The Riff

[Panther41]

I *just* figured out what you guys meant by the "sonar pings." Those don't bother me at all. Neither do the kids in Gaucho. I actually *like* when people use the studio creatively and bring in non-traditional sounds. In both cases I think those little additions help define the songs.

[ProudMonkey65]

this should be played on the 12 string.

[Darth Id]

Didn't read every page of this thread, so maybe somebody already mentioned it, but...
The titular "Riff" is near-identical to the climax of the Mars Volta's Frances the Mute (the song, not the album).

[salrx95]

Had to share this. Was cooking dinner the other night and was playing AFTW. The Riff comes on and my seven year old comes into kitchen and says, "Dad, I really like this new song". Mind you, we listen to a ton of DMB around the kids but it's not like we explain all the albums/songs/whatnot. It was very cool he knew it was new.

The Riff was already probably my favorite song but after that exchange, it officially is.

[jasonfilatov]

Originally Posted by ProudMonkey65

this should be played on the 12 string.

that would be real fun

[Dankguitar]

Originally Posted by salrx95

Had to share this. Was cooking dinner the other night and was playing AFTW. The Riff comes on and my seven year old comes into kitchen and says, "Dad, I really like this new song". Mind you, we listen to a ton of DMB around the kids but it's not like we explain all the albums/songs/whatnot. It was very cool he knew it was new.

The Riff was already probably my favorite song but after that exchange, it officially is.

Quite the sophisticated taste for a 7 year old. I would think a typical 7 year old wouldn't "get" this sort of song. My own 23 year old friends don't get the song haha

[Griffin]

Very cool about the 7 year old. Not quite the same but my preteen son was taken with Peter Gabriels song Family Snapshot, so I think we share a feeling. But I'm posting here because this song is probably the best Dave and the band has written since YNK and although not as complex, not as pure DMB, it may be a song covered by more performers in future years than any before. It's clearly not the centerpiece end all of the album but it is the most transcendent cut.

[Right Side Up]

Aside from the Toy Story theory a few pages back, I'd like to hear some lyric interpretations from The Riff lovers...what's it about?

I love the music but the lyrics don't sit right with me -- the "change the game" line, if taken as I'm currently taking it, is just bad. But I'm trying to find a reason to like the lyrics...

[Vision23]

I still interpret the lyrics to be about as man on his deathbed having regrets and wanting the woman he loves to be with him, even in after death

[spoot388]

Originally Posted by Right Side Up

Aside from the Toy Story theory a few pages back, I'd like to hear some lyric interpretations from The Riff lovers...what's it about?

I love the music but the lyrics don't sit right with me -- the "change the game" line, if taken as I'm currently taking it, is just bad. But I'm trying to find a reason to like the lyrics...

as one album review put it, this song is a "relationship S.O.S." its about 2 people who have grown older and a relationship that has run its course and probably isn't going to last much longer.

"i don't know the man living in my head if i dont know the woman sleeping in my bed" - the woman he is with/married to is not the same woman she used to be. she's not the woman he fell in love with.

"remember how we used to kiss/love/dance, like it was everything" - remember how those things used to mean so much? they used to be all that mattered. there's no passion anymore

and the chorus is saying that things have gotten stale, but we can work at getting that spark back. if you stay with me, it doesnt mean things have to stay the same as they've been. we can change and be better, how we want it to be.


think of this as the prelude to stay or leave. read the lyrics to the riff and then immediately follow it with stay or leave and they tell the story of the death of a relationship.

[artiej1120]

Originally Posted by Right Side Up

Aside from the Toy Story theory a few pages back, I'd like to hear some lyric interpretations from The Riff lovers...what's it about?

I love the music but the lyrics don't sit right with me -- the "change the game" line, if taken as I'm currently taking it, is just bad. But I'm trying to find a reason to like the lyrics...

"Sitting in a box away from the world out there,
A world piled high with boxes just like this
Please don't ever leave me alone in here
Take me out, shake off the dust, shake off the fear"

and

"I only got a minute or two to spare,
And I got a whole damn life to fit in there
So why waste time staring at the TV set?
Like I got dreams to kill and people to forget"

Just a couple of examples. This song might have the best lyrics on the album. Three words ("change the game") shouldn't take away from that.

[coolhotwaves]

This song has solid lyrics. The only thing I dislike about it is that Dave's voice sounds different and not really in the good way.

[spoot388]

Originally Posted by coolhotwaves

This song has solid lyrics. The only thing I dislike about it is that Dave's voice sounds different and not really in the good way.

thats because dave is singing differently for this song. his vocals became another instrument on this song and did exactly what they're supposed to. just listening to dave's voice, you can hear the emotion, the anguish the narrator is going through. the song is about a very emotionally painful time, and his vocals do a very good job at showing that.

this song is about that uneasy feeling you get in your stomach when you know something is wrong and you have to face it, knowing that the outcome likely will not be good. if you ever had a girlfriend say to you "we need to talk" then you know exactly what message this song is trying to convey, and the vocals and music play just as big of a role in showing that in this song as the lyrics do.

[berman1125]

Originally Posted by abbotter88

Love the song, but I cringe on those sonar "pings." Just very annoying for me haha

who the fuck thought that was a good idea?? Looks like it was lillywhite but it baffles me...what a terrible idea for this song

[berman1125]

Originally Posted by Cami

Personally, they annoy more than the kids in Gaucho...
Unlike most of you, this is the song that has less grown on me, and I dare say my least favourite of the whole album!
I do enjoy some parts, and I think it has potential, but it somehow fails to keep me in, if that makes sense...

I think its my least favorite too....just doesn't do it for me until the jam

[Tomriddle]

Originally Posted by berman1125

I think its my least favorite too....just doesn't do it for me until the jam

What kind of fuckery is this

[dontdrink36]

Originally Posted by Vision23

I still interpret the lyrics to be about as man on his deathbed having regrets and wanting the woman he loves to be with him, even in after death

I don't see it that way at all. But that's an interesting perspective. I see it as man evaluating his relationship after the seven year itch sets in or after the best empties and its just him and this woman he still loves but doesn't think he knows anymore and wishes the relationship was like it was in the beginning.

[seekupdani]

I'm not sure if they've done it at other shows, but the sonar pings were played at the Gorge. Does anyone know who plays it, and how this noise is even made when playing live?

[LJF515]

The pings are Boyd.

[smokew11]

i dont mind the pings at all really

[haybale97]

Are the "pings" the single notes that Boyd plays during the (?) chorus (I think)?

Those, imo, are awesome. Sets a great tone for the rest of the song. They actually might be my favorite part of this song.

The Riff and Snow Outside are the two masterpieces of this record. Drunken Soldier and Broken Things are just a tiny notch lower in my book, but that doesn't mean I think they're not good, just a hair lower than the above mentioned songs.

[Coker]

Originally Posted by LJF515

The pings are Boyd.

Boyd only plays for 3 out of the 4 'pings'.

[Jan-Willem]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWrT1OJc0dc

[yanks7533]

the pings add a interesting sound and fit the proggy nature of the song, i find them interesting and creative, to each their own....this song is outstanding, should be played 12 string live though

[MikeyCarson40]

I agree, I like them too. I see it mentioned, but what many people don't realize is that the ping sounds are being made by Boyd on his violin rather then some special effect in the studio. See the video of the live versions.

[Coker]

Originally Posted by MikeyCarson40

I agree, I like them too. I see it mentioned, but what many people don't realize is that the ping sounds are being made by Boyd on his violin rather then some special effect in the studio. See the video of the live versions.

No, they're not. Boyd plays along with them (3 out of 4 pings), but he's not the actual ping.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg9JOU68qa4&feature=plcp
Watch from 4:13 to 4:23 or so.

[pathetic]

Originally Posted by Coker

No, they're not. Boyd plays along with them (3 out of 4 pings), but he's not the actual ping.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg9JOU68qa4&feature=plcp
Watch from 4:13 to 4:23 or so.

i think he is the actual ping. i believe it's a violin string when he goes over it.

4:16/17 and 4:20 show it

although it makes the last ping and doesn't show boyd doing anything, that could just be due to the sound and multiple cameras

[Coker]

Originally Posted by pathetic

i think he is the actual ping. i believe it's a violin string when he goes over it.

4:16/17 and 4:20 show it

although it makes the last ping and doesn't show boyd doing anything, that could just be due to the sound and multiple cameras

That's what I mean. He certainly seems to play along with it, except for that final ping. You can also hear the difference between the first 3 (when Boyd plays) and the last one.

[Coker]

Unless Boyd is making the ping by stepping on an effect or something. Then fine. But no video shows him playing all 4 pings.

[ToddJoyride]

Originally Posted by Coker

Unless Boyd is making the ping by stepping on an effect or something. Then fine. But no video shows him playing all 4 pings.

that's what i've come to accept as the answer, definitely some kind of pedal or something to add to it.