Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
he used to be. Now I'd put Ani Difranco, Dan Bern, Coner Oberest and Tom Waits ahead of him (and Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and John Darnelle--but I don't listen to the three of them with regularity)
_________________ "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 Dec 05, 2004 5:47 am Posts: 27904 Location: Philadelphia Gender: Male
No, but he's in my top 5. I find that most of his lyrics are hit or miss; either they work really well or they're pretty clunky. Some songs just seem extremely lazy to me.
_________________ It's always the fallen ones who think they're always gonna save me.
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
dirtyfrank0705 wrote:
No, but he's in my top 5. I find that most of his lyrics are hit or miss; either they work really well or they're pretty clunky. Some songs just seem extremely lazy to me.
he does have that problem. So do some other really good lyricists (michael stipe, mark lanegan)--when they're on they are fantastic but they refuse to bring their A game every time out
_________________ "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 Dec 05, 2004 5:47 am Posts: 27904 Location: Philadelphia Gender: Male
stip wrote:
dirtyfrank0705 wrote:
No, but he's in my top 5. I find that most of his lyrics are hit or miss; either they work really well or they're pretty clunky. Some songs just seem extremely lazy to me.
he does have that problem. So do some other really good lyricists (michael stipe, mark lanegan)--when they're on they are fantastic but they refuse to bring their A game every time out
I'd say just about every lyricist suffers from the same affliction, but because Ed is the main lyricist for my favorite band, I tend to judge him a little harsher than other writers. I mean, how can the guy who wrote the Marker in the Sand write something as stale and generic as Gone?
_________________ It's always the fallen ones who think they're always gonna save me.
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2004 5:47 am Posts: 27904 Location: Philadelphia Gender: Male
SLH916 wrote:
Does anyone think that Eddie's lyrics are stronger when he writes the music, too?
Would anyone like to see the others writing more lyrics?
1. Not necessarily. Small Town's lyrics are great and the music is credited to the whole band. And the last 3 or 4 albums also have some great lyrics penned over music written by other band members.
2. I don't mind Stone or Jeff writing lyrics (Matt? No.), but if they suck Ed has to make an executive decision. For as ballsy as he seems to be, I don't understand how he'd let some of those Riot Act songs make the album.
_________________ It's always the fallen ones who think they're always gonna save me.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 3:43 pm Posts: 489 Location: My Own Private Idaho
dirtyfrank0705 wrote:
No, but he's in my top 5. I find that most of his lyrics are hit or miss; either they work really well or they're pretty clunky. Some songs just seem extremely lazy to me.
Yep. I think you hit the nail on the head with this assessment of his work lyrically. I think he's got a lot of natural talent and sees connections among words that others miss, yet this is the same guy that will write, "love boat captain, take the reins..." Talk about lazy. At least you'd think Stone would say, "Er...Ed...captain...reins...think there's something just a little, er...LAZY!!!! about that?" Then again, maybe Stone knows a meal ticket when he sees one, and maybe he also knows a really defensive one, too.
Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2007 4:48 pm Posts: 4320 Location: Philadelphia, PA
dirtyfrank0705 wrote:
SLH916 wrote:
Does anyone think that Eddie's lyrics are stronger when he writes the music, too?
Would anyone like to see the others writing more lyrics?
1. Not necessarily. Small Town's lyrics are great and the music is credited to the whole band. And the last 3 or 4 albums also have some great lyrics penned over music written by other band members.
2. I don't mind Stone or Jeff writing lyrics (Matt? No.), but if they suck Ed has to make an executive decision. For as ballsy as he seems to be, I don't understand how he'd let some of those Riot Act songs make the album.
Isn't all of the music on vs credited to the whole band? But I read an interview with someone (Stone?) in which he said that Eddie wrote the music to both SMALL TOWN and REARVIEWMIRROR.
I agree that he does write some good lyrics over other people's music, but a lot of the time he also massages the music to make lyrics and vocal melodies work.
It seems that Eddie made the decision a long time ago that he wants to be a part of this band, and he makes concessions because of this. S/T is the first album in a long time that Eddie seems to have kept tight control on the content, for better or worse. I love it, but a lot of fans just hate it.
Someone made an interesting statement a while back. Would people be interested in a Stone/Jeff helmed album like Ten with Eddie more on the sidelines?
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2004 5:47 am Posts: 27904 Location: Philadelphia Gender: Male
SLH916 wrote:
dirtyfrank0705 wrote:
SLH916 wrote:
Does anyone think that Eddie's lyrics are stronger when he writes the music, too?
Would anyone like to see the others writing more lyrics?
1. Not necessarily. Small Town's lyrics are great and the music is credited to the whole band. And the last 3 or 4 albums also have some great lyrics penned over music written by other band members.
2. I don't mind Stone or Jeff writing lyrics (Matt? No.), but if they suck Ed has to make an executive decision. For as ballsy as he seems to be, I don't understand how he'd let some of those Riot Act songs make the album.
Isn't all of the music on vs credited to the whole band? But I read an interview with someone (Stone?) in which he said that Eddie wrote the music to both SMALL TOWN and REARVIEWMIRROR.
I agree that he does write some good lyrics over other people's music, but a lot of the time he also massages the music to make lyrics and vocal melodies work.
It seems that Eddie made the decision a long time ago that he wants to be a part of this band, and he makes concessions because of this. S/T is the first album in a long time that Eddie seems to have kept tight control on the content, for better or worse. I love it, but a lot of fans just hate it.
Someone made an interesting statement a while back. Would people be interested in a Stone/Jeff helmed album like Ten with Eddie more on the sidelines?
By sidelines, do you mean Ed only writing lyrics and singing, as opposed to contributing to the music? If so, absolutely not. Ed has penned some of Pearl Jam's finest songs all by his lonesome.
_________________ It's always the fallen ones who think they're always gonna save me.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:47 am Posts: 46000 Location: Reasonville
no!
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