Big Decisions discussions

CHIMMJFAN · Mar 04, 2015, 07:06 PM

Quote from: gardenparty on Mar 04, 2015, 05:14 PM
i was hearing "sweet and sexy" which I liked. good lyrics though. And sincere does make more sense I guess

Haha, I thought the same hearing "sweet and sexy" and for me I just didn't see those lyrics from JJ now sincere makes sense.

CHIMMJFAN

Tomer · Mar 04, 2015, 07:13 PM

I love Big D, but every time I listen to it I just wish it will be longer.

EverythingChanges · Mar 04, 2015, 07:32 PM

Haha glad I'm not the only one that heard sexy. That part of the song is impossible to understand.

Stevie · Mar 04, 2015, 08:50 PM

Also heard sweet and sexy, and also felt it was very unlike Jim. Highly relieved to know that it's 'sincere' for some reason.

The song is growing on me a little bit but man... I just cant get past certain parts that to me just feel sort of mailed in. I dont mean to be negative im just trying to explain myself.

I am however convinced that this could grow to become a good live track, and if it doesnt and i continue to dislike it then its only 3.5 minutes out of 75+

EverythingChanges · Mar 04, 2015, 09:15 PM

Quote from: Stevie on Mar 04, 2015, 08:50 PM
Also heard sweet and sexy, and also felt it was very unlike Jim. Highly relieved to know that it's 'sincere' for some reason.

The song is growing on me a little bit but man... I just cant get past certain parts that to me just feel sort of mailed in. I dont mean to be negative im just trying to explain myself.

I am however convinced that this could grow to become a good live track, and if it doesnt and i continue to dislike it then its only 3.5 minutes out of 75+

Agreed!

Stevie · Mar 05, 2015, 12:25 AM

Jim's comments about finally accepting things and putting his spirituality into action have me thinking. He has in the past talked about being confused about life in general quite a bit and how that has been a huge theme in his work. At first glance or listen the lyrics in Big D come across as being spoken from him towards someone he looks out for, possibly a significant other in the past or present. But i now wonder if maybe the lyrics are from the standpoint of whichever god or whatever that he believes in being directed at him and how he has come to better understand this dynamic, feeling that he must now rely on himself for action and not another entity. There are many possibilities of course, would like to hear another interpretation.

oistheone · Mar 05, 2015, 03:38 AM

For anyone who doubts the awesomeness of this song, just picture this LIVE, where Carl kicks the fucking shit out of EVERYTHING starting at about 2:15

Also, I just realized I've had this song on repeat all night. Up to 88 listens already. Goddamn. I've been in MMJ withdrawal for a LONG TIME and am in the midst of a borderline unhealthy bender right now.

dub82 · Mar 05, 2015, 09:08 AM

I like this song a lot, thought it was ok at OBH. But,they managed to work some pedal steel in there, which I love. No band I know of can incorporate steel like these guys. It shouldn't work in songs like this, OOMS, etc, yet it always does.

Stevie · Mar 05, 2015, 10:06 AM

Quote from: dub82 on Mar 05, 2015, 09:08 AM
I like this song a lot, thought it was ok at OBH. But,they managed to work some pedal steel in there, which I love. No band I know of can incorporate steel like these guys. It shouldn't work in songs like this, OOMS, etc, yet it always does.

Completely agree about the pedal. They somehow managed to turn a sound that was usually a signal for old boring vanilla country music into something that is heartfelt and psychedelic all at the same time.

MusiKel Mama · Mar 05, 2015, 10:48 AM

This song really encapsulates how I feel getting dressed in the morning...like "ughhh...these big decisions..." So maybe it's about Jim's lady friend trying to get him to change the brownfit. And he performed it at OBH in his new robe to show her that she was right.

Behind every great man is a great woman, trying to get him to change his clothes.

MusiKel Mama · Mar 05, 2015, 11:24 AM

"But i now wonder if maybe the lyrics are from the standpoint of whichever god or whatever that he believes in being directed at him and how he has come to better understand this dynamic, feeling that he must now rely on himself for action and not another entity."
By the way, this is an interesting perspective...his master's voice...

parkervb · Mar 05, 2015, 12:09 PM

Quote from: MusiKel Mama on Mar 05, 2015, 11:24 AM
"But i now wonder if maybe the lyrics are from the standpoint of whichever god or whatever that he believes in being directed at him and how he has come to better understand this dynamic, feeling that he must now rely on himself for action and not another entity."
By the way, this is an interesting perspective...his master's voice...

i was talking to mynameiscurt last night and he had a very similar interpretation.

MusiKel Mama · Mar 05, 2015, 02:02 PM

When I am confused about something, I always tell myself "You are one perspective away from unlocking the mystery..." It's kind of a way to keep myself open to all avenues of experience. This is one such instance. I feel like the notion that the song/story is being sung/told from the higher power perspective...makes it not only more digestable...it changes the whole tone of the song. It makes it more empathetic...for some reason, coming from the perspective of a lover, it feels condescending. Like Positively 4th Street...but coming from a divine source, it is empowering. But why is this? And I think it comes down to the nature of love itself. That human love is limited. That by not making the "big decisions", the lover is almost shirking responsibility...but in the divine light, it is like realizing the power of free will...but does the creator not speak through his creation? Is this change in tone not a reflection of my own preference for the divine which is not external, but within me/my grasp?

I gotta say "om" for a while. The ol' mind is taking over...

Stevie · Mar 05, 2015, 05:42 PM

If the speaker is a person, a lover, a friend, then that speaker is human and by definition not perfect. So criticism probably sounds condescending or offputting when it comes from a source that has their own issues to work out. When it comes from the devine, or within, maybe its seen more as an eternal truth or fact, and how do you argue against that? However, Ive been listening more and i think maybe i was wrong before. The lines "dont really feel like faking it again tonight," and the follow up "dont wanna act like everything is alright" (may have butchered those, on phone), those clearly come from a human entity. So im thinking now this could be a struggle with himself. The one side of him urging the other to get it together.

buymycar · Mar 05, 2015, 05:51 PM

Quote from: Stevie on Mar 05, 2015, 05:42 PM
If the speaker is a person, a lover, a friend, then that speaker is human and by definition not perfect. So criticism probably sounds condescending or offputting when it comes from a source that has their own issues to work out. When it comes from the devine, or within, maybe its seen more as an eternal truth or fact, and how do you argue against that? However, Ive been listening more and i think maybe i was wrong before. The lines "dont really feel like faking it again tonight," and the follow up "dont wanna act like everything is alright" (may have butchered those, on phone), those clearly come from a human entity. So im thinking now this could be a struggle with himself. The one side of him urging the other to get it together.

That's what I was thinking when I first heard it. Probably because I've had the exact same internal struggle with myself for way too long.

MusiKel Mama · Mar 05, 2015, 06:18 PM

Quote from: buymycar on Mar 05, 2015, 05:51 PM
Quote from: Stevie on Mar 05, 2015, 05:42 PM
If the speaker is a person, a lover, a friend, then that speaker is human and by definition not perfect. So criticism probably sounds condescending or offputting when it comes from a source that has their own issues to work out. When it comes from the devine, or within, maybe its seen more as an eternal truth or fact, and how do you argue against that? However, Ive been listening more and i think maybe i was wrong before. The lines "dont really feel like faking it again tonight," and the follow up "dont wanna act like everything is alright" (may have butchered those, on phone), those clearly come from a human entity. So im thinking now this could be a struggle with himself. The one side of him urging the other to get it together.

That's what I was thinking when I first heard it. Probably because I've had the exact same internal struggle with myself for way too long.

Those are such good points...and that internal struggle is interesting in light of the "always think twice", when the speaker seems caught in his own duality...trapped in " feeling" and "faking it"...

I'm STILL getting breakthroughs from songs...today I was reading "The Power of Now" and it said: "This is the esoteric meaning of the ancient art of alchemy: the transmutation of base metal into gold, of suffering into consciousness..." And it was just Black Metal into 'radiate the gold"...

I'll never figure it out, but get glimpses in the flow...

Keep up the insights, guys. It really is beautiful. I feel like these conversations make the music a living, breathing thing...

MusiKel Mama · Mar 06, 2015, 03:13 PM

what if, for the sake of argument, we assume that the song is about two people...

If a person says they "don't really feel like faking it tonight", that would imply that there are indeed times where they ARE faking it...which would justify the other character's second guessing...but second guessing implies " being of two minds", which is another way of saying a person caught in the trap of duality...so this character is not in the "right" either.

So is it possible that this is indeed, as hinted at, a conversation between one's higher and lower selves? It is often said that when a person is of two minds, that their decisions are not their own...that they are always controlled by the ego...incapable of rational decision making...prone to faking it...but would the highee self be so caustic? So accusatory? Not likely. It seems like this is the ego, talking down to the sweet, sincere self supposedly ruled by fear. The ego maintains its foothold by complimenting and then denegrating. The "do it" is like a dare...like an abusive lover who knows he won't be left...such is the subversive power of the mind.

Jackets N Pones · Mar 06, 2015, 05:32 PM

"He who hesitates is lost"

My boss left us with this quote at the end of a meeting today and it made me think of Big D.

Some other definitions I found interesting are below:

"Swift and resolute action leads to success; self-doubt is a prelude to disaster."

"A person who spends too much time deliberating about what to do loses the chance to act altogether."

Also, just a side note on MamaKel's two selves, I have always felt like the chorus of Bermuda Highway is between two selves, the artistic and creative self asking the "by the book" self not to carve him/her out and let their silly dreams to fall. Maybe that is obvious but just thought I'd throw that in there.

MusiKel Mama · Mar 06, 2015, 08:17 PM

Quote from: Jackets N Pones on Mar 06, 2015, 05:32 PM
"He who hesitates is lost"

My boss left us with this quote at the end of a meeting today and it made me think of Big D.

Some other definitions I found interesting are below:

"Swift and resolute action leads to success; self-doubt is a prelude to disaster."

"A person who spends too much time deliberating about what to do loses the chance to act altogether."

Also, just a side note on MamaKel's two selves, I have always felt like the chorus of Bermuda Highway is between two selves, the artistic and creative self asking the "by the book" self not to carve him/her out and let their silly dreams to fall. Maybe that is obvious but just thought I'd throw that in there.

Jesus, dude. It's like you just cut through my daily inner dialogue. I never thought of Bermuda Highway quite like that...but will from now on...I had an experience with At Dawn that way. It actually seems a pretty common theme. I think what I admire or seek, is what I presume to lack. Thank you for those insights...they are really profound.

armando · Mar 06, 2015, 09:37 PM

Quote from: oistheone on Mar 05, 2015, 03:38 AM
For anyone who doubts the awesomeness of this song, just picture this LIVE, where Carl kicks the fucking shit out of EVERYTHING starting at about 2:15

Also, I just realized I've had this song on repeat all night. Up to 88 listens already. Goddamn. I've been in MMJ withdrawal for a LONG TIME and am in the midst of a borderline unhealthy bender right now.

I'm on a similar bender with Big D. Long time, too long. With each listen, though, more and more comes out. Like the song get deeper and more full each time.