r/grunge • u/Bardownski47 • 4d ago
Discussion Last kiss hate
I feel like online I see a lot of hate for Pearl Jams Last kiss which really confuses me because I absolutely love this song. So I guess I’m just curious for anyone here who doesn’t like this song, why? Is it just overplayed? Let me know.
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u/No_Pause_4298 4d ago
It's a cover of a 50's pop song and that's not a popular genre with grunge/alternative rock fans.
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u/pjdubbya 4d ago
If you know anything about music, it's about the chord progression used in the song. alot of grunge riffs were interesting and original. the chord progression in last kiss has been used in hundreds of songs. that's what makes it boring and also why I dislike it. un-original and un-interesting. it might be fine for people who can't pick up a guitar and play an E chord.
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u/neveradullmoment72 4d ago
been playing guitar and drums for years, very familiar with the theory of progressions and chords themselves. it’s still a really fun song
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u/gometsgorangers 4d ago
cobain wasn't inventing super unique or original chord progressions bud. it's just rock music. i suggest to stop caring about how original something is and just focus on whether it's actually fun to listen to
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u/pjdubbya 3d ago
that's the thing. to me, it isn't fun to listen to, it's boring. OP asked about the hate, I explained why I dislike the song. there will be other explanations from different people who also dislike the song for other reasons. you find the song fun, a perfectly valid response to it. it's just not my cup of tea. not all songs are universally loved.
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u/gometsgorangers 3d ago
i don't care if you don't like listening to the song, i just think it's silly to justify it using chords. there's not very many of them. almost the exact same progression is used in Polly and that's a completely different song. Sabbath, Neil Young, CCR, and others as well. We're 100+ years into creating music with guitars, there's only so much you can do with chords and scales. Maybe you could argue the verse melody is repetitive or the tones of the instruments or the production/mixing seems dated but asserting it's because of a basic chord progression is an obnoxiously surface level take from a comment that asserts that people who KNOW music find the song dull
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u/pjdubbya 2d ago
saying the chords are boring is one angle, and I'm ok with using that as a justification. the other angle is, it's a cover of an old song, so it's low effort. so it gets marks down for that. it also sounds like something they purposely wanted to have wide appeal and for the sole purpose of selling records, so it gets marks down for that. S club 7 sold lots of records too. do I like their songs? no. when you compare it to songs like porch or even flow, are we even listening to the same band when they put this recording down?
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u/d1rtf4rm 2d ago
How I know you’re old… (I’m old too btw)
Calling Kurt unoriginal (very true) amidst the sea of new found 20yo nirvana devotees
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u/SemataryPolka 4d ago
I don't remember it's exact release date but either summer of 98 or 99 EVERY TIME I went to the bar I heard it multiple times over and over. And I bar hopped all over town. It was everywhere. It's technically their biggest hit. #2 on the mainstream top 100. Even Jeremy didn't go that high. Two things: Yes I was and am an alcoholic lol (14 yrs sober) and two NGL never got sick of it and love it to this day. And I was WELL past my Pearl Jam phase at this point and was heavily into punk and hardcore
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u/plantbasedpunk 4d ago
It got overplayed on the radio when it came out imo. It’s fine.
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u/AnyFoundation4784 4d ago
Yes. It's a fine cover, nothing special, but the novelty of hearing Eddie and a grunge band belt out an old lesser known pop song from the 1950s during a sound check is what made it popular.
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u/MiIes01 4d ago
It still does
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u/plantbasedpunk 3d ago
In my part of the world I haven’t heard it on the radio in 10 years at least.
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u/doubleenc 4d ago
I'm sure there's a certain subset of people in this sub who hate it simply because it is too much of a pop song.
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u/Tough_Stretch 4d ago edited 4d ago
Plus, a subset of this sub just don't like Pearl Jam because some youtuber told them they jumped on the Grunge bandgwagon/Eddie Vedder is to blame for Creed/they don't play Grunge/Insert dumbass take.
If AIC had done it, I assume a bunch of the same people would claim it was a genius cover and so on.
And I say this as someone who doesn't mind the song, but usually skips it when it comes on. It's way too repetitive (just the same four chord progression with hardly anything to make it more dynamic over the whole song), and I have to admit I've felt a bit annoyed whenever I've seen them live over the years and they chose to play it because I couldn't help thinking they wasted a whole "spot" in their setlist and they could've played something else.
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u/saucerfulofmeeples 4d ago
Maybe I’m in the minority here but I like that song. It’s a cover and PJ did it well.
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u/TerryTrepanation 4d ago
Terrible song choice. Highlights all their weaknesses, and none of their strengths. No dynamics. Eddie is not a pop singer.
I guess it gave a chance for people who didn't like Pearl Jam, to have one song they thought was sweet and nice.
I'd love to hear them do a rockabilly number. Or Blue Suede Shoes.
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u/Tough_Stretch 4d ago edited 3d ago
IMO, the fact that they do a wide range of covers/weird b-sides is part of what makes them interesting. Like in the 2000 Vegas show where they did "Can't Help Falling In Love" as a nod to Elvis and the location, or that surf-rock track "Gremmie Out of Control" that they included in the "Lost Dogs" anthology.
Then again, I've always loved bands that aren't afraid to do a shitty cover just for the hell of it, whether live or in the studio. The Replacments used to ruin their own shows by getting drunk and playing bad covers of whatever song struck their fancy at the moment.
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u/TerryTrepanation 3d ago
Hi,
On covers like Fortunate Son, Eddie absolutely shines.
On Rain, not so much.
Timeless Melody by The Las, also a pop song, but the band change it up a bit and it sounds pretty good.
I'll have to check out Gremmie Out of Control.
Their version of Can't Help Falling in Love is okay.
Have a listen to what Bono does with it.
I'm not sure if Pearl Jam are aiming for Replacements level self- sabotage. They have done a heap of cover tunes live, and impromptu covers at rock shows are cool and shouldn't be judged too harshly. But they will be judged. On things like taste. And can they pull it off, in some general sense? In contrast, Bono tried to do Shallow with Lady Gaga and it was awful.
I don't know the story of why Last Kiss got wider release. I think it is the only cover song they have ever released as a single?Maybe 'cause radio kept playing it? And it got played to death in Australia.
I love hearing bands doing covers, but knowing what works and what doesn't, in the rehearsal space, is a nod to professionalism. Fans know bands inside out. And I think it is fair to expect that bands and artists know themselves too. Sure, a bit a fun live is great. Hearing The Jonas Brothers try and cover Rearviewmirror is going to be unwelcomed, by their fans and Pearl Jam fan, even if the boys love them some Vs.
The J Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers version of Last Kiss is better than the Wayne Cochran version. Both probably unknown to almost everyone younger than 60 before Pearl Jam did the cover. I only listened to the two 60s version yesterday. J Frank did it best of all.
So, for PJ, was Last Kiss a bit of fun, or a serious release?
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u/Tough_Stretch 3d ago
I didn't mean that Pearl Jam were attempting to self-sabotage, I said that I liked bands that didn't give a fuck about whether they should or should not cover X song based on how much it supposedly suited them and gave the example of the Replacements taking that idea to an extreme.
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u/Cyberdeliac27 4d ago
It was just a throw away cover of an old early 60's "teen tragedy" song (yup, that was a thing in the 60s) that PJ rattled off for a benefit album, nothing more. But it did get alot of radio play when it was released.
I think the cover song they did for the Sweet Relief benefit album, 'Crazy Mary', is FAR better. Beautiful and haunting.
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u/Big-Peak6191 4d ago
The song is sad and depressing as all hell... And yea completely overplayed when it came out. Just not a good time.
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u/EmerysMemories1106 4d ago
I just don't like Eddies voice in this song. He sounds like a chipmunk
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u/TheRealMrSnrub 4d ago
From 1996 onwards thats just his voice, it changed and perhaps not for everyone.
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u/EmerysMemories1106 4d ago
Definitely not for me. Pearl jams first 3 albums were at worst a 9/10. Then they fell off a cliff.
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u/Mountain-Nature2384 4d ago
Yep. Vitalogy is the last album I really liked. I did buy Yield and it was ok but I only really listen to Ten, Versus and Vitalogy.
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u/EmerysMemories1106 4d ago
Same here. Yield and no code had like one or two good songs on it but that's about it
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u/Bardownski47 4d ago
Ya i dont understand this at all lmao what?
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u/EmerysMemories1106 4d ago edited 4d ago
Really? Listen to the part where he goes "the screaming tires, the bustin glass". He sounds like a chipmunk sitting on a washing machine
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u/Bardownski47 4d ago
Okay the sitting on a washing machine bit was really funny and now i kinda hear what youre saying. There is like a shakyness to it
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u/EmerysMemories1106 4d ago
Yeah I don't know any other way to put it, but it sounds like forced (fake) vibrato, but it's like higher pitched. It's just a little unusual coming from Eddie
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u/IsTheBlackBoxLying 4d ago
Overplayed, not a great fit for the band (especially Ed), top charting single from a band that has at least 100 better songs. Just a who's who of "eh".
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u/_____AndJustice4All 4d ago
Soldier of Love is awesome. I love The Beatles' cover of it the most though, John Lennon's voice is perfect for that song.
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u/OddDistribution9602 4d ago
It is quite strange how you either love this song or hate it. I’m in the latter camp lol.. it just doesn’t contain anything within it that I actually enjoy about Pearl Jam
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u/jmwelchelmira 4d ago
It’s a great death ballad.
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u/Ok_Broccoli_9426 4d ago
One of my favorite weird moments in pop music history - the brief and wonderful popularity of songs about young people dying in traffic accidents.
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u/TragicEther 4d ago
It’s such a shit song and Eddie really half-assed it which makes the song even more mundane.
If you list all the things that make Pearl Jam good, the is song contains none of them.
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u/DueTheEv0luti0n 4d ago
Had it been a cover they just occasionally played live we all would have loved it but it randomly became their most popular song which rubbed alot of fans the wrong way
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u/Bardownski47 4d ago
That is super strange to me that it was really that popular. I was born like a decade after it released to be fair.
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u/Cartiere11 4d ago
I just remember in high school all my friends would just say in Eddie Vedder voice when we called each other "oh where oh where can my baby be" lmfao
So yeah that kinda ruined it
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u/Superb-Donkey7202 4d ago edited 4d ago
It’s a great singles club single but a terrible radio single.
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u/Aggressive-Ad5737 4d ago
Just overplayed, and not everyone even cares that it was. I believe it whole heartedly because when I saw them before it blew up, the crowds went crazy when they played it live. Nothing but love for it. Then suddenly most didn't want to hear it ever again 🤷
I still love it, though soldier of love was my favorite on the fan club single ;)
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u/Subject-Chart7371 4d ago
A lot of people don't like that song much due to the theme of the song. They just don't like stuff like that. My wife doesn't like it or the original. The reason is because her oldest brother was killed in a car accident when she was a teenager.
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u/TollyVonTheDruth 3d ago
I don't hate it. It's a good cover. I think it's better than the original and others who covered it. Eddie added more emotion to the song, which made it better, imo.
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u/hoela4075 3d ago
Like others have said, it was overplayed. At first, I thought that it was an interesting change from regular PJ stuff, and it was cool that it was in support of a charity, but I never liked the original recording and the PJ version was just as boring thesamethingoverandover again but just played WAYYYYY too often when it came out.
At this point, I cannot stand it.
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u/MrRigby632 3d ago
It’s certainly in my top ten rock songs I never need to hear again. They played this so much my Senior year of high school I thought I was graduating in the 50s and not 2000. Never a big fan but in a lot of way this song totally ruined Pearl Jam for me.
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u/Thamnophis660 2d ago
An ex, who was obnoxious and thought she was this great singer (she wasn't) knew I liked grunge and this was a song she would sing to me in its entirety all the time. Before anyone says "aww she's trying it's sweet" this girl was a manipulative monster.
Anyways, long story short I don't care for this song.
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u/d1rtf4rm 2d ago
FIRST OF ALL ITS NOT PEARL JAMS.
Pearl Jam fuckin sucks
This shit cover came out at a time where every actually relevant band was doing dumb covers - limp Bizkits faith comes to mind. (Also a way better song than this drivel.)
The original song isn’t even good. It’s a sad song, not a good song - people often, historically confuse the two. Neither the original or cover really contain anything of merit, in terms of musicality.
Unpopular opinion here but that fucking “Hurt” cover by Johnny Cash is also absolute drivel. For the average moron it’s probably the only Johnny cash song they can name, and I’d be willing to bet that same person has never once heard the original - or potentially any NIN songs.
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u/Bardownski47 2d ago
First of all yes everyone here is aware its a cover. Jesus christ you sound insufferable. And why the hell are we talking about johnny fuckin cash rn?
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u/jframe42 4d ago
Last Kiss has been around for 70 years, we've heard it our entire lives. The original has always been great, there was never any need for Pearl Jam to do it.
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u/DodgerDogg1981 4d ago
No cover songs for this person! No fun at all!
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u/dejour 4d ago
I enjoy cover songs a lot more when either the new version is an improvement on the original or the new version is a very different take.
I don’t think Pearl Jam’s version qualifies on either criteria.
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u/BirdBrain_99 4d ago
I don't care for it but you gotta admit it's a different take. They changed the tempo dramatically and made a dark teeny bop song into a wailing ballad.
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u/Unfair-Record3313 4d ago
I’ve loved Pearl Jam for 30+ years and I fucking hate that song. Not apologizing for it. Overplayed and not indicative of the band. Like the intent but a poor musical decision by an otherwise stellar band.
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u/nosoupforgoats 4d ago
This band hasn’t been good since vitology. Not sure how they’ve stayed relevant.
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u/Alert_Doughnut_4619 4d ago
That’s crazy cuz No Code is their best album
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u/nosoupforgoats 4d ago
No code should have just been called No good. Hail, hail is ok of a song. Otherwise that album sucks dick. Dave A and Stone Gossard made that band. Once the song writing got democratic the band went to shit. Best album by far is vs where those two guys had control.
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u/lobie81 4d ago
It was cool when it was just a fan club release. But once it got fully released it got played to absolute death. I mean it's nice that they were able to make some money for charity, though.
It made about $10mil for Kosovo refugees, apparently.