4/20/02

So all you fools
Who sing just like him
Feel free to do so now
Cuz he's dead

Using, using, using
The using takes toll
Isolation
Just so happy to be one
Sad to, sad to think
Sad to think of him all alone

Lonesome friend, we all knew
Always hoped you'd pull through

No blame, no blame
No blame, it could be you
Using, you can't grow old using

So sing just like him, fuckers
It won't offend him
Just me
Because he's dead


I have a hard time getting my head around this song. It's part eulogy for Layne Staley, and part a moment of 'there but for the grace of god go I' reflection, a song that refuses to judge another person's self destruction out of sympathy and empathy. The lyrics are simple and direct, nothing all that striking, although there are some revealing lines in there ('no blame/it could be you' and of course the 'sing just like him' parts). Is this song about Layne or is it about Eddie? There are places I suspect he's perhaps conflating the two a bit too much (if there was one singing style/sound from the 90s that was copied as much as Eddie's it was Layne's, but to my knowledge it never bothered Layne quite the same way it did Eddie. Eddie's later demons followed from his success as an artist, whereas Layne's demons were his muse throughout his life)

This should make for a really interesting look into the mind of an artist (a la immortality) but the song doesn't really live up to its potential. Perhaps that's not fair. This clearly comes across as a 'pick up the guitar and get out what's in my head' moment of spontaneity rather than a crafted song, but even as a therapeutic moment it feels cold, distant, removed. Maybe that's the point. I was expecting something less matter of fact and more devastated--even the moments where it speeds up make me long for a howl instead of the restraint eddie shows. As I said above, I have trouble figuring out how I should be reacting to this one, and perhaps a distant, seemingly clinical song is an appropriate monument to how Layne's story ended.

2 stars.

I don't see this song as distant or clinical at all. I see it as a very honest, emotional, gut wrenching piece written immediately after learning of his death. Anger mixed with sadness, both directed not just at him but at the people around him and the world he helped shape.

4 stars

Middle school lyrics. Even if it's just a "pick up my guitar and say what's in my head" song, it's a shame that it can't manage even a taste of the power words have to poignently express loss.

i think that's how i'm SUPPOSED to feel

This song is horrible.

1 star.

This song is real bad. It's one thing to record a "pick up my guitar and sing how I feel" song, it's another to release it...and it's another to call it 4/20/02 and make it a "secret track." Those things kind of raise expectations.

Maybe expectations aren't the point, but it could have been a lot better. If there was going to be a tribute at all, it should have been a band effort. Mike actually collaborated with Layne. Stone, Jeff, and Matt are from the same town and more or less grew up with Layne around (musically).

It could have been a real special song. But there really isn't anything good about it. Plus you have to wait in silence for it. If I had a bonus track, I'd at least pipe in some muzak to pass the time before the real song started.

1 star

I gave it a 3.

It's a decent song, it's obviously heartfelt and has a pretty good riff, it's a very simple song though and you can tell it was just kinda improved when EV found out Layne had died. As an AIC fan, I like the song though. I dont listen to it much though, as I usually just end up moving on to the next song on the shuffle when Bee Girl ends.

it was my favorite on Lost Dogs for a long time. i just like how Ed sounds really pissed for a 'tribute' song.

btw does anyone have a mp3 of this? i hate skipping thru Bee Girl

Since when does a secret track raise expectations? Especially a Pearl Jam secret track, where some of its company is things like 'Writer's Block' and 'Hummus'. 4/20/02 is an epic compared to those.

Hummus is so much better than this.

its his best uke song. thats not saying much but still. it is.

It's on the uke?

oh well it sounded like it. havent heard it an awhile.

I would listen to Hummus well before 4/20/02, too, but it's still not a song, per se. 4/20 is.

Absolutely.

I'd like to change my vote from 4 stars to 3 stars. What the fuck was I thinking?

How is Hummus not a song?

I feel it's just some fun the guys had in the studio and put on the end of the record. 4/20 is quite the opposite of that. If you want to ascribe some meaning and purpose to Hummus, you go ahead, but I don't think it's anything more than an "extra".

amazon's mp3 store actually sells it as a separate track, if you feel like spending .99. hummus, too.

This thread is reminding me how great Hummus is.

it's really not a good song, this. I was pretty disappointed when I opened my Lost Dogs Japanese promo release and hoped to hear I'm Still Here yet heard this terrible thing.