Why deny
all the troubles when combined
With the missing links
It don't feel like
home now,...

That you're gone
all the troubles
Suddenly explained infinitum
You're always wishing and
never here at
Home

You
All the dreams we shared and
Lights we turned on
But the house is getting dark

And I don't want to know your past
But together share the dawn
And I won't need

Nothing else
Cause when we're dead
We would've had it all

And died
I would've fallen from the sky
Til you
Parachutes have opened now

Heaven knows if there's a ceiling
Gone so low with the kneeling
Please know that
I got

All the friends I need and
Before my light goes out
As the doors are closing now

And far away will be my home
And to grasp this, I don't know
But I don't need

Further back and forth, a wave will break on me today
And love,... Wish the world could go again with love
One can't seem to have enough
And war,... Break the sky and tell me what it's for
I'll travel there on my own
And love,... What a different life
Had I not found this love with you

---

This is easily one of the most divisive songs in Pearl Jam's catalog. People either hate it for its quaint and decidedly UN-rockandroll stylings or love it because it sounds like a band stretching the limits of what they feel comfortable with.

I'll be entirely honest. One thing I don't like about these SOTM threads is what I consider to be excessive analysis of song lyrics. Truth be told, I don't think lyrics are all that important in rock music in the sense that they're subservient to the vocal melody, which is this band's strongest suit. I think the boys (and Eddie specifically) are competent but unremarkable lyricists. I've always felt like the best Pearl Jam lyrics were the ones that retained some mystery rather than the ones that drilled a point down your throat. That said, I'll try to at least give my opinion on these lyrics, and leave more detailed analysis for those of you who might care for that sort of thing.

Lyrically, I think this song works very well. The imagery is simple and effective-- it's a contemplative love song, one of settling down and being content, a sentiment that would be repeated in "Just Breathe" later. I like its placement in the album, too, between "Marker in the Sand" and "Unemployable", songs that are heavy (some would say heavy-handed) in the subjects they tackle-- war, deceit, disappointment, failure. This is like a little island in the middle of all of that. A song about how wonderful it is that, amidst all the craziness and terrible things in the world, two people found each other.

The main gripe I had with Avocado was that it sounded like Pearl Jam by the numbers. After two records of dynamic songwriting and (for better or worse) experimentation, this sounded like a band retreating to a space they feel comfortable with and a style they know they can pull off. While there is nothing inherently wrong with that, I always felt like, in this case, it resulted in songs that were a little too angular, felt a little half-hearted, a little too "safe".

I realize nobody really looks to Pearl Jam for the type of inventiveness they see in Radiohead, but I've always felt the band is at its best when it follows its musical curiosity through different styles rather than be confined to the classic rock stylings of 1991. This is why I consider records like No Code and Yield such a success, and why Backspacer has quickly become one of my favorite records. "Parachutes" (and to a lesser extent, "Unemployable") is an example of this, and a highlight on the album.

A lot has been made of the stylistic similarities between this song and mid-period Beatles. Stone's understated guitar work and Matt's drumming certainly point to that, but more than anything I hear it in Jeff's bassline (I can almost picture McCartney playing along his famous Hofner) and Eddie's double-tracked vocals. And certainly the star of this song is Eddie. His delivery is earnest and impassioned but never overdramatic, never over-emoting.

Avocado's highly compressed production does a good job of hiding the arrangement and the small touches scattered all over the song. It took me a while to notice the quiet electric guitar playing along on the left channel throughout the song, the distant organ creeping in from the back, the hint of ebow during the verses. The most noticeable of these little details is Mike's Brian May moment during the final "and love", which is cathartic and complements Eddie's vocal very well. Still I can't help but wonder what this song would sound like if all the instruments were allowed some room to breathe.

The chorus has been criticized because of its seemingly simplistic music, and there's some truth to that-- while the verses offer a deliciously off-kilter strumming pattern and stuttering percussion, the chorus slides into the familiar chord progression of "All The Young Dudes" (Bowie) "Whatever" and "Don't Look Back in Anger" (Oasis). That melody line, used extensively in pop music, has been around longer than any of those songs and is basically a variation on a theme (Canon) by Pachelbel. The idea of a bass line gently moving downwards and the harmonies above trying to ascend it will, I suspect, always inspire composers, and no doubt the same thread runs through all these themes, including "Parachutes". The Goldberg Variations?

In an album full of outwards anger, this song looks inwards. Amidst the sneers and indignant finger-pointing, this is a contemplative little number about love. I'm glad to see they continued this, to some extent, with Backspacer.

great write-up! as much as i love Stip's take on songs, it's always refreshing to read this kind of review from another person's angle.

i always thought that Parachutes was victim of simply being on S/T to the ears of many, it got lumped in the same bunch as the songs about war that put a lot of people off but this song is a little gem that fits in Stone's little series of very melodic (beatlesque?) songs he wrote since Yield (ATY, Thin Air and Fatal). this time, having Ed write the lyrics made it all more heartfelt as a result. i think all the instruments fall into place perfectly on this song but i'll tip my hat to Mike in particular - his subtle approach makes all the notes he plays worth listening and if that's what Ed calls "patterns", that's what i like best about his guitar playing nowadays (not that i dislike a good, assumed solo sometimes but you know, not every song scream "shredding!").
3 stars 1/2

There is a lot there that doesn't instantly grab you. Subtleties that you notice on your 20th listen, and it is true that it is a wonderfully placed break from the claustrophobic feeling felt during the start to this album.

The laid back instrumentation and vocals do indeed hark back to All Those Yesterdays, but for me it never reaches the heights of that number. It's an open song that is heavily reliant on melody - but the melody is one that is pleasant and nothing more.

It sounds like a bit of a heavy criticism, when I say thing like 'pleasant'...but I consider Thin Air to be 'pleasant' and it's one of my favourite PJ ballads. It's a song that was most definitely needed on Avocado...but it could have been better.

3 stars.

this is probably in my top 20 PJ

5 stars.

Underneath it is a pretty good song. I don't care for the bass line and the vocal layering and compression.

The lyrics are very good and the song end wonderfully.

I can't quite swallow the aesthetics of the song.


2/5

Arguably the best song on S/T. Love Mike's suttle work in the background. Beautiful song. It's between 4 and 5 but I'm in a generous mood so it gets 5 stars.

I remember when the album came out this one was my favourite. Then as I got used to the songs I considered many other songs to be much better.

Now its come full-circle and it's one of my favourites from the record again - and one of the few I still like.

Definitely my favorite track on Avocado and one of my top PJ tracks ever. None of my friends agree with me. We were all there together for the debut in Boston, and they were falling asleep on their feet as I stood in awe and gratitude. 5 stars.

nice write up

I don't like parachutes as much as I should. I think it's because of Eddie--there is something about his vocals here that feels stilted and unnatural, somewhat out of place in a song that manages to float along so gracefully while being slightly off-kilter at the same time.

They use the home imagery throughout S/T and to good effect pretty much the entire time, and parachutes is no different. Otherwise the lyrics are adequate for the song but otherwise unremarkable. With one exception

I would've fallen from the sky
Til you
Parachutes have opened now

I love this imagery. Some of the most striking on the record. I think eddie is capable of writing songs with lyrics this good all the way through, but he rarely feels the need to anymore. Same thing with a song like No Ceiling--adequate lyrics but with that utterly fantastic final lyric (this love has got no ceiling)--I'm still waiting for the song that builds off of a moment like that, rather than culminating with it


Parachutes gets 3 stars from me, but it's 3 trending upwards, rather than downwards, and with a different vocal mix it could easily be 4 stars

3 stars

i enjoy the hell out of this song. Stone is the best. i've liked it from the start, but it keeps growing on me.

i wonder if a song like this would be more popular if it were on Backspacer. Seems to fit that album better.

i'd happily have this one instead of SoS - not that i hate it but Parachutes is a better tune.
IMHO

4.

have you ever kidnapped someone for money?

I used to adore this song, and a year or two back I would have given it 5 stars. Now it's probably a 4. I think the bones of it are wonderful, but a few things went wrong along the way. Firstly the recording has little warmth - the drums are too heavy, and the double tracked vocal is distracting. I think they would have pulled this off better in the Riot Act sessions (whether they could have wrote this song at that point is a different matter). I love some of the lyrics, but in places it feels too disjointed and awkward - the phrasing is interesting, but at times I can't even distinguish between lines. This could be intentional, but I don't think it was pulled off well.

I think it's beautiful live too, I heard it in London 07 and it was so pretty.

Good write up, Plat. And you said something that piqued my interest:

For the most part, I agree with you even if I do still think lyrics are important. However, I find that the analysis of the SOTMs can change my perception of a song. And fortunately for me, it's always for the better.
I've had songs I'd felt indifferent towards and after reading someone's unique angle on it, started to see the song in a different light and like it. However, I've seen people rip a song that I liked to shreds and even if I agree with most of what they said, it doesn't change the song for me. Like you said, the vocal melody is often more important.
Anyway, I give this star 3 songs. Love the melody but, like most S/T songs, Ed's delivery just doesn't do it for me.

This is a nice song but it has never totally worked for me in any setting.

This kind of off-kilter slower paced tune always struggles to find a home in a live show. I guess the only place it would seem to fit in smoothly is in a slower first encore. It's also a song that relies on precise, rich sound and that's not easy to capture live. I enjoyed hearing this one in Vegas 2006, but it wasn't any kind of showstopper.

On the album, I think this song suffers as much as any other from the compression/production issues with ST. In aggregate, the compression really hurts loud songs because your ears get weary of them, but for any one 4-minute-long loud rock song, compression isn't too big of a deal. This is the kind of song that really suffers, because as the OP nicely explained, there's a lot of nice stuff going on here. I better produced record would allow you to hear it.

3 stars, nothing more, nothing less. It's nice, but not special to me.

I really dig this song. Very possibly my favorite on Avocado. It makes me wish that Stone was the primary music writer for more PJ songs. I like how the song meanders carelessly on. The music is great and different enough to separate from the other songs on the record. I dig how it builds and Mike's guitar on it perfect...one of his best.

My own gripe is the beginning and end. I need more music. I think the song could have been very powerful if they had just continued with a measure or two of music to end the song--not just when Ed stops singing. The music makes this song great and unique, I wish they had showcased it more.

Still 5 stars.

I love the winding melody. It's lovely. I agree the song needs room to breathe. There are things going on we can't appreciate, but bottom-line, it's beautiful. For me, this is was one of Avocado's repeaters.

.

4 stars