I have to add I am also a fan of both 'Freedom' and 'Little Girl', even though I do
completely recognise the arguments put forward by others earlier in this thread. Yes, they are fairly 'generic' ballads I guess... but for me, they are evidence of how any song can be the 'right song'
if it nails how you are, for you, right now.
I was going through a horrible (and I mean
horrible) time when SHSL was released. But there was something in the lyrics of those two songs, something that hit it on the head for me and counselled me through. They were total catharsis to the pain in every other area of my life, and, if somebody had said "I told Jason about what you were going through and he wrote those songs about you"
I could have believed it. Those songs are neither my favourite songs on SHSL, nor are they the songs are I think are 'best'. I agree they could be be identified as slightly lack-luster and 'to a formula'. But, they speak to me and I love them.
Now, I guess I'm going to say something contradictory now-they are the 'type' of songs I hate hearing live. The joy of Spz live, for me, is hearing how
different the songs are when performed. For example-Don't just do something, not at all like the LICD version. The setting is different, the timbre is different, the pace... nearly everything... but the song is the same. That's what I love. Why would I want to just hear the same thing that was on record but played worse? There is nothing
nothing worse (in gig terms) than shelling out good money to hear a band and then standing in a crowd listening to a song which sounds just like the album you had on in the car on the way there, only with significantly worse sound quality. But, back to Spz and the 'modern' ballads in particular, this is something I find lacking when these are played in the live electric sets. They don't offer anything different to the experience that you get on the record, they just lack the full string and choir treatment, which is why they seem flat and hollow to some (I guess).
The interaction between listener and performer is significantly less in these songs as there is less investment in the song-there's nothing new, you know exactly whats coming and it's a 'four minute wonder' before the next song. Also, because they just go verse-chorus-verse etc they stick out like a sore thumb often...
angelsighs wrote:I admit this became a problem when it was too much of a contrast with other songs in the set (the songs did kind of need 'thickening up' a bit or something, or segueing into other songs so the momentum was kept up)
...I couldn't agree with this more. The last point I want to make is just that-the other thing I love about Spz gigs is that, at their best, they just seem like one long piece of music joined together and flowing beautifully.
So I guess my answer to the original question is: I don't care-just segue whatever is played and play it differently to the record. Then I'm happy.