Sometimes You Can't...(Alt.)

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namkcuR

ONE love, blood, life
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Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own(Alt.)

is better than the album version. There, I said it. Why, you ask? Because imo it is more subtle, more subdued, more somber than the album version. I hear more pain in it. The falsetto chorus in the album version is nice to listen to but it doesn't sound like pain or mourning to me. I don't know, it's hard to put into words, but for me, I hear a very naked mourning, a pain that is very contained/controlled/held back, but that runs very deep. I just don't hear that as much in the album version. I don't know how to say it other than that.

Forgive me, I verbalized that horribly.
 
You put it well me thinks:)

Where can i hear it though ive heard alternate versions such as Xanax, Native Son, Yahweh Alt...but not Sometimes and All Because of You alternate versions.......
 
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the thing i don't like about the Alt version is that after the big buildup (siiiing, you're the reason i sing) it's too empty. if they had filled that part with strings or something, like the album version, it would have been alright.



oh yeah, and the glorious falsetto :drool:
 
namkcuR said:
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own(Alt.)

is better than the album version. There, I said it. Why, you ask? Because imo it is more subtle, more subdued, more somber than the album version. I hear more pain in it. The falsetto chorus in the album version is nice to listen to but it doesn't sound like pain or mourning to me. I don't know, it's hard to put into words, but for me, I hear a very naked mourning, a pain that is very contained/controlled/held back, but that runs very deep. I just don't hear that as much in the album version. I don't know how to say it other than that.

Forgive me, I verbalized that horribly.


Don't feel bad about admitting it, because I, for one, agree wholeheartedly and I can't even put the "why" into words! :wink:
 
I don't know...those lyrics are awfully "on the nose." And I miss the bridge singing. The instrumentation pulls back when he goes for The Note, which is a miscalculation I think...
 
Thanks Nam*bows* i will voice my opinion on it when i hear it in a mo.

Ok i like it...hmm im not sure about that fuzzy guitar in the bakcground of the song though sounds a bit cheesy...i think i would like it better without it...certainly doenst invalidate your opinion on which one you prefer though:) again thanks for the song though might take me a few more listens though to really like it....hmm anyone have the alternate All Because of You or any others?
 
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namkcuR said:
I have them all.

hmm ahh would you mind sending them to me?

riverseo@hotmail.com

or maybe posting them in Music on the Internet if you have the time...i have Xanax which i like and Native Son again i like that too and teh Yahweh alternate which i think is better than the album one but prefer the live acoustic...sorry if im sounding demanding:huh:
 
Thankies Nam:wink: and i think i'm starting to like the alternate Sometimes more but umm i really do like the falsetto chorus in the album version hmm
 
Allow me to try be a little more specific musically about why I like the alt. version better...

First, to those that said they didn't like the 'emptiness' at the climax(sing, can you hear me...), every square inch of the song doesn't have to be covered with instrumentation. The spaciness actually adds effect and some atmosphere to the song, imo.

Second, right before the climax, in the album version Bono sings, 'I know that we don't talk....', but in the alt. version, he just does a gentle falsetto-y howl thing, very reminiscent of the sort of thing he used to do in the early 80s quite a bit, especially on October and War. I love that. Adds to the atmosphere.

Third, I like the distorted guitar in the background - again, right off the bat it sets that atmosphere, like the guy is singing in a bar, in the early morning hours, drunk, after having attended the funeral.

Fourth, the way Bono sings here is much less in-your-face than the album version, I hear more of a vulnerability in it, and I hear a VERY restrained but VERY deep pain in it, very reminiscent of the way he sang in 'Please'.

That's about it for now.
 
LJT said:
Thankies Nam:wink: and i think i'm starting to like the alternate Sometimes more but umm i really do like the falsetto chorus in the album version hmm

No problem.

But ask yourself this, if you had just attended the funeral of someone you loved, and after leaving the funeral you sang this song, but you be singing a sing-song-y falsetto? I wouldn't. For further explanation, read my above post.

:wink:
 
namkcuR said:


No problem.

But ask yourself this, if you had just attended the funeral of someone you loved, and after leaving the funeral you sang this song, but you be singing a sing-song-y falsetto? I wouldn't. For further explanation, read my above post.

:wink:

Thanks again and i do understand your points and i am starting to like it more even as we speak (still not a fan of the distorted guitar) as it does suit the mood of having lost a loved one more so...but i think the album version is more optimistic, it sounds like its looking forward more rather than wallowing in melancholy (or at the bar as you suggest:p) like the alt version.....i think the intro is better in the alt version though...might just take a while for it to grow on me..
 
LJT said:

i think the album version is more optimistic, it sounds like its looking forward more rather than wallowing in melancholy (or at the bar as you suggest:p)

Indeed, but really, is there anything optimistic about the song itself? The message to me is basically "sometimes you can't make it on your own, and there's nothing you can really do except fake it and pretend you're alright even though you're not." Of course I can't really compare the two because I haven't listened to the alternate version yet...thank you though, namkcuR, for posting these, they were the only two I didn't have lol...

Edit: After just listening to it... wow, you are right. I love it. It has a much more fragile feel to it... is it a better song overall, I don't know. Certainly less of a radio hit, but there's something much more open about it... the way the insturments pull away instead of swell up when he hits that note... it's much more personal, much more Bono's song. It's very raw and powerful.
 
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:love:

This is like a Zooropa-esque Sometimes! I love it!!! And you're right... you can just feel the pain in the chords a lot more in this version. His voice is subdued, doesn't sound like he's trying too hard like on the album. Love the distorted guitar of course!!! But it is NOT so distorted and loud that it distracts from the sentiment.

This would fit beautifully on Zooropa right around The First Time or Dirty Day. :drool:
 
Listening to it for the third time now. :wink:

Oh... and the ABOY alt version is interesting. I like that one too but don't know if I prefer it to the album version or not... yet.

PS: I don't have Xanax And Wine or Native Son either. Could you post them too when you get a chance? :reject:
 
i take it as that Bono did his best to fake that everything was alright but found out that he couldn't carry on alone as he was and got support from his family and the rest of the band who count as family really...thats where he got the realisation that he couldn't carry on alone...i think it could also be a statement aimed at his dad, as i dont think his dad ever opened up to him about his feelings over his mum's death etc..i just think the album version the lyrics are set in a more 'im moving on' way due to the music rather than the 'i'm left alone' way of the alternate version....

...in saying all that, now i like both equally...way to be indecisive Joe hmmm...they were aiming with the album to have the songs singleworthy (which i have no problems with i still love the album)....the album version is the sing along song which more people could relate too since it seems more impersonal i think where as both of you have pointed out the alternate version sounds much more personal to Bono, it's his song and probably suits more quiet contemplation......i guess really it could depend on your mood:huh:
 
Zootlesque said:
:love:

This is like a Zooropa-esque Sometimes! I love it!!! And you're right... you can just feel the pain in the chords a lot more in this version. His voice is subdued, doesn't sound like he's trying too hard like on the album. Love the distorted guitar of course!!! But it is NOT so distorted and loud that it distracts from the sentiment.

This would fit beautifully on Zooropa right around The First Time or Dirty Day. :drool:

Yeah it would... and after listening to the alternate ABOY, I have to say that has MUCH more energy than the new one. As a matter of fact, I think I like all the alternate versions more than the final results, with the exception of maybe Vertigo... I think I need to go start a thread in Where the Album Has a Name... The Bomb That Could Have Been :wink:
 
AtomicBono said:

and after listening to the alternate ABOY, I have to say that has MUCH more energy than the new one.

Yes, you're right! :hyper:

I like it a lot now! The opening of this ABOY version is better than the ear piercing one on the album. And the guitar in the chorus sounds almost Oasis-like.

Wow, I'm starting to get the feeling more and more that they really did over produce and butcher most of the songs from HTDAAB! This is what happens when you're too worried about what the public likes and whether the album will sell.. and not go with your first instincts. We may have got a different sounding Bomb if they had just adopted a fuck-all attitude and went with their first instincts. :rant:

Sorry, didn't mean to turn it into an HTDAAB rant but I do feel it was somewhat killed by over-production.
 
neutral said:
I hate to be the bad guy (lucky me :happy: ) but we're not really supposed to post links to these itunes songs on the forums, people are free to do as they please privately (email etc ) though. :slant:

ahh:reject:

sorry kinda new around here still getting used to things...and i didn't realise these were on itunes:scratch:
 
namkcuR said:
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own(Alt.)

is better than the album version. There, I said it. Why, you ask? Because imo it is more subtle, more subdued, more somber than the album version. I hear more pain in it. The falsetto chorus in the album version is nice to listen to but it doesn't sound like pain or mourning to me. I don't know, it's hard to put into words, but for me, I hear a very naked mourning, a pain that is very contained/controlled/held back, but that runs very deep. I just don't hear that as much in the album version. I don't know how to say it other than that.

Forgive me, I verbalized that horribly.

I think the original version has more of a different approach to it, also the drums sounds better. I am not a big fan of the song anyway but I think the album version was to straight forward and too obvious, more like the way Bon Jovi would do that kind of song.
 
Zootlesque said:


Wow, I'm starting to get the feeling more and more that they really did over produce and butcher most of the songs from HTDAAB!

Yeah. :| Wait till you hear Xanax.:|

I'm not sure what I think yet about the alt Sometimes, I almost wish I had really listened to it carefully before I'd playing the album version 10,000 times so I could evaluate it more on it's own merits. I agree ithe alt version is more subtle and subdued but I'm not hearing the pain and grief as much as you guys are. I don't know, the album version is kinda over the top compared to this version for this song I think it works in this case, I think it's actually appropriate for the song. I don't think it's about a quiet reflection on his grief and Bob's passing, it's more about this overwhelming feeling of grieving and mourning that you just want to yell at the top of your lungs like on the "can you hear me when I siiiing, you're the reason I siiing" line. Plus I don't like the lyrics on the alt one as much, the Cedarwood Lane verse just makes me :scratch: for some reason. :shrug:

I dunno, a version like that was like a mix between the two would be cool. :hmm:
 
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