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Originally Posted by evollove
I liked them, then didn't, which I did independent of the zeitgeist which seemed to follow the same trajectory. What happened? Was it all the shockingly mediocre SM albums that took the shine off? Anyway, people do seem to be re-warming, and maybe I am too.
Terror wasn't as bad as I remembered, but I can go another ten years without hearing it. Didn't the producer do this right after Ok Computer? What a joke. Some pretty moments, but putting a lo-fi band into a hi-fi context seems to bring out the defects and obscure the charms. The lyrics are full-on stupid.
By the way, "Grounded" is vaguely "about" doctors. Beyond that, I can't say what any song is about, which is fine and fun for the "early" stuff, but grow up man. Even by Reckoning, Stipe was starting to actually say something with his words while still giving us the lyrical weirdness we crave. To date, SM hasn't matured past Pavement's very first song.
A special band, because they were at their best when they sucked.
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I don't know if I've ever shared this with anyone, but in college I took a few throwaway classes at the attached interdisciplinary studies college, and in one of them (something about song or poem writing, or folk music... I forget) I was asked to bring in a song or spoken word poem for group interpretation.
Because I was lazy, and considered the class a no-stakes break from my pretty rigorous studies in behavioral science and political philosophy, I brought in "Shoot the Singer" just because I wanted to watch people struggle to find meaning in it.
I was surprised when the teacher (who, ostensibly, was an expert in this kind of crap) actually managed to thread together a cohesive and believable narrative to the song, line by line. No small feat when dealing with a track that begins:
"Someone took in these pants
Somebody painted over paint painted wood"
But whatever she said made sense, and thought I cant remember a word of it, she did offer a pretty interesting interpretation of the lyrics, which she believed combined to create an overall sense of unexpected change, and the sad nature of how it affects the individual, couples and society.
May have been total Bullshit fluff. But my point is just that there are people out there who believe that SM was writing meaningful songs all along. And if he was doing it in '92, he was probably doing it in '95.
To me Grounded is kind of straightforward for a Pavement song. Doctors, yes, but moreso doctors enjoying the comforts of their lifestyle, worrying about their own kids doing acid, but not so concerned with actually doing their jobs. But I could be wrong. It could be about a documentary SM saw on ants or something on the learning channel.
But one thing's for sure: Grounded has a absolutely phenomenal guitar groove to it. One of the few moments of melody prevailing over chaos and absurdity on Wowee Zowee. That chorus, and the riff that follows (simple as they are) are so powerful that they don't need to have a deeper meaning or significance. They make your stomach drop like you're on a rollercoaster, and the feeling is awesome.
To me that's what music is about more than anything else. I'm more of a music guy than a lyrics guy, really. The lyrics are just a vehicle for the vocal instrument to join in and be part of the music.
Plus lyricists who take themselves too seriously almost always suck.