Bad Lyrics on Peace

[Slither]

5. Dare if you Dare - MORE SWING FLU SHIT?!?! STOP IT!

It's swine flu actually. I remember that was kind of a big deal around that time. I pulled up these lyrics from the same song:


It's hard to make amends
When you're sitting there on the fence
Let the proof be in the pudding, sugar
Everybody wants to start a new religion
Please relax don't need a soul collision
There's a dusty rose where the promise of love used to be

This verse is a microcosm of Scott's lyrics in general. "Please relax..." is an awful line, followed by one of my all time favorites. Scott has some truly brilliant moments and some moments that make you cringe on just about every album. How about we take a look back at the glory days of records 1-5?

Let us marvel at the compelling lyrics of Heaven and Hot Rods -

She walked in with her alligator sister
Tryin' to get to heaven on Sunday
You'll never get it if you never had it
So better off just leave it alone

For those who are sick of the chorus of Cinnamon, the chorus of Naked Sunday should be a nice palate cleanser, just dripping with metaphor -

Ah, ah, oh, oh
Ah, ah, yeah
Ah, ah, oh, oh
Ah, ah, yeah

And who could forget this iconic line repeated throughout Trippin?

So keep your bankroll lottery eat your salad day deathbed motorcade

It's really all just context. If you hate Peace, you're likely going to hate the lyrics, but it's probably more about the music than the words. There are definitely some truly bad lyrics on it, but for every Fast As I Can there's a Maver, and for every Cinnamon a First Kiss on Mars.

[gravedancer]

Not every lyric is going to be some really deep and meaningful piece of writing. Honestly, I've had just as many moments in my life that I've been able to apply lyrics on Peace to as I have with Purple, for example. I believe Peace was heavily scrutinized more so because it was overly anticipated, and not necessarily because the songs are bad. I'll challenge your bad lyrics with ones I think are good:


1. Between the Lines: "You always were my favorite drug, even when we used to take drugs"


2. Take a Load Off: "Could our shattered past just set us free?"


3. Huckleberry Crumble: "Don't let the grip on this subside, chips will only grow one shoulder at a time"


4. Hickory Dichotomy: "But it was never quite weird or quite normal for me"


5. Dare if You Dare: "Can we dismantle our stupid vision and get on with the show" "There's a dusty rose where the promise of love used to be"


6. Cinnamon: "Seems like you left me when you broke down"


7. Hazy Daze: "I'm freely standing on my own, or am I falling in the river cold"


8. Bagman: "I know it feels good, but be careful with your vices"


9. Peacoat: "But in the moment of stillness and grace, your eyes stare right through me to the back of my face" "Toxic love connection was the way it began, not necessarily dope but it was straight obsession"


10. Fast as I can: Yeah ok.


11. First Kiss on Mars: "Can we really find, a lovely magic place we dream of"


12. Maver: THE WHOLE DAMN SONG IS A GREAT STORY

[CritterTypeThing]

For the sake of conversation.  Is it possible that had songs like BTL, Load, Huckleberry, Hazy, FKOM, or Maver been released separately over time, could they have been better received in the STP catalogue?  Opposed to being put out together in a non-cohesive "reunion" album.

I don't think so. From Core through SLDD, that was a moment in time (Both good and bad) that cannot be replicated. I don't think you can't take songs from a new era and try to place them in the first era. Different time and space.

Very good point and totally agree with both you and loungefly90 on that.  I should've been more clear though.  I didn't mean place them on other albums, or had they released during a different era.  I meant if during the reunion era, instead of releasing that album but instead floating an individual song or two to the public every so often.  I forget who it was, but a while back I remember reading an article where some musician discussed the concept of just releasing single tracks every now and then, instead of full albumns.  They had multiple decent reasons behind that concept but I remember part of it was the thought that tracks which would be "deep cuts" on an album might get better acknowledgment on its own or with just one other song by its side.

So as loungefly90 went into and presented my question better through her response, does maybe being sandwiched with weaker songs sour the overall impression of a few tracks which may have been able to hold up better on their own? 

As we have the power to shuffle our playlists, a song like FKOM can come on and I feel it holds it's own pretty well.  It's certainly no Atlanta, but what is?

[steven28174]

I've always felt that the Heaven & Hotrods lyrics were fine. I always imagined it was about heroin and cocaine. It could be an association that I invented, or perhaps my years of abusing those substances allowed me to relate. It's all in the eye or ear of the beholder, so everyone enjoy at your own rate.

[PigsinZen]

So tired of the hate on this album. But especially lyrically. With Fast as I can being the only exception, this album is better lyrically than almost everything on Butterfly. I've said this in another thread but Scott was a poet much like Jim Morrison and that leads to interesting lyrics. Other users have already pointed out some of the great lyrics on this album.


 Unfortunately, Jeff's lyrics are the only drawback of Butterfly and remind me too much of what singers from Three Days Grace, 3 Doors Down, etc. would do with STP as their backing music. Melodies are great but Peace outshines it by far lyrically.

[SuperFan99]

Wow, bunch of hosers on this lame thread.

[CagedTiger]

“Let the proof be in the puddin’ sugar”... If you want to destroy a song with one line, that’s the one to do it with. I love Scott’s lyrics too but that line makes me cringe every time I hear it.

[DankoJones]

There's a dusty rose where the promise of love used to be"

That's one of my favourite Scotts lyrics

[foou33]

With Fast as I can being the only exception, this album is better lyrically than almost everything on Butterfly.

Yeah, come on come on now, Yeah.

[CoconutBackwards]

So tired of the hate on this album. But especially lyrically. With Fast as I can being the only exception, this album is better lyrically than almost everything on Butterfly. I've said this in another thread but Scott was a poet much like Jim Morrison and that leads to interesting lyrics. Other users have already pointed out some of the great lyrics on this album.


 Unfortunately, Jeff's lyrics are the only drawback of Butterfly and remind me too much of what singers from Three Days Grace, 3 Doors Down, etc. would do with STP as their backing music. Melodies are great but Peace outshines it by far lyrically.

I can't get enough of the hate.  Keep it coming!

[DankoJones]

I feel like cranking Fast As I Can .. like that speedy country sohndins number

[Dudertron]

I flat out love Peace miles beyond Butterfly - especially lyrically (exhibit A - “Meadow” for God’s sake).

[DankoJones]

Meadow only had that one line that's cheesy.  And with Scott for me it was more his vocals and melodies that set his apart than his lyrics.  Although he wrote some interesting one

[foou33]

Also on BTW "Really like to fish but don't like superficial people".

[wickedgarden23]

I've always thought Peacoat had some of Scott's best lyrics. I really like that song in general actually - love the kinda chill swagger behind the riff and rhythm of the song.