TS: "I'll Be You" by the Replacements vs. "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World

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Always sounded similar to me. Both great lil' anthems. The former more iconic, perhaps, lyrically, the latter more, um, recent.

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Friday, 24 June 2005 16:52 (twenty years ago)

"The Middle" seems a bit more energetic to me, and "I'll Be You" has never been a favorite Replacements song of mine.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 24 June 2005 16:55 (twenty years ago)

http://s43.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0LJKHP78L68UX0TZ9FLJ0JA7O9

I'll Be You (Live). Without Bob, tho...

― Jimmy Mod Is Great At Getting Us Into Trouble (ModJ), Friday, 24 June 2005 16:57 (twenty years ago)

Just listened to both back to back, and don't really hear any big similarities.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 24 June 2005 16:58 (twenty years ago)

They're not dissimilar.

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Friday, 24 June 2005 16:59 (twenty years ago)

I hate to pick any song over a Mats song when there's a duel, but I have to go with Jimmy Eat World this time. Like Alex said, "I'll Be You" has never been a favorite for me.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:02 (twenty years ago)

Same tempo ... same conversational, halting versus ... same big (albeit less dynamic) chorus placement ... same guitar solo placement ...

"I'll Be You" has a key change for a couple of measures, though.

(Boy, that was some shitty version of the Mats song ...)

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:03 (twenty years ago)

!!!!

Just coz they're sober...

― Jimmy Mod Is Great At Getting Us Into Trouble (ModJ), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:04 (twenty years ago)

"The Middle" by a lot.

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:07 (twenty years ago)

Jimmy, Paul even drops a few lines! Who says they were sober ... ?

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:08 (twenty years ago)

Same tempo .

No, it isn't.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:08 (twenty years ago)

x-post

I'm not sure of the source, but I'm pretty sure it was from the last tour. Paul forgets the words to EVERYTHING...

― Jimmy Mod Is Great At Getting Us Into Trouble (ModJ), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:10 (twenty years ago)

in the inane lyrics department, "i dreamt i was surfer joe, and what that means i don't know" has to win some kind of booby prize. now only that, but i think that the "rebel without a clue" bit -- as recognizable as it is -- was a signal that westerberg was starting to really get lazy with his lyrics too. in spite of all of that, i love this song. i don't think it's great or anything, but i love it.

my suspicion is that paul forgets the words because (in this case) they're too stupid to remember.

― The Landlord's Daughter (The Landlord's Daughter), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:18 (twenty years ago)

They're both too slick for my tastes, but it does show that the most mediocre Replacements song is better than the best Jimmy Eat World song. "The Middle" just doesn't really go anywhere. Just those three chords repeated over and over again. And you can keep those background vocals that repeat the verse that the main vocalist just got done singing.

"I'll Be You" might not bring down the walls, but it does have neat little bits like the Japanese piano as well as the "rebel without a clue" lyric that proved Tom Petty to be nothing more than a two-bit thief. And the intro always packs a wallop on those rare times that you hear it on commercial radio.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Friday, 24 June 2005 17:33 (twenty years ago)

three years pass...

"The Middle" still rules - what recent pop-punk/pop-emo song is this good?

― Mark Rich@rdson, Friday, 1 August 2008 05:09 (seventeen years ago)

good bloody question!

― electricsound, Friday, 1 August 2008 05:10 (seventeen years ago)

LOL this thread and others like it - Oh, the irreverence of ILM!! How deliciously postmodern everyone is here!

― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Friday, 1 August 2008 08:11 (seventeen years ago)

"The Middle" still rules - what recent pop-punk/pop-emo song is this good?

-- Mark Rich@rdson, Friday, 1 August 2008 06:09 (3 hours ago) Bookmark Link

"Dance, Dance", I'd say. Nothing else comes close though, although I prefer "Bleed American" (and, if we're talking about early 00s proto nu-emo rather than just JEW, "Private Eye")

― The stickman from the hilarious "xkcd" comics, Friday, 1 August 2008 08:31 (seventeen years ago)

Not sure what you mean by postmodern.

― Mark Rich@rdson, Friday, 1 August 2008 17:16 (seventeen years ago)

"Dance, Dance"

otm

― stephen, Saturday, 2 August 2008 00:09 (seventeen years ago)

six months pass...

I LOVE "THE MIDDLE" SO MUCH

― Someone Still Loves You Evan and Jaron (Tape Store), Sunday, 8 February 2009 22:49 (seventeen years ago)

"The Middle" sounds like it was written by a high school guidance counsellor. Every other pop-emo hit is better than it. ("Sweetness" r0X0r though.)

― Sundar, Sunday, 8 February 2009 22:55 (seventeen years ago)

Look, I'm not gonna worry about what your bitter heart has to say, ok?

― Someone Still Loves You Evan and Jaron (Tape Store), Sunday, 8 February 2009 23:44 (seventeen years ago)

Ha touche.

― Sundar, Sunday, 8 February 2009 23:47 (seventeen years ago)

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