What Does It Mean To You?

[dee]

I feel that waiting for new music makes us speculate more about what we wish PW would do next,that's what fans do right? It's easy to take for granted what an artist has done and have a "What have you done for me lately?" attitude.

I thought I'd change it up and ask,What do the Replacements and/or their post mats music mean to you?

Any takers care to put it into words?

[anarkissed]

"I'm not the only one who feels this way."

"I never realized it, but this is exactly how I feel."

"This is what I've always wanted to say, but I couldn't find these words."

[FreeRider]

1. A lot of these songs are telling the story of my life, or at least parts of it.

2. You're expressing for me all the things I can't articulate about my own emotions, thoughts, and attitudes about some things.

3. There's a certain sound and vibe from the band/music that just resonates with me; it hits the sweet spot in my brain, as if it were a tuning fork, hitting the right tones that vibrate through my soul and physical being

[dee]

I connected immediately with the band.They seemed real.

I liked their humor and their flippant attitude towards professionalism.

I loved their albums,all of them.
Great music for people who feel like outsiders.

[Hagbard]

Don’t think I can say it any better than the posts above. They’re just a special band for certain types I guess.

[brianlux]

Being a boomer-aged guy, rock music began to wear thin for me by the early 70's. By the late 70's/ early 80's, bands like R.E.M. and Talking Heads got me excited about the music again. But then I saw The Replacements on SNL in '86. I hadn't caught on to them yet and those two wild performances (introduced by one of my all-time favorite actors, Harry Dean Stanton, no less!)with their abandonment of standard rock etiquette, just simply knocked my socks off. I was instantly hooked.

Later, Paul's more reflective work in songs like "Runaway Wind" and "First Glimmer" (to name just a few) gave me a musical anchor during the most difficult years of my life. There were times that these records were the only thing left in life that made sense to me.

Now, being back on my feet for sometime, all of that work, from 'Mats on, holds a very important place in the soundtrack of my life. That's something that can never be repaid, never over-appreciated.

[curmudgeonman]

Back In The Day: The Mats were my Beatles when I first discovered them when I was a radio DJ in college. I remember when Let It Be first came out and I Will Dare floored me. They were guys my age who dressed like me, and had the same attitude, except more pedal-to-the-floor extreme. Finally a band I could relate to and call my own, since a very small part of the public knew who they were. I was part of a special fraternity of music fans bonding at their gigs, even when Bob was too fucked up to play. The only band that I followed tour to tour, even driving 100 miles away to see 'em again the next night.

Today: The band is mostly a nostalgic trip for me. I still listen to them occasionally, same with Westerberg's solo stuff. It makes me think of the past, rather than the future. They are one of the few artists I listen to from the 80s college rock scene, since the songs are still damned good. I have stopped paying attention to modern rock music a decade ago, the only stuff I listen to are classical, 50s jazz, and Texas country like Turnpike Troubadours, The Dirty River Boys, etc.

At my age and my current stage in life, I can't relate too much with some of the themes in Westerberg's writing; I have changed a lot since 1984. But I still marvel at the songwriting and sheer force of the performances. And even though I was drunk at the times, I can still remember various moments from their gigs, more so than say an Elvis Costello gig from the same time. They are a reminder of when I was poor, lighter, more naive and idealistic, when things were less complicated and I could get away with a lot more "fun".

[landshark]

Rebellion by proxy. I was (am) obedient and careful. But that’s not how I felt inside. The Mats were an avatar, and as Paul grew older and his themes evolved, mine did too. We grew up together. Paul made me feel wilder, sadder and more poetic than I really was. I wish I could hear a new set from him today, songs as meaningful as the two he wrote for Glen Campbell.

[bigbak]

What the Replacements (& specifically Paul) did for me was write and perform songs that resonated with every fiber of my being.

The songs did not necessarily reflect what I was feeling or what I was going through at any particular given moment or time in my life, but I heard almost all the songs as if they were conversations with close friends about what we were up to or what we were enduring at moments and times that were significant.

As an added bonus, they could rock the paint off the walls.

[con]

I was 20 when I discovered the 'Mats. The music, of course, was intoxicating. But I loved them even more when I read about their self-deprecating, devil-may-care attitudes. I saw myself as a Replacement. They didn't know what they wanted to be and, God knows, I didn't (don't), but it was full-steam ahead into life. Paul's songs have so much feeling, so much yearning... to BE, to escape the loneliness of the human condition, so much like Richard Yates' books. There is a tenderness/sensitivity there with an aggressiveness and distrust that I still relate to, a lot. There's no artifice to the 'Mats. Just pure soul. It is so rare. In artists, in people. I'm getting sentimental, but I'm so grateful for the band and the beautiful noise they made.