| The Triffids – One Soul Less On Your Fiery List Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Although this song originally appeared on the Triffids album 'In The Pines' in 1986, it was re-recorded and released under the title "Hometown Farewell Kiss" on the next album, 1987's 'Calenture'. In notes to the producer of the 'ITP: The Woolshed Recordings', David suggested that he explicitly wanted to leave four of the 19 recorded songs off the album just because he wanted them for the groups next major label album deal, in the works while the band was working away from home in the U.K. The original release of 'ITP' used 13 of the tracks, and the re-issue has been expanded to 18 tracks, total, and "Born Sandy Devotional" was restored to its full length (though still a different version with different than on other re-issues). That song seemed to follow the band through out their career but never meeting the protocol to make an album, albeit the truncated version on the original 'In The Pines' album. The one song from the Woolshed Recordings sessions not on the Domino label re-issue of this album was "Kelly's Blues". Studio and demo versions of it are available on "Calenture." |
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| The Triffids – Tarrilup Bridge Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Musically, this sounds sonically like what Mary Timony would be doing in the next decade with her band Helium, and her career as a solo artist after the band's last album in 1997. The Triffids broke up near the start of the '90s, but David McComb remained on the scene until his death. Not a prominent figure outside his home nation, I guess, but still on more compilations and guest spots than you'd think you'd have hiding in your record collection. I saw a clip on youtube of the band performing recently, sans David, and it looked like Jill was handling all the vox. That's not the same, but it's still better than radio silence, and an amen to it if it helps promote the three album re-issues they've done in 2006-2007. I couldn't even get 'Born Sandy Devotional' in the States until it was re-issued. Do you have ANY idea what it's like to be a huge fan of a band and not even own the one work they are most often recognized for? Thanks to Domino Records and Drag City for re-issuing these OOP albums with bonus material. Thanks to Mushroom Records for helping out. |
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| The Triffids – Estuary Bed Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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'Tarrilip Bridge' is song about a woman infatuated with the "tv movie" of herself being made... this song however, reflects (in my mind) novelization. I think it definitely reflects what David McComb was reading at the time he was writing the album. It reminds me of youth, young love, and at the same time eschews in on death. It reminds me of my favorite book, 'The Heart is a Lonely Hunter', by Carson McCullers. There is a scene where a young pair of teenagers have sex next to a riverbank, and immediately afterwards, both feel this overwhelming sense of remorse, and he runs away from home to begin a life of honest work. Meanwhile, the girl just stays behind, moves on as she tries to cope with the many other problems in her life. McCullers always wrote about social pariahs, but when I first read the book, I believed it was written in the mid 1960s. It was an astonishing revelation that it was in fact published in 1940, and written in the few years prior, when McCullers herself was just leaving the teen years behind. Anyway, the whole "estuary bed" makes me think back to the two young lovers entering that forbbiden new world in the novel, hence the McComb-channeling-McCullers reference. I may be off, but it's what the song means to me. |
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| The Triffids – Stolen Property Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Lyrically, this song provides some mouth-gaping moments, some of which have to be fan favorites. And I know a band this good HAS to have fans lurking about somewhere. Not many artists putting stuff like this out in 1986. Not many artists pulling it off more than two decades later, either... |
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| The Triffids – Wide Open Road Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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This is the poppiest song on the record, and yet it fits in with all these other torch songs. I love how it's just so open ended... it's almost like the protagonist goes through the events in this song every time he awakens. It's a song about loss, but after the fact and in a context that makes it seem like life has become an alternate universe where the past constantly plays out before the present. This song should be a standard by now. Why the hell aren't more people covering this? |
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| The Triffids – Tender is the Night (The Long Fidelity) Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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Sad nobody's commented much the Triffids' section, and even sadder there's only one album up. I'll work on this if I can... This song is incredible in both its incarnations: as 'Tender is the Night (The Long Fidelity)', and 'The Long Fidelity (Tender is the Night)', which has the same lyrics, but is all a duet between David and Jill. In this version, just the final two verses are sung with male accompaniment. It's a freakin' gem, though. In an album full of songs about losing loves, it ends with a small victory in the form of a companion who's just as weary and guarded and tired of the same old shit. You feel they're together because their situations just allow them to feel empathetic enough to tolerate one another. BSD does sort of play out like a concept record, if you consider the suicidal female (Jill) singing on "Tarrilup Bridge" meeting up with the despondant male (David) that sings on the other eight album tracks getting on together in this song. David must have been thinking "What pitiful souls these two are. Let's put them together, so they may commiserate." |
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| Quicksand – How Soon Is Now? (vinyl Only) Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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I'd go as bold as to say that this does in fact rival the original composition itself. This shimmers. There's a fairly interesting story that Walter had intended to cover the song while the band was recording in-studio, but since the band was not at all familiar with the 80's pop staple, he had to teach each member of the band how to perform their parts, and in the end they sort of ended up with a hybrid jam... and in turn birthed completely different beast given the context of the Smiths' classic in the hands of Walter and Co. Morrissey brings lament to the song, but Walter is more demanding, and sounds as desperate as anyone could ever do if they were to cover this track. Now, this is technically available on CD, on a difficult to find "Dine Alone" promo with this song as the third track. Unfortunately, it's pretty flat... do yourself a favor and make sure you get the vinyl LP for 'Slip'. "Transparent" is one of the best songs on that record, and a good closer, but "HSIN?" closing really makes the record a treasure. The appeal is simple--it's a searing cover of an already legendary song and thanks to vinyl and the effects of psychoacoustics (and a nice EQ and versatile table help immensely), it's much easier to enjoy. The CD version of 'HSIN?" clocks in at 3:02 and the vinyl counterpart is 2:59... but those three odd seconds make a LOT of difference if you want it as pure as possible, no digital rectifying this (or any other song on 'Slip', for that matter). I have mp-three versions of both Quicksand's versions, and if anyone wants to compare, drop me a line, and I'll let you decide which is king... clear and concise, or gritty and determined. |
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| Quicksand – Landmine Spring Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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It's a crying shame. I'm a big fan of Walter Schreifels, who fronted this band after his tenure in the Gorilla Biscuits (circa '86-'91). Quicksand released one EP, two LPs (1993's 'Slip' and 1995's opus 'Manic Compression' from which this track is the centerpiece) on a major label, garnered limited success on college radio, and then disbanded. Walter went on to form the phenomenal Rival Schools project (one EP and on CD). He's the core of evolution. All the bands releases should be culled together to form a proper discography Ia - Gorilla Biscuits - 'S/T' EP [1988] Ib - Gorilla Biscuits - 'Start Today!' [1989] IIa - Moondog (Quicksand) - 'S/T' CDEP [2006] IIb - Quicksand - 'S/T' CDEP (Slip Demos) [1990] IIc - "Dine Alone"/"How Soon is Now?" CDEP [1992] III - Quicksand - 'Slip' [1993] IV - Quicksand - 'Manic Compression' [1995] Va - Rival Schools United - 'S/T' CDEP [2001] Vb - Rival Schools - 'United by Fate' [2001] VI - Walking Concert - 'Run to Be Born' [2004] Now that's a fairly concise list offering the stages of Walter's career, from guitarist of 80's hardcore heroes the Gorilla Biscuits to his budding songwriting for the Moondog project, a band that in months would evolve into Quicksand. It should be noted that Walter reluctantly released the Moondog EP a few months ago, back in late '06. Fans of proto-Quicksand should DEFINITELY check it out... Rival Schools was a formidable and riveting band (like and 'Axis: Bold as Love' to Manic Compression's 'Are You Experienced?'), but Walter's streamlined, stripped and focused 'Walking Concert' is maybe the best of the lot... |
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| Radiohead – Just Lyrics | 18 years ago |
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What the man in the video is saying is important, but knowing what he says (by reading his lips) doesn't answer all the questions. Years after having the image burned into the back of my mind, I'll always remember this video, and it was a milestone in and of itself (the first single "Fake Plastic Trees" may have proved the band had re-emerged after the rather spotty first album, but this single cemented the band into airplay on television in the states), and all future videos would employ some kind of artistic licence that would add to the allure of the band's singles. Pretty good run from '92 to '98. All the "actors" are on the ground in some form or other after the intro to the video. They're walking, tripping over, and and eventually lying down next to the clip's protaganist. The band is several flights up somewhere, in a building "observing" the goings on below. Lying down is the ultimate end regarding pacifism. The first thing many people do when a gunshot is heard, it drop to the ground, in order to expose LESS of themselves BODILY HARM. However, the spot where the man chooses to lay down (a city walk) is safer than where he originally intended to lay (in a bathtub, shown in the opening frames of the clip). Is it safer than say, a bed? Most of the deaths that occur at home occur while LAYING in a bed--This motif is snipped from Elmore Leonard's 'Get Shorty' novel/film (in that story, there is a bit character who is obsessed with how many people die in their sleep, so he chooses not to rest in his bed, but on chairs and benches, giving himself the illusion of living longer). Also, notably throughout the album, there is an obsession with all forms of gravity ("The Bends", "Fake Plastic Trees", this song). So what's the guy saying? [Man looks up and over his shoulder, seeming to indicate the ones "above" him] MAN: "(They) want me..." [Cut to close up of mouth] MAN: "...to walk..." [Cut to shot of band looking down from window, then over a crowd of dozens laying across the screen] Pretty underwhelming when you watch the end now. But it's not what he says, it's what's he's doing that commands the video. In "Street Spirit", a member of the band is laying down near the beginning of the clip, and at the end is in near the same position, but no longer prostrate. Bizarre. |
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| Foo Fighters – This Is A Call Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Actually, this is not technically the first Foo Fighters single. A week prior to the "This is a Call"/"Winnebago"/"Podunk" single hitting stores, there was a 12" of "Exhausted" b/w "Winnebago". It was a promo-only release, but all LP stores here in the States were flush with them in order to promote the upcoming album. I wished I picked one of them up, since they'e not easy to track down now. So if you want count "Exhausted", there were FIVE singles from the first album, and in addition "Big Me", the last single, was re-released as an EP containing the B-sides from all the other singles. Almost all the 7" and 12" singles were on colored vinyl, but the 12" versions contain 3 songs (versus just 2 on a 7"), and are worth a lot more today. "Exhhausted"/"Winnebago" 12" [June 12, 1995] "This is a Call"/"Winnebago"/"Podunk" 7"/12"/CD5 [June 19, 1995] FOO FIGHTERS LP [July 4, 1995] "I'll Stick Around"/"How I Miss You"/"Ozone" 7"/12"/CD5 [August 8, 1995] "For All the Cows"/"Wattershed" (LIVE)/"For All the Cows" (LIVE) 7"/12"/CD5 [November 21, 1995] "Big Me"/"Floaty" (BBC)/"Gas Chamber" (BBC)/"Alone + Easy Target" (BBC) CD5 (UK Only) [March 25, 1996] "Big Me" +6 CDEP (US Only) [March 26, 1996] -- Contains all B-Sides except from the "Big Me" +3 UK single... |
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| Leonard Cohen – Alexandra Leaving Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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I know that a lot of people are equating this song to being another Cohen song about breaking up with someone, for hell's sake, am I the only person that sees this song about a lover lost to DEATH? It just reads like a aged man facing the inevitable, in losing those that you truly love. "Do not choose a coward's explanation that hides behind the cause and the effect." This lyric seems to accentuate the theme and my interpretation most of all. There are a lot of L. Cohen songs professing goodbye to a lover that's moved on, but I look upon this song as having lost Alexandra for all time... |
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| Sons And Daughters – Red Receiver Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| It's easy to love, because it's actually a re-write of bridge section of Violent Femmes "Kiss Off", from their first album. The keys and melodies are all there. But it's great; the entire albums sounds like it was recorded circa 1982-1984 in the same studios the Femmes were recording in, just with the Scottish slant. Talented song crafters. | |
| Pearl Jam – Black Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Wow... 10 pages in 4 years time. A lot of battling over what this song really means, but that's part of the mystery behind it. Although I have to admit I was taken aback by the "aborted child" theory, since it fits in perfectly with Eddie's commentary on the song. He considers this song sacred, and in an interview made allusions to it being a living creation not unlike that of a child. So many people have equated this as a "break up" story. That's only have the story, I think. I'd like to contribute my own theory: in 1990 when Ed was working at a San Diego gas station and recieved the Stone Gossard Project demo of instrumentals, Eddie infamously claims to have gone surfing and instantly come up with an entire story of lyrics. Now, "Alive"/"Once"/"Footsteps" have gained infamy early on in the career as the band's 'Mamasan Trilogy', but there weren't just three songs on the tape that Ed wrote at once; there were FIVE SONGS. I believe the 'Mamasan Trilogy' is less a trilogy than pentalogy. "Footsteps" was not the end. The fourth song on the tape was "Black", and the fifth and final song was "Alone". "Once" and "Alone" are very manic in nature, while "Footsteps" and "Black" are very depressive. This semi-fictional character fits into the theme of the original trilogy, however, I'm not sure the order is proper. When Pearl Jam did play the 'Mamasan Trilogy' on tour in 1992, "Black" actually preceded "Alive", leading me to question if the protaganist in this series of songs lived through the torment "Black" of his girlfriend's first abortion (which by timeline would have occured in 1981 or 1982), before Ed's mom told him about his real father, Ed Seversen II. A name is mentioned in 'Alone': Nicole. I have no idea if this was in fact someone Ed Mueller knew-- I say "Mueller" who didn't change his name to Vedder until his late teens, which by my math and what I've researched online, "Black" does in fact actually take place before "Alive", the first officially penned Mookie Blaylock/Pearl Jam song, which may indicate why it was played BEFORE "Alive", "Once" and "Footsteps". The only song I can't figure (since it was never played alongside the 'Trilogy' is "Alone", though its "thoughts of suicide and alleviation" lyrics is manic and reflects the nature of "Once" more than any of the other songs mentioned here. Act I : Puberty-Late Teens: Revelations-- "Black"/"Alive" Act II: Early Twenties, the Descent "Alone"/"Once" Act III: Punishment -- "Footsteps" If there's any other song that would fit the mood of 'Act III', not on the Stone Gossard or Gossman tapes but still somehow relevant and and early song for the band it's "Hard to Imagine", another song in the PJ catalogue that reflects a tortured soul and life behind bars, after having the chain of events leading this semi-autobiographically character through the first two acts (although "Footsteps" handles the third act well on its own). So there you have it... I think there's still three acts, but there's a lot of personal demons for Ed in all of these songs. I think the fantasy of these songs may be rooted in both Ed's discovery of a child he lost, and finding out soon after that his real father had died. It's very much a mini-opera, a tragedy and there are lives and loves lost in all five songs. |
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| Pearl Jam – Big Wave Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| My least favorite song on the new album, followed by "Gone". This isn't a bad song (Vedder and Ament wrote, IIRC), but it's filler. I don't feel anything special when they play it live. It's just silly for an album that's got some serious issues on it. | |
| Pearl Jam – I'm Open Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Pearl Jam albums 1) VS. 2) VITALOGY 3) NO CODE 4) LOST DOGS 5) RIOT ACT 6) TEN 7) S/T 8) YIELD 9) BINAURAL VERSUS singles don't really stand out, but the album works well as a cohesive whole listen. VITALOGY really annoyed me at first, but I grew to love it, and there are tracks that stand out. NO CODE is full of tracks that stand out, but there are some turkeys. Given a different track order, it could have been better. "Present Tense" should have been the closer. The final three songs tank the end of the record. The light, open nature of "Mankind" and "Around the Bend" make not a good sandwich with the contrast of "I'm Open" sandwiched between them. "Mankind" is a fun song, but filler, and for the life of me "Around the Bend" is difficult for me to appreciate. It's a downright turkey in an album full of amazing moments. How much better would NO CODE have been if the "I Got ID" and "Long Road" replaced the last three tracks? TEN is great but I'm waiting for them to remix and re-release it with some bonus songs, as I know the band wants to do. It's the album that got me into the band back in 1992, but there's a lot of reverb in the mix that makes the album sound too slick. YIELD has some great compositions (with NO CODE, the band really started to let Gossard and Ament contribute more, and they're both great songwriters). BINAURAL just took too long to come out, and the end product was disappointing for myself. I didn't buy RIOT ACT until it much later than its release date, mostly because I didn't think the band could achieve the zeitgeist of the first four records after hearing what BINAURAL had to offer. The fact it opens sounding like a Who record and even includes a blatant nod/rip-off to Pete Townsend's "Blue, Red & Grey" ("Soon Forget") just annoyed the hell out of me. Why not just cover that song... for the love of god. I've grown to appreciate the album, it has amazing moments, but one album has to be at the bottom of the list... |
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| Pearl Jam – I'm Open Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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T-Crash is right, I think there is an apparent link between the songs on NO CODE, and "I'm Open" matches up with "Red Mosquito", after listening to the album in random/shuffle mode you should be able to pick out a couple more... It would have been great as has been suggested to hide this song, but instead of tacking onto the end of the album, I would have taken deliberate measures to hide it; by sliding it into negative-time before the first song on the CD, and then had the album open with "Red Mosquito". The only way people would hear it would be by rewinding from the first note of "Red Mosquito". On the LP, I would simply have hidden this song in a double groove over Red Mosquito. I love double-groove tracks, and this song would have gotten more exposure if it were hidden. Its context surely implies hiding. |
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| Pearl Jam – Arc Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Eery song. It doesn't take words for Ed Vedder's voice to get to you. Recently, after listening to this song and thinking about Columbus-area Pearl Jam fan Brian Shaffer, who's been missing now for 5 months (since April 1st), I realize how important Pearl Jam views their fans. I cannot even fathom what it must have been like that night, to have to bear witness to that kind of horror of nine people dying, or know what's happened to Brian Randal Shaffer. |
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| Pearl Jam – Sometimes Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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This song ties with "Oceans" and "State of Love and Trust" as my favorite PJ song. To date, the band's only played the three songs in one set once (on 10/28/96) in London at Wembley Arena. How I'd love to hear that show before I die, or at least have the group throw them back into a set again, but it's about as likely as lightining striking twice. "Oceans" and "Sometimes" are great openers, much preferred over "Release" or "Of the Girl", though "Long Road" is fine by me. Amazing version on the Mansfield 7/11/03 official boot. "Sometimes" is not the opener, it's the third song in the opening acoustic set. Rivals the album in in value. Another version I have in San Francisco 7/16/06, when Ed forgets the lyrics after the opening verse, and just tells the crowd "I forgot the f-cking song" (to mad applause), and later apologizes for forgetting the opener for the first time in the band's history. What is this song about? I don't think it means much about anything, perhaps about how life encompasses triumphs and mistakes, and how Vedder is just another man (who even forgets the words... sometimes). No, it doesn't mean much about anything, but it sure means a lot to me. |
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| Pearl Jam – The Color Red Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Ah, this has to be my least favorite Pearl Jam song of all time, from the album 'Yield'. It is the definition of "filler", and the fact it's placed in the center of the album just distracts from the flow of the album, especially after fans discovered how great a lead-in "Untitled" was to "MFC", the next song on the album... As far as I know, the only time this tune was played live was over the PA as the band took the stage during the American leg of their '98 tour. I guess the hidden track on "Binaural" is the most pointless track the band every put on an official release... but this song really serves no purpose... it's "Pry, To" revisited; just not as cool... |
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| Pearl Jam – Mystery Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Also, since the song has been removed, the song "Hold Your Head Up" is Mother Love Bone covering an Argent tune from the 1970s. Not Pearl Jam, either... Seriously, on these two tracks, the lead vocalist sounds nothing like Eddie, Stone or even Jeff; which is irony, since the two sang back up on "Hold Your Head Up" to MLB's Andrew Wood. At least THAT track has some Pearl Jam history behind it, and is only found on Mother Love Bone bootlegs... |
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| Pearl Jam – Mystery Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Actually, while I whole-heartedly agree with you on "Leatherman" and the cover of Victoria William's "Crazy Mary", this song should NOT be on ANY official Pearl Jam Odds & Sods releases, because it is definitely NOT a PJ song; according to my source, the person(s) who compiled the "VS. SESSIONS" and "FIVE MUSKETEER" bootlegs tried to pass off two bogus tracks as Pearl Jam songs: "Hold Your Head Up" and "Mystery". This song is actually recorded by the band Blind Horse... it sounds nothing at all even like PJ's earliest demos. How it's still today confused as an official PJ song is bewildering, to say the least... That being said, don't buy this crap. "Girl" is the only PJ song that isn't available on any official releases, has long ago left the PJ catalog, and the rest of the songs on these discs are just early demos of some of the songs from the Ten sessions... why it's labelled "VS. Sessions" is the real 'mystery' to me... |
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| Pearl Jam – Come Back Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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In their second night in San Francisco, the band merged the "Life Wasted Reprise" as a prelude to "Come Back", and on the following third night, did the same with the Reprise and "Man of the Hour"... maybe there is a connection between the songs! This song is really great. I resent the "High school dance" comment as well, just because I don't won't people to take it for granted as something it was clearly never meant to be. The song is a slow-moving soul number. It's really a homage to the early hits of Otis Redding, a truly AMAZING artist and with that timing the number is a new-age torch song, NOT something to taken lightly. You can dance to it, but dance with someone you love in privacy. That's the only way to make it count. I really hope this song makes it as a late single for the album after "Severed Hand". I enjoy it better than "Parachutes", which still a good song, but I care little for "Gone". |
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| Pearl Jam – Can't Help Falling in Love (Elvis Presley cover) Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| Are you referring to the Memphis or the Las Vegas version? They covered the song twice on their 2000 tour, and I like the more laid back version in LV. Eddie does a good job handling pop gems like this. Really enjoyed it live, same for the Stones' "Waiting On a Friend"... | |
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