Meaning of One Big Holiday discussed in 1999 performance

[thebigbang]

There is some discussion ongoing in the 1999 performance of One Big Holiday on You Tube I uploaded ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZhINEGtMLA&feature=related ) that might be of interest to some of you. I knew they sat on the song a long time before releasing it, as it was a staple in the early shows.  It was always so amazing live that old number one fan(atic) Low Dog always said that it should never be recorded for a studio album. That discussion took place back before the song was released on It Still Moves. I think he might have been right about that. Anyway . . .

Anyone have other ideas about what music world incident inspired the song.  Or was it something else altogether?   It couldn't have been signing with ATO.  Can you imagine another band sitting on that song (and I Will Sing You Songs, too) for four years before releasing it in any form?

[aMillionDreams]

Badman = Dylan from Badman records in California.  Or at least that's what I always assumed.

[SaraBananaBear]

Oooh, thanks a lot for sharing!  :D

Don't know if it helps, but I found this from an CMJ interview a while back:
"It's about wanting to escape the boring everyday world of jobs and headaches and just go play music and have fun, live one big holiday and be on a permanent vacation. Because we always wanted to be in a rock band and play guitar solos and jump off our amps and have fun."
- Jim James, talking about One Big Holiday
(CMJ interview, September 2003)

No idea why they'd wait so long to record it though, but I remember some interview where they talk about how some songs they've recorded were written much earlier or something along those lines...  :-?

[aMillionDreams]

I have a version of it from the At sessions and it doesn't do the song justice.  I think they felt like they didn't have the equipment to do it justice until ISM.  Plus, it all fits into the Masterplan

[SaraBananaBear]

Ah yes, the Masterplan of course! Now that you put it like that, it all makes sense  :)

[danz]

Prudence?  Serendipitous? Legalities? Equipment shortcomings?  Whatever it may have been I think it couldn't have worked out any better.  Divine might be the best way to describe it.  Or Jim is just a genius.

[e_wind]

I have a version of it from the At sessions and it doesn't do the song justice.  I think they felt like they didn't have the equipment to do it justice until ISM.  Plus, it all fits into the Masterplan

are these sessions available anywhere?

[thebigbang]

Interesting about the "waiting for better equipment" possibility.  The song sounded great live, so maybe recording equipment needed an upgrade.

But as many people have noted over the years, the version on It Still Moves is quite flat and lifeless (even my vinyl copy) relative to the dynamics of virtually any decent live recording you can get your hands on.  So maybe they should have waited even a bit later to get a better studio/producer? Just kidding about that waiting part.

But I think Low Dog had it right all along, that song could have stayed a live beast forever.

Any other guesses if it was someone other than the Darla folks promising a Stone?

A related anecdote--  I distinctly recall two out-of-town industry guys sitting at a table next to us in the balcony at Headliners before it was announced they had signed with ATO.  They were looking like they were bored with our hick town and had that "been there done this a million times" look in their faces.  As the show grew nearer though, there was a huge buzz of anticipation going through the crowd waiting for the band to come on stage.  Very electric atmosphere as the fans  knew what was about to hit them and could hardly wait for it.  One of the guys stood up and walked to the railing and looked over the crowd and soaked it in. He then looked back to his associate and said something along the lines of "Can you feel that?  Man, this must be something special".

Yes, yes indeed. This must be something special.

[aMillionDreams]

I have a version of it from the At sessions and it doesn't do the song justice.  I think they felt like they didn't have the equipment to do it justice until ISM.  Plus, it all fits into the Masterplan

are these sessions available anywhere?

Nope.

[e_wind]

I have a version of it from the At sessions and it doesn't do the song justice.  I think they felt like they didn't have the equipment to do it justice until ISM.  Plus, it all fits into the Masterplan

are these sessions available anywhere?

Nope.

i'm gonna take this as one of those respect the band issues, i feel it.