The board's server will undergo upgrade maintenance tonight, Nov 5, 2014, beginning approximately around 10 PM ET. Prepare for some possible down time during this process.
That really is a lovely piece of writing, Stip. Thanks so much for all your writing on this album so far -- it has been a pleasure to read.
thank you. that means double coming from you
Appreciate the kind words, buddy.
Right out of the gate I didn't really pick up a Ten throwback vibe from this one, but the more acquainted I become with the song, the more I get it. There are certain very subtle cadences in Eddie's singing in this song that really take me back to earlier eras of Pearl Jam -- like the way he bends the words "stop" and "fear" (in the line "you can relate but still can't stop, or conquer the fear you are what you're not"). I can't place the specific songs or lines they're taking me back to, or if it is even a specific thing or just a general sense of things, but there's definitely a twinge in my auditory memory, not dissimilar to when you catch a smell of something that sends you rocketing back to some feeling from your childhood that you can't pick out (also, I suppose, not dissimilar to walking into a restaurant in a small town and recognizing an elderly woman whose face you recognize but can't seem to place ) It's a form of musical deja vu, a sweet fragrance that manages to unlock some obscure vault in your brain that houses your earliest, purest reactions to 32 year-old songs on a really empirical level.
I don't know why, but the Ten-era thing it most specifically reminds me of is that instrumental version of "Brother" from Lost Dogs (which I think I've semi-recently decided is kind of great). It also makes me think of Soundgarden too -- something off Badmotorfinger or Superunknown that I can't put a name to right now (this is becoming a theme here....)
The biggest connection to Ten, is the guitar that sounds like it came off the Singles soundtrack.
This has been bugging me quite a bit since the first time I heard this song. I haven’t been able to figure out why it sounds so familiar to me. The riff in Waiting for Stevie is very Beatles-esque and reminds me of one of their songs, maybe the vocal melody in Tomorrow Never Knows? I could be way off.
stip, wanted to pile on the "thank you" train, specifically with regard to your Waiting for Stevie thoughts. I have a friend who, even at this stage of life, is much like Stevie (who I've decided is simply the girl in the song), and she has loved every word of yours that I've sent her way.
I think sonically, one thing that connects this to those earlier songs, even if the sound isn't too similar is the pace of the song. Most of those early anthemic songs, like Alive and Breath, weren't ballads per se, but they were at that tempo. They've done things like Unthought Known and stuff at various points, but they haven't attempted a slow anthem in a very long time.
That's a really good point. There is something deliberate about those songs that added to the impact. A weight to each moment, that the playing and singing could sustain and justify.
After Dissident, where else does this really appear until now?
I don't think it happens that often...I think the other aspect of it is that it's a song that doesn't really have a lot of anger or aggression in its presentation, which I think is also similar to Alive and Breath. They're dealing with weighty topics, but they don't feel aggressive in how the band approaches them. Something like Quick Escape has the sweep (if not the sound) of Ten, but it's imbued with a bit more vinegar.
Joined: Mon March 30, 2020 11:59 pm Posts: 1710 Location: sleep sac in a bivouac
Jeff is 100% my MVP of this song, as that bass line is just totally cool and transforms something that could otherwise be relatively hohum into something with real energy. I guess this is the "Eric Avery Effect" that Dave Navarro benefited heavily from.
_________________ Be mighty...Be humble...Be mighty humble...
Jeff is 100% my MVP of this song, as that bass line is just totally cool and transforms something that could otherwise be relatively hohum into something with real energy. I guess this is the "Eric Avery Effect" that Dave Navarro benefited heavily from.
Joined: Thu December 13, 2012 6:31 pm Posts: 40078
it is the same for five minutes. I was/am immediately grabbed by it and it never lets go. If you are all in on that moment then this is one of their greatest songs ever. but if it doesnt, there isnt a dynamic it is building towards. this song is immediately everything it is within the first 15-20 seconds
but if/when it clicks, it will be like getting hit by a train. there is no learning curve. its all there or it isnt
The sameness of WFR may be of benefit for itself, considering every other song on the record seems to take curious twists and turns and are full throttle.
This one is taking a bit to open up to me and it might be due to sitting alongside very immediate exciting songs.
Sorry, was on my phone.
Last edited by Strat on Wed April 24, 2024 12:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jeff is 100% my MVP of this song, as that bass line is just totally cool and transforms something that could otherwise be relatively hohum into something with real energy. I guess this is the "Eric Avery Effect" that Dave Navarro benefited heavily from.
I can get onboard with this.
Yeah, I feel like I'm not usually much of a "bass noticer," but it's amazing here. And, really, across the whole record.
Joined: Thu December 13, 2012 6:31 pm Posts: 40078
-Hearing Jeff's bass matching the main riff, giving it that thick fuzzy wobble and blowing it up to twice its size right at the jump
-the distortion on the guitar
-the head bobbing slowness that makes every note linger just long enough so that it's kind of crowding the next one
-matts rolling introduction
-the sharpness of the second guitar to give the riff a little more definition
-the almost casual, conversational way Eddie belts out every word and just launches it so that it rises up and over the riff, without feeling like he is straining or yelling
-the patience with which he lets the lyrics spool out
-"You can be loved by everyone, and not feel, not feel loved" - one of my all time favorite opening lyrics
-The way Eddie's voice rises up and comes back down on Love/Above
-The way Eddie's voice sits on top of the riff is very Ten. It's hard to track the guitars on songs like Black and Jeremy when Eddie is singing unless you're paying attention
-The pulsating guitar line at around :50 when eddie is holding on the word 'clouds'
-"Finds herself in the song, hears her own voice rising' - love that lyric
-Again, the way Eddie holds on rising, and then the song takes a breath as the music stops and the echo of it cascades down before the music starts up again
-The little variation in the central lyric - adding 'still' (and still not feel, not feel loved), keeping you on your toes
-in general the way these lyrics are as much declaimed as they are sung.
-the slight little vulnerable warble on fear 'or conquer your fear you are what you're not'
-the growl on 'would have to take' and 'faith' - the first time he puts extra grit into the vocals
-the way he gets just a little softer on 'escape the blame' and resolves it down
-same guitar line as Eddie holds 'now' instead of clouds
- the thudding drum fill transitioning into the bridge
-the guitar part that someone (stone) is playing underneath a good chunk of the song feels like those melodic crunchy parts he used to play in songs like dissident
the way he just loves spool out before it transitions back into the intro
The fact that the song just basically resets but everyone is playing harder
The way Eddie gets caught up on the word 'by' the next time the 'you can be loved' lyric repeats. Almost like he's choking up but pushes through
-Matt's transitions into the second couplet.
-"You can be told to not give up" - such a Pearl Jam sentiment, and the way the song owns that sometimes it can ring hollow if you feel alone
-the way Eddie starts to snarl on 'you can't take or give what you got', before soaring above it as the lyric concludes and the subtle paralysis of that lyric
-The way Eddie is singing at roughly the same tempo but how the music (matt especially) starts to speed up like the emotion underneath the song is starting to get out ahead of Eddie's ability to set the pace
-The way Eddie's voice takes on that edge for the final time he sings love during the verse/choruses
-How Mike's solo starts in overdrive and it takes matt and the rest of the band a few seconds to catch up to him
-Noting this here, but this feels like a very one take, calculated performance. Makes everything feel very lived in and real and of that immediate moment
-3:48. Band slots into alignment with itself
-The way the wordless background chanting starts to flow in around the solo, like it's infusing the moment with its dreams so they can ride the moment into existence
-those notes Mike holds around 3:58
-4:01 until the end - those dreams taking shape 'You can be loved, you, can be love'
-everything mike is playing from 3:48 on. This is an aces solo mike
-Matt's drum solo at the end
-The crackle and roar at the end before the silence and transition to the interlude.
Again, not nearly as much variety as many of the other songs for sure. Waiting for Stevie is basically one long heightened emotional moment. But lots of little nuances within it that make it feel imperfect and human and real.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum
