Post subject: SOTM#84: Wide awake and he shakes in a panic...
Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 3:34 pm
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Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
ALONE
Wide awake and he shakes in a panic Never woke up alone ever before Had his woman long as he can remember Tries to forget, but he can't, he can't... Out of bed and he dreams in the shower She's standing naked and apologizing Reaches for her `till his mind becomes blood hot Woken up to be burned, burned, again...
Go it alone You got it, so it goes I wanna breathe and i said I can't take it any other way
On the streets he's walkin', wounded Doesn't smile for the child at play Thoughts of suicide and alleviation Anything to get his heart off of the coals Does he fly away or just talk about it Like a seagull born to cry in the wind All experiences lead to a young girl Alone you will meet the one who lies in wait
Go it alone You got it, so it goes Try to breathe, but you can't You can't take it any other way, yeah, yeah...
I can help myself, don't talk to me I can help myself, myself...
Wide awake and he shakes in a panic Never woke up alone ever before Had his woman long as he can remember Tries to forget, but he can't, he can't, he can't, he can't...
_________________ "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
Alone was the first pearl jam song to make the (now extensive) ‘why the hell didn’t make this record’ list as it’s better than many of the songs of Vs.
Musically the song fits the mood of the song quite well, something they’ve always been good at (with the exception of Light Years). It has the discordant melody that Pearl Jam does so well, where it should be easy to listen to but there is something vaguely unsettling that takes a little while to get used. It’s not quite stable, although you can’t quite figure out where it goes wrong, which is appropriate for the song, as this is about a person who tries to present the public illusion that everything is fine while he’s tearing himself up inside. I think the unsung hero here (musically) is Dave A. I’ve always loved the drums in this one (esp. during the intro), and I think the crashing cymbals and his general style accent the song perfectly.
Great vocal performance from Eddie, which sounds desperate (but not angry) with just enough weakness and resignation to not seem too overwrought. And lyrically this one is a real gem, at least with the first verse. It’s one of the finest things he’s ever written—the sense of panic, of being unable to come to grips with his loneliness, and especially the sequence of lines in the shower, which is so vulnerable (his emotional nakedness mirrored by the woman in his fantasy). The “I can’t help myself, don’t talk to me†bridge is also a fantastic lyric. I’m not too crazy about the chorus. The vocal melody is great but the lyrics are slightly awkward. The second verse is pretty good. I like the seagull analogy, since they’re such lonely animals, who always sound sad and desperate, and hover near people waiting but never coming close to them—scavenging other people’s lives. However, the “all experiences…†lyric has never sounded quite right to me.
Lyrically the original is superior to some of the changes made on lost dogs (although I like the ‘got his knees to his face’ line more than ‘gonna breath and I can’t), and Ed’s performance is stronger in the original as well (although I do like the ragged quality to his voice here). However, I think I may like the music in the LD (which more closely mirrors the original demo from the Ten sessions) a bit more. It has a little more power and force to it. But if I had to choose I’d go with the original.
I was glad to see this reenter the live rotation, although I’ve yet to hear a truly stellar version
4 Stars. I wish we could have two polls up at once as I’d like to see which version people like more.
_________________ "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
but either way it's a great song with great lyrics and great emotion.
_________________ 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: Mon Oct 18, 2004 11:36 pm Posts: 25824 Location: south jersey
good song, always reminds me of early pj and buying expensive imports. i have no idea which version is which, but i like the one on the mookie blaylock demos. im pretty sure its not the same one on lost dogs
_________________ Feel the path of every day,... Which road you taking?,...
Its a good song to me. Not amazing. Hold On is a much better track that didn't make Vs. in my opinion. And I disagree as I don't think it would have really fit on Vs. It sounds very Ten era to me. Like it could have been recorded alongside SOLAT and Breath and it would have fit right in. I think it makes for a pretty good b-side, but would have been out of place on Vs.
3 stars.
_________________ "Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." -- John Steinbeck
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
warehouse wrote:
good song, always reminds me of early pj and buying expensive imports. i have no idea which version is which, but i like the one on the mookie blaylock demos. im pretty sure its not the same one on lost dogs
The demo version is a hybrid. Musically it is closer to Lost Dogs but vocally it is closer to the one on the single
_________________ "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: Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:14 am Posts: 37778 Location: OmaGOD!!! Gender: Male
stip wrote:
warehouse wrote:
good song, always reminds me of early pj and buying expensive imports. i have no idea which version is which, but i like the one on the mookie blaylock demos. im pretty sure its not the same one on lost dogs
The demo version is a hybrid. Musically it is closer to Lost Dogs but vocally it is closer to the one on the single
The demo version, recorded during the Ten sessions, and found on many early bootlegs including The 5 Musketeers (which is where I first heard it), is IMO the best one. The music from that one was overdubbed with new (AWFUL) vocals for Lost Dogs. The "Go" b-side was recorded in the same January 1992 sessions that produced Dirty Frank, Even Flow (re-recorded), SOLAT, and Breath.
I think this is a good song, I don't prefer it to any songs on Ten however, so I think it was a proper outtake. I do give this song demerits though, simply for the awful fucking hackjob that became the Lost Dogs version, and because so many younger and less obsessed fans only know this song by that version. Good God, they completely changed some meanings in the song with the terrible lyric replacements. Shame, Ed.
BTW, 3 stars
_________________ Unfortunately, at the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius, the Flower Children jerked off and went back to sleep.
good song, always reminds me of early pj and buying expensive imports. i have no idea which version is which, but i like the one on the mookie blaylock demos. im pretty sure its not the same one on lost dogs
The demo version is a hybrid. Musically it is closer to Lost Dogs but vocally it is closer to the one on the single
I really like the demo a lot, wasn't that recorded within the first month of the band meeting? I'm not in love with the Go single or Lost Dogs versions, but I would give the edge to the Go Single.
_________________ another fan moved by sleight of hand
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
can someone post the ten demo for those who do not have it?
_________________ "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: Fri Mar 03, 2006 10:06 pm Posts: 393 Location: massachusetts Gender: Male
pretty good song, for an outtake. One of many songs that i never expected to hear PJ perform and yet i have.
i place it somewhere better than Wash+Dirty Frank, but worse than state, breath, footsteps, and ledbetter in terms of this era's non-album songs. Would not have fit at all on VS and is worse than almost every song on that album. Could have meshed with Ten possibly.
I swore i once heard a neil young song that had the exact same riff, but at this point I think i imagined it. Anyone?
Joined: Mon Sep 05, 2005 3:29 am Posts: 199 Location: US
I think I'm one of the few who prefers the LD version more than the original in almost every way. The lyrical changes are mostly just pointless, but I think both versions have some great lyrics that go perfectly with the music. That feeling of urgency and panic is present in both, although I think it works better in the LD version.
The main reason I prefer the LD version is because it's messier, more panicked. Ed's voice is ragged and almost scared, and I think it fits better than his older, more pure voice that just doesn't give away the same sense of urgency. Plus, the guitars are more distorted and heavier.
Overall, this is a great song. A stronger chorus would have probably bumped it up to a perfect 5, but as it is now it's a great song, so I give it a 4.
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
ChristcanIFly wrote:
The main reason I prefer the LD version is because it's messier, more panicked. Ed's voice is ragged and almost scared, and I think it fits better than his older, more pure voice that just doesn't give away the same sense of urgency.
I hadn't listened to the LD version for a while prior to writing this up and I was really taken with it. Had the lyrical changes not marred some of it for me I may have ended up liking this one more.
_________________ "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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