Third Eye Blind Band • Page 24

Yeah I think all of those are like, upper echelon songs and then there's like 4 more that are like in the 80th percentile so to speak, and now we've named almost the entire record, haha.

 

Yah that's nuts but I think this was closer to Ursa Major's release so of course he wouldn't put that one last.

 

This was when Dopamine was released

 

A lot of the rest of Ursa Major ran together for me. "One in Ten", "About to Break", "Summer Town", "Why Can't You Be" is not a good stretch for my tastes, and "Monotov's Private Opera" tends to bore me as well. OOTV is where they seemed to start writing a lot more regularly around the acoustic guitar, but it's not their strength per se - give me a song like "Wake for Young Souls" or "Bonfire" over "One in Ten" or "About to Break" or "Exiles" any day.

 

Oh lol

 

Ah, different tastes then. The lyrics alone are enough for me to love "Exiles", "Montov" "about to break" and "summer town"

 

"One in Ten" is kind of boring, but "Why Can't You Be" and "About to Break" are great. The former especially is classic Jenkins. I love the stream-of-consciousness feel of that one.

 

Exactly! Can't be trusted!

 

Exiles is a top 10 3EB song for me

 

I've heard so many people hate on Why can't you be and the lyrics are absolutely incredible on that song. I don't get it.

One of the lines at the beginning hits so hard and it's so simple:
"Why can't you be, a little more of a mystery"

Then...


"Why can't you be
The part of me that's missing
Instead of leaving me for some other
Say we're perfect for each other
And we won't spend this life
Alone"

and later in the song....


"Can we, just leave it be
We could live our lives
Separately
Could you forget
What happens to you and me
When we're dead
And we'll be dead
We'll have eternity
And I will spend it all
Missing you and me
So while I'm alive
I will always be
Seeking you out, wondering about
How'd we go so far down
And what's do wrong with you and me"

and ends with...

"Why can't you be, like a hand rolled cigarette
I'm not joking
This masochistic, self-pity of smoking
And this silly ditty that keeps provoking you
To leave me

Why can't you be like a candle I can snuff
You're still a diamond in the rough
And I swear to god I've had enough
How can I
Call your bluff"


Now I've quoted almost the whole song. It's just so good.

 

I do like the lyrics, some of these tunes just fall flat musically for me

 

The lyrics are basically the backbone of a song like that though. I don't mind when it's just an acoustic guitar and poetry when it's done well.

 

i think between "why can't you be" and "water landing" ursa major might have his best lyrics.

i recently discovered that i think dopamine is....ever so slightly better than ursa major though

 

It's incredible, honestly. One of the best songs he's written. The vocal melodies are really lovely, too.

 

Yeah, it even manages to bring in humour with the "shower pic shower massager line"

 

Overall I think the songs on Ursa Major are of a higher quality in essence but I enjoy Dopamine as a record more. It feels more cohesive to me. Ursa Major had a lot of great ideas that mutated throughout the recording process. It had a lot of potential but Jenkins fucked with most of the songs for like 5-6 years before settling and putting it out.

1. Can You Take Me - Some goofy lyrical choices in here but it's alright. One of the newer songs on the record.
2. Don't Believe A Word - The earlier versions of this song had some more veiled/clever political digs. This song is obviously about the Bush (43) presidency and it came out in 2009 AFTER Obama had been president for half a year. There are studio demos floating around the internet of some older versions.
3. Bonfire - This song debuted in 2004 or 05 as a song called "Don't Like Me Now". The main guitar part was all electric when they played it live and it had this really cool Police vibe to it. Some of the lyric changes in the final cut are odd but I've gotten used to them and I enjoy it. If they had recorded it the way they played it live when it was new, it would have been a radio hit.
4. Sharp Knife - Musically this song is awesome. The mp3 out of juice line kills me though.
5. One In Ten - Kills the momentum of the record, should have been a b-side or a hidden track.
6. About to Break - This is the worst set of lyrics this band has ever written. It's just a bunch of politically charged phrases strung together and there's no message or meaning at all.
7. Summer Town - There's a version floating around the internet that has some of the original production of this song without the rap parts. Tony's guitar on that version is also more featured. Over the years I've gotten used to the album version and even enjoy it occasionally. If they had been able to capture the mojo of this song it would have been a radio hit.
8. Why Can't You Be - This one is alright. The Salinger reference feels forced but I like the delivery overall and sometimes a blowjob's not enough.
9. Water Landing - I actually prefer this to Break Me, the song that this mutated from. This was probably my favorite track when Ursa Major was released.
10. Dao of St. Paul - The only gripe I have with this song is that Tony's solo ends right when it's getting good.
11. Monotov's Private Opera - This one is interesting. This song debuted live in 04 or 05 also and I'm pretty sure this version of the song was recorded around then. Possibly later, but I think it's a lot older than the rest of the record. The production sounds different to me. This song always stood out to me as an add on as a result, and I always kind of forget it's on the record.
12. Carnival Barker - I don't get why they didn't just put the whole thing on there. Awesome instrumental. Also recorded WAY before the rest of the tracks on UM. Possibly even before OOTV unless I'm remembering wrong.

 

^^ good insights, I agree with most of it. Not a thing wrong with Bonfire though

 

Although I will admit the delay effect is pretty neat

 

I was holding out that these guys would add a tour date that wasn't 12 hours away so I could see them this summer. They just got announced as one of the concerts at my state fair that's 10 minutes away!

No clue if they're playing S/T in full still, kinda doubt it since it's a state fair show... but 10 minutes is much better than 12 hours.

 

They didn't do S/T at Shaky Knees Festival the other week and I was super bummed since there's obviously no other ATL date on that tour.

 

As long as I get The Background then I won't regret missing S/T too much

 

Unreal, just bought my tickets for the show here in Salem.

Got front row center for under $40

 

Damnnnn that's awesome. Mine was $60 and general admission. Kinda sucks that I could've waited and got a cheaper ticket, but I'm glad I got one at least.

 

The Background is a rare one to see. That's the main reason I'm going to this tour