Pearl Jam - No Code

A man lies in his bed in a room with no door
He waits hoping for a presence something anything to enter
After spending half his life searching he still felt as blank
As the ceiling at which he stared
He is alive but feels absolutely nothing
So is he?
When he was six he believed that the moon overhead followed him
By nine he had deciphered the illusion trading magic for fact
No tradebacks...
So this is what it's like to be an adult
If he only knew now what he knew then...
I'm open... (2x)
Come on in... (4x)
I'm open... (2x)
Come on in... (4x)
I'm open...
Lying sideways atop crumpled sheets and no covers he decides to
dream...
Dream up a new self for himself...

"token" and "moment"

Drive down the street can't find the keys to my own fucking home
I take a walk so I can curse my ass for being dumb
I make a right after the arches. . . stinking grease and bone
Stop at the supermarket. . . people stare like I'm a dog

I'm gone to Lukin's... I gotta spot at Lukin's
Unlock the door at Lukin's. . . open the fridge
Now I know life's worth

I find the key but I return to find an open door
Some fucking freak who claims I fathered by raping my son
I find my wife. I call the cops. This day's work's never done.
The last I heard the freak was purchasing a fucking gun.

http://www.mtv.com/shared/media/news/images/p/Pearl_Jam/sq-vedder-free-concert-92-mtv.jpg

Oh, my baby, my baby she don't want me no more
Ever since she saw his poster in that record store
She says the way he grinds his molars is really sexy
She thinks he's so darn dysfunctional and "Generation X"y
She likes his brooding angst and his wild-eyed stare
Yeah, he's her very favorite slacker multi-millionaire

Well, my baby's in love with Eddie Vedder
She's all crazy 'bout that Eddie Vedder
Once she was mine, but now I better just forget her
'Cause my baby's in love with Eddie Vedder

Now, every time I see him, well, he looks so grim
I guess it really must suck to be a rock star like him
What a pain in the butt to have so much success
Spending all his time moping and avoiding the press
But my girl can't get enough of his sullen demeanor
Like he's some big tortured genious and I'm some kinda wiener

Well, my baby's in love with Eddie Vedder
She's got a thing for that Eddie Vedder
Tell me, what can he do that I can't do better
Now my baby's in love with
I said I said I said my baby's in love with Eddie Vedder
Head over heels for that Eddie Vedder
I cant believe it, now she's knitting him a sweater
'Cause my baby's in love with Eddie Vedder

I knew we were headin' for disaster
When she caught me hangin' out at the Ticketmaster
Now she's got an unrequited adoratioon
For the frustrated, agitated, designated alienated
Spokesman for the disaffected grunge generation

Well, I don't wear Doc MArtens and I don't wear flannel
And I don't boycott the music video channel
And I just can't compete with all that money and fame
But I know two can play at this game
Yeah, well, let's just see how jealous she'll get
When I start stalking Alanis Morissette

Well, my baby's in love with Eddie Vedder
She's all crazy 'bout that Eddie Vedder
Once she was mine but now I better just forget her
'Cause my baby's in love with
I said I said I said my baby's in love with Eddie Vedder
Why'd she have to fall for that Eddie Vedder
If she wants to leave me, I guess I better let her
'Cause my baby's in love with Eddie Vedder

albums I'd consider No Code being maybe 2nd to: Vitalogy, and um...maybe Yield...maybe Vs.

one thing I remember seeming novel (when I was 12, bear with me) about Vedder was that bellow. I'd never heard anyone so emotional, so involved in the singing. I have to assume it will be at least 20 years before a 12 year old can say that again.

(x-post yet again)

- The first track is great and I remember learning the simple guitar part as one of the first tunes I learnt to play. Hail, Hail kinda ruins the effect and I always skip that song.

- Tracks like Who You Are and I'm Open along with a lot of what was on Vitalogy really make me wonder why Pearl Jam have gone down in history as the "safe" AOR alternative to Nirvana who were wild and crazy. Nirvana rocked for sure but after the first two albums Pearl Jam were making some pretty odd recordings. Who Are You is NOT a grunge song for fucks sake. It's barely even a rock song.

- Off He Goes does sound like Bruce Springsteen. Very maudling.

- Red Mosquito used to be used as the background music for Talk Radio.

- Lukin is PROPER ROCKING!!!

- Around The Bend is Pearl Jam's All The Time In The World

- I'm Open is cringeworthy but I thought it was cool when I was 15.

errr... and those are my rubbish notes.

sometimes -> smile is great. dead spots = "i'm open" and the last two or three trax.

never saw why pearl jam were considered a third-rate nirvana--they always sounded much more like a third-rate neil young + crazy horse to me.

I'm sure you realized this, but if you fold the cardboard digipak so it lays flat, you can see the outline of a pyramid with an eye in the middle.

Man, I'm really surprised about the Vitalogy luv, as, from what I recall, there were a few stunt tracks ("Bugs", "foxymophandlefivedollars") that perved the rest of the batch. And "Nothingman" did no damn thang for moi. But, yeah, most of it is nice.

I'm a Yield / Binaural man, myself (w/ Binaural as the better album, but Yield being my fave), & No Code is close behind. Bless you, Al.

Riot Act is great, but I think the problem with the last couple of albums has been that they're getting into Grateful Dead territory where the live shows surpass the album in terms of importance, and the album is just there to mark the beginning of a new tour. It's in their live shows that the new songs come into their own, and on the album they sound like it's just bare bones. "You Are" is a great song, but the album version pales in comparison to how it sounds live. Then again, maybe it's just that I've become a Deadhead. *weeps*

OTM Vegemite Grrl. I'm far from a fan, but I've seen'em live the last couple of tours. They're one of few acts who draw inspiration by their opening acts; when Sleater Kinney and Sonic Youth opened for them on the last couple of tours PJ were incredible.

I think Binaural is their most underrated album - not a real dud track in the lot.

I remember selling Bi... back as soon as I heard a live record that had most of the songs on it and thinking "wow, maybe I'll just buy the live records as they come out, the songs sound better than on the studio records."

BRING ON THE DOPEY ONE-LINERS HATERS

I'm tempted to say part of the problem w/ Vs. is the sequencing. Starting w/ "Go", and THEN following w/ "Animal", it's a bit too much. And then jupming from GET OUT OF MY FUCKING FACE to "Indifference" ... meh. Still have a soft spot for "Rats", though, which quotes Michael Jackson's "Ben", doesn't it? Oh, Edward - so pointed, your social commentary.

GOT A GUN
FACT I GOT TWO
THAT'S OK MAN
CAUSE I LOVE GOD
GLORIFIED VERSION OF A PELLET GUN
FEEL SO MANLY
WHEN AAAAAAAAAAAAARMED

"Sometimes": wow, it's been awhile since I've been this up close and personal with the veddster.

"Hail Hail": wow, we produce the fuck out of rock these days. we also don't sound this incomprehensible.

"Who We Are": I haven't heard this track since it came out ("Smile" and "Hail, Hail" were the radio picks, really). Al was fuckin' right about the drums. WTF. this is so hippie.

(xp I am totally smelling what teh nick is cooking)

Yes, "Higher" by Creed. Mushmouth liberal slack just isn't as amusing on the radio as the anthem of the jesus donkey (neener neener neer).

"Off He Goes": pleasant alt-country, can't focus on the lyrics on first listen but I like it.

(x-post Vitalogy was the one people bought and No Code gave them no reason to bother again - see Monster and New Adventures)

"Had It": low-mic'd little rocker. i'd have to be a fan to care.

seriously, if I don't focus really hard he might as well be the male Liz Fraser on some of this shit.

"Present Tense": downtempo LIVE IN THE NOW. oh man. a nation of children were waiting for something to believe, and Vedder's going hominahominahominahomina. no wonder Fuck The Bitch and Jesus Saves won big.

xpost - that makes sense. harvest moon got ac AND some country radio, even at alt's height those are bigger ponds (and older audiences that don't mind older artists/wonder who the fuck neil young is).

Jeremy was a top ten pop hit.

OTM re: "I'm The Ocean."

lest I sound too dismissive, I totally understand the appeal of this album for people fascinated by the band. The Durst/Vedder thing totally makes sense, this is totally their Results May Vary. I'd say "Last Kiss" was their "Behind Blue Eyes" but I forget if "Last Kiss" came before or after Yield.

not sure. You really gotta sit there and go hmmmm to grab lyrics off this thing on the first spin. Kinda reminded me of the D-Plan for some reason. Has the high-voiced chorus hook. I dug that.

Radio around my parts played the bejeezus out of PJ right before No Code hit (and smeared). And, of course, all the Ten stuff on the "hard rock" stations (except when Vitalogy came out, and the alt.rock stations were playing album tracks left & right like "Tremor Christ" & "Spin the Black Circle") (though "Circle" was a single, I think). The one track they played the crap out of more than anything = "YELLOW LEDBETTER" BOO HISS. "Gee, why can't Pearl Jam rip off their hard rock influences more blatantly? Hendrix was cool! Eff Neil Young! Here's some Disturbed! Down! With! The sickness! oooohWAH-AH-AH-AH!"

The hits defintely stopped coming after Vitalogy. Better Man was as far as it went, and after that the next biggest thing was Do The Evolution which didn't do much from what I remember. Does anyone think this had as much to do with less saleable songs as it did with their whole 'no video' policy? Curious. I always wondered how much that affected their popularity, if at all.

I didn't find VS patchy, I did find the choice of singles weird, because Dissident's probably the best song. Vitalogy is a way bumpier ride to my mind. Damn bugs. damn heyfoxymophandlemomathats me.

actually "Wishlist" and especially "Given To Fly" did pretty well.

I guess hardcore fans cannot get w/ Eddie's Camaro metaphor.

Note to local superstores: plz discount Superunknown so I can give into my urge to buy it again. This $15-16 buck crap ain't gonna cut it.

Marcy Playground: WTF? (187 new answers)

-- VegemiteGrrl (sharonjo...), March 14th, 2005.

I think the b-sides were mostly live but there was also a Vs. outtake version of "Alone" (the version on Lost Dogs is a Ten outtake).

-- miccio (anthonyisrigh...), March 14th, 2005.

if I was drinking something when I read that I would have spit it all over the screen.

Didn't "Last Kiss" go to #1?

i don't care what anyone says, 'who you are' is godawful. you'd think they'd never picked up a guitar before, and that's probably the point - this band loves to play the self-indulgent card.

Every time I find myself at Best Buy, I'm tempted to buy the last PJ album.

probably don't worry about it

'red mosquito' is great, actually

The last PJ album is actually really good, despite its terrible cover art.

"Lakini's Juice" - C or D? (297 new answers)
-- miccio (miccio), Monday, March 14, 2005 8:13 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Link

still hilarious

also even though I'm obviously a big advocate for post-megastardom Pearl Jam, I have to say that Riot Act and especially the self-titled album are pretty awful records.

'in hiding' is a good pj song as far as the more (relatively) recent stuff goes.

the ballads haven't been good since vitalogy

The last PJ album is actually really good, despite its terrible cover art.

No one was as shocked as I was. But it shouldn't have been, as they've improved with each album.

I love the first track on No Code, but it's all ruined by the second one which comes in with all the welcomness of an irritating alarm clock.

The last PJ album is actually really good, despite its terrible cover art.

Ha - I actually prefer the cover art to the actual album (which has decent enough songs, but Eddie and/or the production just fucks 'em all up).

yeah his vocal performances on that album are easily the worst of his career. beyond a couple decent singles I don't understand any of the love for s/t.

"Mankind" is the reason I once almost considered buying the Stone Gossard solo album.

:)

i don't think i've ever seen al so excited about anything ever

yeah I don't know what I was on that day.

aw come on

haha I meant the day I started this thread, not the day I considered buying a Stone Gossard album. is it good? should I?

I have no idea! I don't think I've gotten within light years of any Pearl Jam side project. All my drinking money these days gets spent on keeping up with members of Veruca Salt.

I saw a Brad music video on 120 Minutes once. It was a gentle AC piano ballad with Shawn Smith asking you to think what makes you laugh and think what makes you sing. Stone was putting some sparse wacka-chicka on it.

All I remember about the Mad Season song they'd play on the radio is jesus christ I hate Layne Stanley.

RIVER OF DECEIT

oh fuck you miccio

"the only direction to go is down"

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh

I remember a Brad song with lots of slap-bass.

haha yeah I think Stone had to get his funk jones elsewhere once Pearl Jam banished its wah wah pedal/touring with RHCP/"Dirty Frank" beginnings post-Vs..

still a great record!!

they were on an episode of Austin City Limits recently, and Eddie did "Lukin" ACOUSTIC WITH A STRING SECTION and they also played "Red Mosquito" w/ Ben Harper on slide guitar, it was like the whole thing was geared toward No Code geeks like me.

weird that probably my 2 most enthusiastic threads ever (this & Philadelphia Freeway) were revived on the same day.

"Smile" sounds great.