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Post by troublkepnyerhedup on Sept 6, 2004 23:25:38 GMT -5
HOW CAN YOU LIKE HIM? Come feel me tremble Feel my marrow and bone Anyway, you ain't gonna see anyone else alone Now you ain't wanna see anybody but me I ain't gonna see anyhow How can you like him better than me? How can you like him? After all, it's me How can you like him any better than me? Any better Come feel me tremble Feel me rumble in the cold Bring a thimble and I'll pour my thoughts out I tear my hair out You ain't going anywhere without me by your side You ain't gonna see anyhow How can you like him better than me? How can you like him? After all, it's just me How can you like him any better than me? How can you like him? You're still mine, can't you see? How can you like him better than me? |
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Post by A Regular on Sept 8, 2004 11:16:07 GMT -5
I like listening to this, and thinking its PW singing about Grandpaboy....for those of you that prefered Mono.
Ok, I'm convinced PW is the him.
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Post by deebee76 on Sept 8, 2004 22:49:58 GMT -5
Kinda got shivers from even seeing the title of this one before the record came out, having just watched a long-term relationship dissolve and hearing rumblings of a new 'him' in her life...
So needless to say, this one really hits home for me, if just for the chorus alone.
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Post by scoOter on Sept 9, 2004 8:49:09 GMT -5
I like listening to this, and thinking its PW singing about Grandpaboy....for those of you that prefered Mono. Ok, I'm convinced PW is the him. goddamn, areg! you are THE MAN! |
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Post by scoOter on Sept 9, 2004 10:58:32 GMT -5
the more i read the lyrics, the more i am convinced areg has this song dead to rights.
i like this line of thinking... paul communicating with his fans in an abstract manner.
if you were on the ol' monolyth board, you may recall my long posts arguing how almost all the songs on "mono" were (sometimes poison pen) missives directed at us.
i still believe it, btw.
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zook
Beagle Scout
You be me for awhile and I'll be ewe...
Posts: 1,246
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Post by zook on Sept 9, 2004 15:53:02 GMT -5
Brilliant AReg! I quite like this way of thinking about the song.
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Post by landshark on Sept 9, 2004 20:02:24 GMT -5
Areg is on it -- but the twist I see is that the "him" is the public image Paul, Paul the rock legend, the icon that poor old normal Paul has to live up to. He just wants us to like him for himself.
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Post by A Regular on Sept 9, 2004 20:26:53 GMT -5
 If I knew how to photoshop PW's mug onto the body, I would, but you get the point. ;D And your spin certainly fits the tune... |
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Post by velvetgefiltefish on Sept 23, 2004 11:01:35 GMT -5
I also agree with both AReg and Landshark here.
Note that the second half of the verse of this song sounds very similar to "Like a Rolling Stone" -- same chord progression, plus very similar stretching out of the final syllable of the verse spilling into the chorus.
I bring this up mainly because during several shows on his 2002 tour (the final show at the Bowery being one of them), Paul sang a "new" song called "What Ever Happened to Paul?" This was the music of "Like a Rolling Stone" with a completely different set of (autobiographical) lyrics penned by Paul.
Also, Dylan once commented that, although he didn't realize it at the time he was writing them, the "you" in his angry songs of the mid-60's, like "Rolling Stone", was really Dylan himself. That is, the songs were ultimately self-directed.
All of this is probably just coincidence, but something about that chord progression seems to make people sing about themselves in the second or third person!
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Post by troublkepnyerhedup on Sept 30, 2004 16:54:20 GMT -5
I think the delivery on the first line of this song is one of the high points of the album. For me, it caps a great string of songs in the middle.
One thing that trips me up on my way to loving the rest of the song is the rhyme on the second line. I don't mind the marrow image--my problem (filthy mind?) is I keep hearing "member" as a better rhyme for "tremble."
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Post by Kathy on Oct 2, 2004 22:17:29 GMT -5
I have a preview copy of an interview that is coming out in HARP and while I can't post the entire thing, they have kindly agreed to my posting a few excerpts on the site, which I am going to do next week. But I just read this bit and I thought I'd pass this along a little early from Paul himself. He's talking about different ideas people have had in the past and right now for pairing him up with other artists on projects:
"And then when it got to the point where they wanted to team me with younger artists similar to me I felt a little uncomfortable. I almost felt like, “Why the hell do you need me if you’ve got a younger, fresher version?”
That’s what “How Can You Like Him” is about: “How can you like him better than me?” That’s pointed at those pretenders who’re supposed to be me.
But I understand, ‘cause I liked Neil Young when I was a kid and didn’t understand that if there had been no Bob Dylan there would’ve been no Neil Young."
Makes me wonder if "you ain't gonna see anyone else alone" refers to him doing the solo shows, alone on stage.
Pretty interesting.
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Post by mattweiser on Feb 18, 2005 9:50:27 GMT -5
I like AReg's theory about it being Westy singin' to Grampaboy. My first thought when I heard this song was that he's singing it to the world asking about all of Paul's replacements (no pun intended)... Rzeznik came to mind. It just seemed like he was asking the world, "how can you like him better than me?" when he's only building off of the ground work that I laid. Sure being that I'm younger and that the Mats were all but over when I really started getting into music I didn't hear of Paul until the Goo Goo Dolls. After listening to him I realized that he's much, much better than them. So maybe he's not talking about Rzeznik in particular, but he was the first one to come to mind. I'm sure it's partially directed at Ryan Adams too, and anyone who has acheived so much success by stealing from Westy. I love GGD, but PW's stuff is so much better, so when it comes to Rzeznik, "how can you like him better than" Paul?
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Post by GoRedSox1 on Feb 18, 2005 14:06:20 GMT -5
Ok, I'm convinced PW is the him. VERY good... Color me Impressed! |
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Post by Cotton on Feb 21, 2005 6:34:00 GMT -5
A little gleen from Sats. Portland show, which got me to thinking about this thread. It seemed PW was very attuned to what the aduience was about... along with the staples of the setlist, at one point he asked the crowd (which had it's usual share of 'mats fans shouting out old super-hits  ), "do you want to hear "Skyway, a blues tune or a Dylan tune?" (paraphrasing) which he then played - 'Skyway',& Swingin' party... after which he launched in to "how can you like him"... The point being maybe it's not so much a 'mono' vs. 'stereo' thing as maybe it's a 'Mats Paul vs. the after 'mats Paul. Because he still rock'd & blew the roof off with his solo material last night. Still a duality thing, that I agree is all Paul vs. Paul. |
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PWIG
First Class Scout
Chasing middle age, I'm pacing in my cage tonight
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Post by PWIG on Mar 30, 2005 9:18:17 GMT -5
The point being maybe it's not so much a 'mono' vs. 'stereo' thing as maybe it's a 'Mats Paul vs. the after 'mats Paul. Because he still rock'd & blew the roof off with his solo material last night. Still a duality thing, that I agree is all Paul vs. Paul. Here I was thinking this was about unrequited love (a theme I strongly identified with for about 25 years) and you all go and blow that away. I'm more of a mind to agree with Cottonwood that it is "Stink" Paul vs. "Folker" Paul. But major props to Areg for figuring this out at all. |
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Post by Kathy on Mar 30, 2005 9:44:54 GMT -5
Here I was thinking this was about unrequited love (a theme I strongly identified with for about 25 years) and you all go and blow that away. I'm more of a mind to agree with Cottonwood that it is "Stink" Paul vs. "Folker" Paul. But major props to Areg for figuring this out at all. HELLO? Paul: That’s what “How Can You Like Him” is about: “How can you like him better than me?” That’s pointed at those pretenders who’re supposed to be me. |
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PWIG
First Class Scout
Chasing middle age, I'm pacing in my cage tonight
Posts: 101
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Post by PWIG on Mar 30, 2005 10:18:46 GMT -5
HELLO? Paul: That’s what “How Can You Like Him” is about: “How can you like him better than me?” That’s pointed at those pretenders who’re supposed to be me. OUCH! That wasn't a moderate response. Anyway, music is about what it means to "me" and nothing else. An artist can write and record a song but, once it is released, it belongs to the listener. |
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Post by Kathy on Mar 30, 2005 11:11:45 GMT -5
OUCH! That wasn't a moderate response. Anyway, music is about what it means to "me" and nothing else. An artist can write and record a song but, once it is released, it belongs to the listener. I get that people can hear different things in a song, what did the artist mean when writing it and what does it mean to to the listener are very often quite different. Seemed like the thread was about what paul meant though and it's not often we get an exact answer. I know what songs means to me but I'm always curious about the other end of things too. |
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Post by A Regular on Mar 30, 2005 13:37:46 GMT -5
HELLO? Paul: That’s what “How Can You Like Him” is about: “How can you like him better than me?” That’s pointed at those pretenders who’re supposed to be me. Oh, you mean those pretenders, like grandpaboy? ;D I'll still like to speculate that maybe beneath the surface of stated purpose or meaning, there might be a bit or resentment towards those critics that liked Gramps while implying the "real" PW should be more like HIM, ie mean, dirty, and reckless and stop being the introverted softie. I'll have to ask him down the road...  |
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Post by ElegantMule on Apr 24, 2005 11:26:26 GMT -5
I read in some review somewhere (and um, y'know how great reviewers are and everything) that it was about
I don't even wanna say it I dislike the guy so much
Ryan Adams
vomits
and the reviewer sort of breezily mentioned it like there was no question about who it could be.
I'd hate to think Paul wrote anything so transparent,
BUT
then again
there have been a helluva lotta "pretenders" and we've all seen 'em. And thought the same thing.
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), "do you want to hear "Skyway, a blues tune or a Dylan tune?" (paraphrasing) which he then played - 'Skyway',& Swingin' party... after which he launched in to "how can you like him"... The point being maybe it's not so much a 'mono' vs. 'stereo' thing as maybe it's a 'Mats Paul vs. the after 'mats Paul. Because he still rock'd & blew the roof off with his solo material last night. Still a duality thing, that I agree is all Paul vs. Paul.
