Celebration of "Long Road Out of Eden"!

I pretty much agree with everything TBF said about Frail Grasp. Some of us, believe or not, are not Christians.... and perhaps the song works better for me because of that. The only thing I don't like is the way he sings 'who we know is American'. He really should have belted that out but he seems to have decided to downplay it.

I've never ranked the tracks before but I'm going to do it now. I know this will be biased but I can't help that. It's important to me to have these particular songs.

1. Long Road Out Of Eden - 5
2. What Do I Do With My Heart - 5
3. I Love To Watch A Woman Dance - 5
4. Somebody - 5
5. No More Cloudy Days - 5
6. You Are Not Alone - 5
7. Waiting In The Weeds - 5
8. It's Your World Now - 5
9. How Long - 5
10. Business As Usual - 4
11. Do Something - 4
12. Frail Grasp On The Big Picture - 4
13. I Dreamed There Was No War - 4
14. No More Walks In The Wood - 4
15. Last Good Time In Town - 4
16. Centre Of The Universe - 4
17. Busy Being Fabulous - 3
18. Guilty Of The Crime - 3
19. Fast Company - 3
20. I Don't Want To Hear Any More - 3

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Freypower

Some of us, believe or not, are not Christians....

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Gee, really? I had no idea. Learn something new every day!

Soda, if I offended you with that comment that was not my intention. I apologise. Normally I would not have mentioned it.

I wasn't offended, just a bit put off by what I perceived as a condescending remark. Probably shot off my post a bit too quick! Hopefully I didn't put a cork in the discussion, which I'm finding interesting (including the majority of your post, FP). And I must say I agree with a lot of your rankings. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sodascouts

Tim: "From my point of view, it's always frustrating, especially when some of the issues between some of the guys sometimes gets so strained that you can't work. [...] The difference is it used to really, really bother me a lot when something came up [...] but now it doesn't. Now, I'm better at just... you know... it's kind of up to the gods. I can't do anything about it."

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No Tim no! The gods don't care if your band can't get along! :wink:

BTW, I dislike Frail Grasp because of the melody.

Really, I did not mean to sound condescending. :worried: I normally stay far away from mention of religion because I seem to be in a minority of one. Sometimes it seems to me however, that assumptions are made that all people share certain beliefs, which is not the case.

To get back on track I think Soda finds the lyrics of FGOTBP condescending, because she thinks Don is also making assumptions about religious people. The point here though is not so much criticising religion as the way it is USED. The way it seems to be used as a prop. The way God is thanked from everything ranging from winning a football game to winning an award. The beliefs may be sincerely held but sometimes they just seem to be wheeled out as if it's just expected that it be done.

Adding to my previous comment, I don't see Don mocking "religious" or "nonreligious" people. The way I see it, he raises two points; 1) the horror of seeing God as nothing more than a "supplier" who does whatever we ask from Him on any given day, 2) declaring God as an "approver" for anything that is done, although even the "declarer" doesn't believe for a minute that God has "OK'd" it (like justifying a "trip to Irak").
And people who might do these things might be religious or not. To me it has more to do with the way people may behave, than whether one is religious or not.
But I DO understand how some may find it offensive.

Don did say in the Gold interview that it was the lyrics of that particular verse in Frail Grasp that he was "worried" about. He expected a "backlash", but he said "it's just a good-natured poke...people are entitled to believe in what they want to believe in." He says was writing about "the way religion is used for petty things". FP, your last post seems to echo what Don was saying in that interview.

I don't think I've listed,rated or commented this album yet... if I did, just goes to show, my memory is bad! So here's a few things...

My personal Five favorites:

How Long
Waiting in the Weeds
Do Something
No More Walks in the Woods
It's Your World Now

My least favorites (if I never heard again, I'd be okay w/that):

Fast Company
Business as Usual

Only liked after hearing live:

LROOE and Somebody

The rest of the CD falls into the, "it's good, it's the Eagles" category for me. I like most of the CD, but gravitate to certain songs at certain times.

As for Frail Grasp, I personally think Chaim hit the nail on the head, "To me it has more to do with the way people may behave, than whether one is religious or not." I couldn't agree more! I feel this song is really about personal behaviors. "pray to our Lord who we know is American" that is totally about the elitist American attitude. "faith in the Lord unless there is money or sex involved". Again, this plays to those who act holier than thou, until you mix in sex and money, then the rules change, or should I say lines tend to get jagged... It's like those weekly church goers who are swearing at you in the parking lot as you leave mass because they have somewhere more important to be. I honestly feel it's about hypocrisy and not religion at all. Just my opinion ...

To be honest, I "get" what Don was trying to do with the song. I just don't like the song. I don't like anything about it. lol Even if I didn't find the lyrics to be condescending, I still wouldn't like the melody or (shock shock) the way he sings it. lol It has nothing to do with being a Christian because, believe me, I know the assumptions that a lot of people have with that and I also know the impression that a lot of "christians" give off. lol I don't know....I can't really explain why the lyrics annoy me in a way that makes sense. I just don't like the impression that he gives off in the song. Oh well....I won't lose any sleep over it. :hilarious:

I don't really listen to Business as Usual much either, even though I think it's a much better song. Something about that one just doesn't beg me to listen to it over and over again either. lol Come to think of it.....the majority of the songs that I listen to all the time are on disc 1, with the exception of LROOE, Somebody, and Center of the Universe.