The Replacements-Let It Be Song By Song Thread

The more I listen to Live at Maxwell's the more impressed I am. I hadn't spent time with it until these two threads. I'm more of a fan of the better songs, so I like Tim best and I tend to hear an album like Sorry Ma as mostly potential - though I can still really enjoy it. MAxwell's really gives you the best of both worlds, imo. There's some great songs missing, but what you do get is some of THE BEST really performed well and with a ton of energy - and it's a GOOD recording.

 

It wasn't for lack of material either. They recorded piles of additional stuff at the sessions... three Westerberg compositions and at least three more covers that didn't make the cut. I wonder why they didn't stick one or two more songs on the album?

I'd say Favorite Thing is my favorite song on this album, and among my top five Mats songs. I don't have much more to say about it, it's simply a fantastic song.

 

And Zal came from... Canada!

 

Don't think Twin-Tone had the budget or distribution for that. Strange that a major label didn't jump on it, but then their rep was kind of toxic even then. I couldn't finish the excellent bio because their self-sabotage was becoming excruciating by the time of Tim, and I actually began to dread reading more.

Yet I still love their music, clams, warts & all. Saw them 3 times, the best was in 1983 at 688 in Atlanta, where they opened for the Violent Femmes but had to play a headline-length set because the Femmes had van trouble and only just arrived 90 minutes into the 'Mats' set. Bob Stinson, in particular, was in inspired form, sporting a nurse's outfit and just shredding on lead guitar.

 

Favorite Thing! Lord, what a great song. One of those songs that could have been a complete miss in other hands, but here, on this record, with this band, it works perfectly. The break at 1:10 might well be what made me fall in love with The Replacements in the first place. (If it wasn't "Unsatisfied." Or "Androgynous." Or "Answering Machine"). But, yeah, this record. I came to it late; I had "All Shook Down" and "Don't Tell a Soul" and liked them both fine (graduated high school in 1991) and remember loving "Never Mind" and "Can't Hardly Wait" when I heard the cassette in a friend's car, but then I picked up this at Wazoo Records in Ann Arbor during fall of my freshman year of college and -- like can maybe only happen when you're around that age -- everything changed. BAR NOTHING! (The break in this song is what preps us for the break in "We're Coming Out" and they're both brilliant).

 

Let's not forget Double Nickels. (take that, huskers!)

 

An even more electrifying and urgent version of Sex Pistols (on fire!) that I associate with Favorite Thing. The coolly aloof but totally committed, snotty, sneering, defiant, know-it-all kind of vocal phrasing and tone, but then also the dynamic shift to some kind of desperate sincerity and acknowledgement when singing the chorus line.

The band is on fire. Just raging. The tempo, sound, and passion are both on the rails and out of control. You can't contain this kind of wild exuberance and sonic primal spirit. Its contagious and exciting, if not inspiring.

 

"Favorite Thing": one of my absolute favorites. 5/5

 

I was curious what you thought about my guess on the guitars. I think it is Paul in the left and Bob on the right. Bob may be doing an overdub in the solo and it may be all him. I am not sure though if the song was recorded live. It might have been.

 

If I don't say anything, it's safe to assume I agree with you The guitars on the studio take seem pretty similar to the ones on the live version, so it does appear to be Paul on the left, Bobby on the right on both versions. I couldn't begin to guess which guitars they are playing though... that kind of thing is way beyond my level of expertise.

 

It's trippy to read the lyrics. I was so far off it's silly. Not even in the ballpark all these years singin way off lyrics. I think i still will. Too engraned in me.

Favorite Thing such a cool song. Real great playing. I love the way Paul plays, so particular, but this record for me is all about the way out super cool leads, that are not exactly traditional leads. Love it.

Let it Be is my fave by them. I know lots of people love Tim. But, this record is just that balance of raw and tuneflullness that is perfect to me.

 

I've always viewed Sorry Ma as their High School graduation. A punk marathon. Throwing everything in and leaving it all behind. Westerberg had plans but was going to go thru a few growing pains before he got there. You got Stink (and the other non-albums tracks which make up the import EP Boink!) which stays largely on formula but you can hear the maturity start peeking out. And then Hootenanny, which is a stark contrast, almost fits of misdirection, but provided a couple of Westerberg's more enduring songs. Flash to Let It Be, and you have the band right in their element: A heaping cross section of pop/punk/heavy metal. Excellent production. Really the best sounding Mats record to date. The wheelhouse was exposed -- you now knew what this band was all about. Tim was a attempt to bring that same forumla with a bit more shine -- the songs were an extension and they showed Westerberg's songcraft in no uncertain terms. The production however was flawed in that the extra effects were not doing the band any favors. Next up, Pleased To Meet Me. A bit back to basics. More rock, less polish. The expectations met. But you could see the wheels coming off the wagon. Don't Tell A Soul and All Shook Down could have been a double album. IMO, Westerberg was taking after his idol Alex Chilton. He was making another Big Star - Third with these records. Springboards to the next phase. When all we really needed was more of the band. Not to be.

 

Are those the “official” lyrics? I always thought Westerberg was chanting “think big, once in a while” at the song’s conclusion!

 

Were Coming Out (Westerberg, Stinson, Stinson, Mars)

Guitars guess-Bob in the center and Paul on the left. Bob plays the solo in the center.

A punk rave up in C minor, watch for the changes and try to keep up.

Brutal chords of C-E flat-D and then down to B flat and back to C all in the blink of an eye slipping and sliding. A little pause and Paul comes in just killing on vocals. Ripping and snorting. The intro riff responds to Paul. Sounds dark in the minor mode. This is no coming out in celebratory style. At :15 a fast as hell rise out/departure that sounds amazing and then the chorus using the intro chords. Blues influence here believe it or not. The verse returns and the chorus follows in a rampage. At :41 a post chorus transition section with minor 2nds keeps the dark and foreboding sound. Then voila, the song shifts at :46 to E flat and Bob goes crazy sounding like he is tempting the song to go completely off the rails playing in E flat minor rock key of insanity. The change to E flat is calculated since it is closely related to C minor. At 1:06 out of nowhere the chord goes back to C but Bob is not ready to return and instead plays an acerbic pull off dissonant riff and then he miraculously joins the fray at 1:10.Then something amazing happens…a verse variant with piano and finger clicks that sounds like something out of West Side Story enters. The amazing energy is dissipated but not in a calming way. We don’t know what to expect next. At 1:40 Paul sounds like his voice is coming from down an alley. At 1:43 the amazing whole tone rise out enters and it sounds like someone walking toward you. The chorus follows. At 1:51 the chorus picks up speed gradually until at 2:07 it reaches a cataclysmic frenzy with Bob’s guitar feeding back in agony from the coming out. A Liberace like piano gliss to boot. At 2:11 the final chord and the band starts to let the energy naturally fade with Paul getting one last ungodly refrain to end the song.

A showcase for the band’s reckless energy. Bob is fantastic here. I like how Tommy plays the major third G note to the E flat chord and makes it a little more harder sounding. The change in the verse as a break is brilliant and fits the lyrics. Another total winner for me.

 

I don't know if they are official but I am pretty sure he is saying "thing, thing". At least that is what I hear on the headphones.

 

I always thought he was just saying "fave thing, fave thing, fave thing, once in a while".

 

Paul on the subject of lyric sheets and misheard lyrics. from an interview promoting Eventually in '96

---

No lyric sheet, I presume.
No.

Never will be? Or never say never?
No, I never want one. I did sign a co-publishing deal this year, so I think they’ll probably make a little songbook, which is something I guess I used to get when I was a kid. But I don’t see that there’s much use for [a lyric sheet]. You can hear the words, can’t you?

Sure. But you realize, I suppose, that people have tried to decipher your old lyrics and put them on the internet. Have you seen that?
No, I haven’t. But I’ve had people come up to me for years and say things like, “What is this line? It sounds like you’re saying this to me.” And that’s what makes it fun, for me, because I get new interpretations of these lines that are dead obvious to me. I guess my diction isn’t as clear as I thought.

Do you sometimes get improvements? Do you ever think, “Wow, I wish it had been that?”

Oh, yeah. They figure I couldn’t have said anything as dumb as I actually said. They’ll come up with an elaborate rhyme that gives the line new meaning.

Paul Westerberg

 

Yeah, that's what I've always heard as well.

 

That is interesting and typical funny Paul. Thanks for posting that.

 

I listened again and it sounds like he says "fave" sometimes but "thing" other times. It sounds like he overdubbed it as well and one part is "fave" and the other is "thing" at times. Frustrating.

 

I always thought it was "thing thing" but now I can hear "think big" possibly.

 

If you listen close, Paul (left channel) is barely keeping up with Bob but that gives it a crazier sound and makes it better that having both riffs be in perfect lock step. A case where sloppy sounds better IMO.

 

If it was recorded live then is Bob's lead done with some kind of octave pedal - is that even a straight octave all the way through the part - I can't suss it out without grabbing a guitar and I can't do that at the moment.

I no longer have my vinyl of this record or a cd so I am listening to amazon 256k stream, but man these guitars sound really thin. I'm not hearing much information on the left at all, Bob is obviously on the right and Paul is centered and not very loud. From what I can hear of Paul - which isn't much - that could be one of his Gibsons with a p90 - I think he had a LP Junior or two and an LP special. That's purely a guess based on a less than optimal listening setup.

 

The Replacements-Let It Be Song by Song Thread

Side One
1. I Will Dare
2. Favorite Thing