Just wondering...

[holotrope]

What the general opinion is like as to the notrious lyric in Jambi.

I don't think it's "Jamb-ah-eye," which Kabir seems quite certain it is, but I definitely hear an 's' at the end of the line each time it is sung. Also "Jambi, if they should compromise..." doesn't make much sense (plus I think it's pronounced Jam-bee).

"Jam my eyes" just doesn't seem right to me...

"Damn my eyes" is more plausible, because I hear a "D" sound at the beginning for sure, but the ensuing vowel seems much more like an 'i'

Which leaves us with "Dim my eyes." This is what I have heard in it since the first listen, and still sounds the most correct to me (especially after an extensive headphone session), but I'd like to see what all you folks think.

[TheCrackedJack]

I hear a D myself

[howiloathethem]

I totally hear "Damn My Eyes". But I also puff. Alot.

[Stev]

Yeah, I hear the D too. I say 'Damn', but I'm not certain. Not like I am with 'legion' lol.

[LiLponyAddiction]

I definitely hear the "D" sound. I only listened to it via headphones up until today when I purchased the cd. Through headphones I couldn't decide whether or not it was "damn" or "dim".... but after listening to the track in my car without headphones it sounded like "damn" ever so clearly. But who knows.....

[holotrope]

*bump*

[5th Eye]

I originally hear and swore by "Damn my eyes." However, the lyric following is "if they should compromise our hope or what you need." So "dim" makes more sense than "damn." I think.

Now that I think about it, it probably is "damn." Too late for the poll though.

[Blanket_509]

I think its "Jam-bye eyes". Thats what it sounds like to me. I don't know what it means, but it seems more plausible than any of the other suggestions.


A-ha! http://www.hollows.org/upload/20227.pdf

=P

[Alex in Chains]

"Damn my eyes." Not only does it actually make sense, but when was the last time Maynard just sang the title of a song -- no matter how far from a complete thought it was -- as the chorus? I can't think of any off the top of my head.

[Blanket_509]

"Damn my eyes." Not only does it actually make sense, but when was the last time Maynard just sang the title of a song -- no matter how far from a complete thought it was -- as the chorus? I can't think of any off the top of my head.

You're right, I listened to it again.

"Damn my eyes if they should compromise..."

[*see*you*auntie*]

Jambi's pronounced jam-byes. I hear a definite "J" and "B" sound.

[Oberon]

"Damn my eyes." Not only does it actually make sense, but when was the last time Maynard just sang the title of a song -- no matter how far from a complete thought it was -- as the chorus? I can't think of any off the top of my head.


...shit adds up at the bottom?

[K In Yo Mouf]

"Damn my eyes." Not only does it actually make sense, but when was the last time Maynard just sang the title of a song -- no matter how far from a complete thought it was -- as the chorus? I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Forty Six & 2, Sober, Shit Addz Up @ the Bottom, Parabol, Parabola, The Grudge, Vicarious, Right In Two...

Need I Go On...

[A WalkAbout]

Its acctually a Maynard saying sadly, "Damn, I'm Bi..." I joke. Its damn my eyes. Thats what it sounds like, and that is what makes sense.

[toocooltool]

Its defintaly not just jam bye
there is an EYES there..

[Steventh]

It's either "Dim my eyes" or "Damn my eyes."

[T-13h]

You're right, I listened to it again.

"Damn my eyes if they should compromise..."

.


"Jambi if I should compromise" ?

Wierd.

[holotrope]

*final bump*

[anfisechka]

I think it could be both.. I hear "jam my eyes" and THEN "damn my eyes." J is represented in Russian as D + zh if that makes sense; there is naturally a 'd' sound in 'j', but there's gotta be something extra to make it j. And I hear seomthing extra.

[Muladhara]

I previously thought it was 'damn', now I think it's 'dim' but Maynard pronounces his 'a's and 'i's similarly.

[bitter_enigma]

Dim my eyes.
It really, really SOUNDS like 'damn'...
...but because it only sounds like damn I'm going with dim.
The way he pronounces it seems too short to be damn.

[transcend187]

"Jambi" was also a character on the Pee-Wee's Playhouse (the 80s/90s Pee-Wee Herman television show.... or film series? not sure). He was a disembodied head in a box, and a genie. I don't know how they pronounced the name on the show. Could be Jam-bye, rather than the place in Indonesia, which is pronounced Jam-bee. I've never seen the show, so I have no idea.

Perhaps Devo (MJK's son) likes the show? Unlikely, seeing as how its a very, very dated show (and cancelled in '91)... But you never know.

EDIT:
I should add that I don't really think this is accurate, I can't see Maynard using a name from a Pee-Wee Herman show in a song.... In fact, the more I think about, the more ridiculous it sounds. Just throwing it out there, ya know?

I do think its "Damn my eyes..."

EDIT # 2:

Ok, never mind. From another thread:

"jahmbee is the way the genie from pee-wee's playhouse's name was pronounced.."

[Cryptic]

Yeah, MJK is "wishing" and with the pee wee Herman "Jambi Genie" you wish for things. Definately Jambi (Jamb-eye)

[haloslippingdown]

Yeah, that's Pee Wee tripping in Rosetta Stoned, it's a big reunion. They're promoting the new "Pee Wee's Bathroom Experience Playhouse." It's premiering on Nickelodeon next week.

[bellamadia]

Yeah, that's Pee Wee tripping in Rosetta Stoned, it's a big reunion. They're promoting the new "Pee Wee's Bathroom Experience Playhouse." It's premiering on Nickelodeon next week.

Hey you're awfully sexy. We should get married... how about August 5th? Hey, who's that hot chick in your avatar? : )

[implandnoises]

Here's something to throw a spanner in the works:

At the Oakland gig on the 4th, Maynard apparently said "Pee Wee's Playhouse is always nice" right before the beginning of Jambi.

But maybe he's just joking and said it after hearing that some people think this is what the song is about.

[epinephrine_redux]

"Damn my eyes", although it does sound like he's singing a "j" sometimes. I think McRoggles might be right.

[swash]

If you've heard any of the live stuff floating around, it's most definitely "damn my eyes." Also, consider the next line is "should they compromise..." None of the other possibilities make much sense of that line.

[heathen]

Jambi could be a nickname or pet name for the person this song is written to. Taken in this context for him to sing the title of the song as a chorus makes perfect sense.

So what i hear is:

Jambi-i (pronounced jambeye-eye)

If soneone is singing a word,it is not uncomon for them to add a sylable or note or whatever to the end of a word, and Maynard does that a few times in this album alone.

To me Jambi-i makes more sense than "damn my eyes" (besides the fact that I don't hear "damn my eyes") How are someones eyes going to compromise
A fulcrum? It seems he's singing the word more as a bridge than part of the chorus.

[el_boss]

I think it alteranates, but the first and the third are damn my eyes.

[eslupminoyler]

not sure if anyone has used this but...

"If you eyes cause you to sin, blot them out"
-biblical (one of the gospels, but probably in more than one spot)

maynard sings jam-bi(bye) atleast once

[Muladhara]

"Damn my eyes.
Damn my eyes.
Dim my eyes..."

[The Useful Idiot]

The first and last time he says Damn my eyes but the 2nd time is kind of hard to tell.

[fraz]

what does jambi actually mean? All I know is it's a place in Indonesia