lyrics are fairly straightforward, but that’s okay—they paint a lovely picture and are able to stir up an emotional response, at least for me. Twenty-eight years ago, I was that child and the narrator was my father. And someday, I’ll be the narrator. Sure, it’s a lullaby, but on the periphery is a song about the bond between parent and child.
Surely there are members of this board for which the song just does not work. I would hypothesize that the song’s music can be directly attributed to this; either you like it or you don’t. The country-ish style musical backing is unlike anything Pearl Jam had ever done before, and for a band that was one of the most popular “rock†bands in the world just a few years before, this must have come as quite a shock to many. Hell, it shocked me the first time I heard it as well. But I found that after repeated listens, you can forget that it’s Pearl Jam and just appreciate the beauty of the melody. It’s soft and it’s gentle, as a lullaby should be.
Around the Bend works extremely well as the closing song on No Code. The introspection of many of the songs ends with a number that inspires some sort of hope: “There’s a sun around the bend.†This was new ground for the band; consider the previous album closers of Release, Indifference and Immortality. Three pretty grim songs, no? No Code is an album that showcased a new, more mature Pearl Jam, reflected perfectly by having Around the Bend as its coda.
We can only escape the shackles of humanity by hoping that our children never have to bear them. And when you’re sitting in a dark room, holding your child close and breathing in its innocence, that notion seems not only plausible but pretty damn concrete.
_________________ It's always the fallen ones who think they're always gonna save me.
Joined: Wed Nov 24, 2004 6:57 pm Posts: 5610 Location: Still in the D.
Somehow I've been lucky enough to hear and see this song played live 3 out of the nine times it's been played and I think it is quite an underated gem.
Joined: Wed Oct 05, 2005 2:40 am Posts: 12509 Location: Pittsburgh Gender: Male
Still in my top 5 PJ songs of all time.
Brilliant. 5 Stars.
Beautiful words, Frank.
_________________ "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..."
_________________ GO LEAFS GO GO LEAFS GO GO LEAFS GO
GO LEAFS GO GO LEAFS GO GO LEAFS GO
GO LEAFS GO GO LEAFS GO GO LEAFS GO
GO LEAFS GO GO LEAFS GO GO LEAFS GO
GO LEAFS GO GO LEAFS GO GO LEAFS GO
Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2004 3:00 pm Posts: 19826 Location: Alone in a corridor
It's a nice song, nothing more than that. I'm finding it strange that I don't love it more than I do. There's about 10 No Code songs that I like more than this one. Sorry.
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
I like the sentiment in Around the Bend, but feel it was imperfectly realized
I wonder how that song would have panned out now that Eddie is a father
Lovely write up Frank
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
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
Angus wrote:
It lacks the X-factor 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
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
someone voted zero. that seems too harsh. A song's gotta be offensive in some way for a zero. At worst, around the bend is bland, but at least it is pleasent.
_________________ "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 23, 2004 6:28 pm Posts: 5361 Location: St. Paul Gender: Male
As much as i wanted to vote "1" because of the "No Code is boring" line, I gave it a 2. To get a one from me it has to be pretty bad, and there are probably only a few songs in the entire history of music that would get that.
I dunno... it's a less than stellar closer on a less than stellar album. Like a lot of No Code are songs for me, it's stronger outside of the context of the album. After hearing Benaroya, I'd love to hear it live. But it's not a song I'd ever name on my list of favorite PJ songs.
The first time I heard this song, I thought to myself, "Wow, Pearl Jam meets Willie Nelson!" I do like Around The Bend just for it's "mellow-ness" It's quite a stark contrast to other tracks on the album like Lukin and that's what makes No Code and virtually every other PJ cd so unique.
_________________ This ain't no book you can close, when the big light hits your eyes.
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Frank
