Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2007 4:48 pm Posts: 4320 Location: Philadelphia, PA
Marker in the Sand
There is a marker,... No one sees it cause the sand Has covered over,... All the messages it kept Misunderstanding,... What original truth was And out expanding,... In a faith, but not in love
What went wrong?
Walking tightrope high,... Over moral ground Seeing visions of,............. Falling up somehow Do come down
With the living, Let,..... What is living love So unforgiving, yet,.... Needing forgiveness first
God, what do you say?
Those undecided,........ Needn't have faith to be free And those misguided, There was a plan for them to be Now you got both sides.....Claiming killing in Gods name But God is nowhere,..... To be found, conveniently
What goes on?
Walking tightrope high,... Over moral ground Walk the bridges,............. Before you burn them down Do come round
With a living, let,...... What is living love So unforgiving, yet... Needing forgiveness first
God, what do you say? What do you say?
There is a sickness,...... A sickness coming over me Like watching freedom,. Being sucked straight out to sea And the solution?,........ Well, from me far would it be But the delusion,.......... Is feeling dangerous to me
What goes wrong?
Walking tightrope high,... Over moral ground Seeing visions of,............. Falling up somehow Do come down
With a living, let,...... What is living love So unforgiving, yet... Needing forgiveness first
God, what do you say? What do you say?
Calling out,......... Calling out. Calling out,......... I'm calling you out.
Post subject: Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 11:25 am
Yeah Yeah Yeah
Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2007 4:48 pm Posts: 4320 Location: Philadelphia, PA
I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no subject that Eddie Vedder is unwilling to tackle in a song, and no piece of music that he is afraid to work with. We can debate which songs are failures with respect to this tendency, but, in my opinion, MARKER IN THE SAND is not one of those. Mike McCready’s music is complex, with distinct sections that vary in tone and texture. But somehow the music and themes merge into one unified body.
MARKER IN THE SAND may be the purest manifestation of Eddie Vedder’s Deist religious philosophy. Although the lyrics have political overtones, this song is not primarily about politics. It is about the way that religion has been subverted to serve the cause of politics.
The song starts off rocking hard with an almost tribal sounding drumbeat. The vocals in the verses convey frustration and exasperation. And why shouldn’t they? Each of the three tightly focused verses tells a piece of the story. The “marker in the sand” in verse one represents the humanistic principles, the “natural law,” that the founding fathers of the United States were so fond of referencing. In the course of building our religions, we seem to have lost sight of these principles. They have been covered over by the trappings of religion.
The second verse deals with individuals, the “undecided” and the “misguided,” caught up in the maelstrom that modern religion has become, who use the name of God to justify the atrocities they commit. The third verse deals with the heart-sickness that comes with being a witness to the delusions, religious and political, that are sapping us of our freedom and our humanity.
So,
“What went wrong?”
The intro to the first chorus asks, and the answer that is given is a troubling one. The majestic pace, resounding cymbal clashes and the deliberateness of the major chord progression give the choruses an epic quality. We walk “tightrope high over moral ground” ignoring our own humanity in the name of religion. The only solution is to reconnect with our fellow man;
“Walk the bridges,............. Before you burn them down.”
Each chorus contains an outro in which the singer calls out to God. These calls become more urgent with each iteration until the outro of the song itself is reached. Here Eddie Vedder does what he does best, which is personalize the abstract. He invites us to call upon God to examine the consequences of the religious framework built in His name. The music is sweeping, and the feeling of a community rising to its highest impulses is palpable, even on record. This song gets 5 stars from me. I can’t stop myself from singing along to the chorus every time I hear it.
Post subject: Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 2:29 pm
Global Moderator
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
pearljamfan80 wrote:
Wait Eddie is a deist?!
I could also see him as a tentitive atheist. He is definitely hostile to religion, but he doesn't seem quite willing to surrender the possibilty of something larger than ourselves (something that is an emobidment of love). I've also gotten the impression that he wants to believe but can't reconcile the existence of evil with a god of love
Nice write up SLH I've said what I had to say about this song in my avocado walkthrough so I don't have much to add here, except to say that I've always thought the 'misguided' and 'undecided' are not religious fanatics, but the people who fundamentalists view as sinners and obligated to either save or punish--telling the fundamentalists that god made them that way for a reason and back off
_________________ "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
Post subject: Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 3:32 pm
Former PJ Drummer
Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2004 3:00 pm Posts: 19826 Location: Alone in a corridor
I could talk about this song for hours. 5 stars. Only Given to Fly is definitely higher in my ranking. Present Tense and Parting Ways... don't know...close call...
Post subject: Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 3:43 pm
Global Moderator
Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:02 am Posts: 44183 Location: New York Gender: Male
4 stars for me, although some days it flirts with five
usually this isn't the case but marker sounds a bit too raw for me. given the effect they were going for with the chorus I feel like a bit more polish on this one probably would have popped it up to 5 for sure
_________________ "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
Post subject: Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 3:58 pm
Unthought Known
Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 4:33 am Posts: 8422 Location: Berthier-sur-Mer Gender: Male
first, i really love the lyrics to this song and the music to the verses (the evolution of the drum patterns ) and the intrumental bridge is interresting as well. but, alas, i can't stand the chorus and the outro. well, i can stand them - this doesn't make MITS a bad song in my opinion - but i really don't like the popiness of the chorus music and vocal harmonies. i have the same problem with the outro to this song than with Grievance's i.e. some kind of vocal ad-libbing that could have been a lot more inspired. 3 stars
Post subject: Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 4:01 pm
Got Some
Joined: Mon Mar 13, 2006 1:02 am Posts: 2560 Location: Dallas/Atlanta/Savannah
love this song, beggining to end, esp the organ outro. great subject matter, very relevant, an oppinion I share greatly. great energy, esp. live.
I dont think eddie is an atheist, perhaps a song like sometimes points to him having a beleif in a concept of faith. there is defenitely a hostility towards the religeous, which I think in this case is very warranted.
5 stars
_________________ "is that a fucking pearl jam shirt?" Courtney Love
Post subject: Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 10:09 pm
Yeah Yeah Yeah
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2004 6:28 pm Posts: 5361 Location: St. Paul Gender: Male
Unlike the OP, I don't think the lyrics here mesh as well with the music. It's my only real complaint with the song. Both are strong- the lyrics are certainly some of Eddies best outward looking lyrics. But at times it just doesn't seem like the subject matter is fitting what's musically going on around it.
Also, this is one of a couple Avocado songs that I felt the band never was able to sound as strong on live compared to the studio version. Prior to seeing any shows on the 06 tour, I was sure this one was going to play well for the band and to the crowd, but in the few shows I saw it performed at, it just never seemed to get where it could've been.
All that said, I still give it 4 stars. One of the best on Pearl Jam, for sure.
Post subject: Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 12:26 pm
Yeah Yeah Yeah
Joined: Tue May 30, 2006 2:48 pm Posts: 3115 Location: Edinburgh/Lincoln, UK
AndySlash wrote:
Also, this is one of a couple Avocado songs that I felt the band never was able to sound as strong on live compared to the studio version. Prior to seeing any shows on the 06 tour, I was sure this one was going to play well for the band and to the crowd, but in the few shows I saw it performed at, it just never seemed to get where it could've been.
I thought the same based oon videos i'd seen on youtube etc...but at Wembley a couple of months back everyone was so into it...the crowd went crazy for it, and the band played it pretty much spot on.
Post subject: Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 2:27 pm
Needs to start paying for bandwidth
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2005 5:20 am Posts: 31173
i've never really understood the hype around this song. Musically it's kinda cool since its different than anything else they've done. Unlike most of you i find the lyrics to be kind of bland. I see what Eddie was trying to get at, but he kind of got there too easy almost. And the chorus is musically about the worst transition coming out of a verse ever in a Pearl Jam song.
I could also see him as a tentitive atheist. He is definitely hostile to religion, but he doesn't seem quite willing to surrender the possibilty of something larger than ourselves (something that is an emobidment of love). I've also gotten the impression that he wants to believe but can't reconcile the existence of evil with a god of love.
On Iconoclasts, when hes up in the chopper, he really shows that he feels like their must be some sort of Higher Power.
The song is a masterpiece. Best of the album for sure. I don't view it as Eddie stating his own views of a God, but rather his views of what man has done in the name of God. How could this happen? How could something that is supposed to be such the personification of love be turned into something that stirs hatred?
In my opinion, that's the theme of the song.
_________________ "Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." -- John Steinbeck
Post subject: Re: SOTM #100: God, What do you say...
Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2007 10:27 pm
Got Some
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2005 8:52 pm Posts: 2647 Location: Where gila monsters meet you at the airport
5 stars
It's the first song off Avocado that clicked for me and I still love it. It's insanely catchy at times, but has also has a nice subversive quality given the topic. And the music drives and recedes very nicely, never going overboard in either direction until the end.
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