You Not Me or You or Me?

[Madman Shepherd]

I can't believe this poll has never been done. 

Clearly we all know You or Me will win this poll but I want to know by how much.

I personally prefer You Not Me.  I always liked the riff, I thought it had a good groove, and the lyrics aren't great but are not the worst ones DT has ever written.

For the longest time I had never heard You or Me.  When I finally got the Ytsejam Bootleg, that was the most anticipated (with the jam session of Metropolis Pt. 2) and I was majorly let down.  I thought the wind was taken out of it or I guess more appropriately to say would be that it never had any wind to begin with.  It was interesting and not horrible but it just seemed sorta..."there."

I also feel like the addition of Desmond Child hurt You Not Me simply by having his name there.  I know not everyone cared but it is kind of like a taste test where you know the product beforehand.  Because of his association with glam rock I think *some* people (not *all* or even *most*) already made up their mind about the song along with people like MP openly bashing it.

In the occasional thread I have seen some people say they actually prefer the album version (a minority for sure) but now we are going to get an actual count. 

[Onno]

You or Me, by a mile. The chorus is so much better.

[Scorpion]

You or Me, by a mile. The chorus is so much better.

[Sketchy]

You or Me, by a mile. The chorus is so much better.

And the few other bits the demo has also just add to this victory. So, for me, I'd say it's a 5/3 miles.

[bosk1]

REALLY tough choice.  But I guess if it came right down to it, and you literally put a gun to my head and said, "you MUST choose one of them to listen to," I think I know what my answer would be:  pull the trigger. 

[Scorpion]

Not on topic, but you should REALLY rename that emote :cobain:.

[Onno]

REALLY tough choice.  But I guess if it came right down to it, and you literally put a gun to my head and said, "you MUST choose one of them to listen to," I think I know what my answer would be:  pull the trigger. 

Because it so tough, or because you dislike both of them so much?

[MoraWintersoul]

You Or Me definitely needed a little more words, and something a little "smarter", in that chorus in order to be a good, catchy tune. But You Not Me clearly failed in this field, and in every other field; the demo is vastly superior.

I would also like to add that I had no clue about Desmond Child, nor MP bashing it, nor the FII situation when I first heard the song - I mostly listen to music first and explore later. And yet I always felt that song is a bit icky. It got out of the "radio-friendly" and entered the "washed up" zone by a mile.

[Onno]

I would also like to add that I had no clue about Desmond Child, nor MP bashing it, nor the FII situation when I first heard the song - I mostly listen to music first and explore later. And yet I always felt that song is a bit icky. It got out of the "radio-friendly" and entered the "washed up" zone by a mile.

Same here. For me, it has been the worst DT song since I first listened to it, and at that time I didn't know the backgrounds of FII.

[IdoSC]

While You or Me is better as a song, let alone a Dream Theater song, sometimes I actually find myself feeling like listening to cheesy pop and whatnot. And the vocals, while cheesy like the rest of the song, are just more interesting in the final studio version.

So to me it's a tie. I guess it won't be the same for another person who's not open to absolutely any sort of genre and kind of songwriting, including complete junk (not calling You Not Me complete junk, just saying that I do listen to junk too every now and then if it makes any sense).

[Cool Chris]

I bought FII when it first came out, and didn't know who Desmond Child was, let alone anything about the making of FII till many years later. I thought YNM was alright. Lyrics have to be really bad for them to bother me, and these didn't qualify. The music was ok, not great, but better than other stuff on that album. It just became a song I skipped, but didn't actively hate.

Then I heard YOM, and I cared for it as much (or as little) as YNM. I only listened to it once for curiosity, it didn't warrant a second listen.

Are people picking YOM because they actually like it, or just because it is the lesser crappy song?

[hefdaddy42]

They both suck.

[Dublagent66]

That's like asking me to choose between shit and crap......well maybe.  I would have to go back and listen to them both again?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

[theseoafs]

You or Me, definitely.  YNM's chorus is just plain bad, and I'm not saying this as a prog-snob who hates everything "pop".

[Ħ]

You Not Me definitely. Neither are impressive but YNM's brevity and better sound quality make me like it better.

[chaotic_ripper]

Maybe I'm weird but, I've never really had a problem with You Not Me. I like it more than Burning My Soul. 

[Elite]

Album version. I don't get people bitching about it. It's not actually a bad song, just underwhelming for DT's standards. There's actually two songs that are worse on the same album.

[Madman Shepherd]

Maybe I'm weird but, I've never really had a problem with You Not Me. I like it more than Burning My Soul.

I always liked Burning My Soul (better than YNM) but I like YNM wayyyyyyyy more than Just Let Me Breathe. 

I'm surprised to see the vote split like it is.  I figured me and maybe one or two other people would vote for YNM instead there are 7 other people at the moment that think like me!

I also intended for sound quality not to be an issue since they obviously didn't get the chance to record a "proper" version of YoM but even withstanding that YNM gets an easy win. 

[Unlegit]

I don't care for either, but You or Me is slightly less worse.

[GasparXR]

I'm not sure whether to pick one or the other

[senecadawg2]

You Not Me.

[Infinite Cactus]

I picked YOM. But I actually quite like both songs.

[tjanuranus]

Yo or me by a mile.

[KevShmev]

This is like being asked, would you rather someone punch you in the balls or in the head of your penis?  Both options are very unappealing.

But if forced to pick, You Not Me is less bad.  You Or Me's plodding verses are atrocious.

[GasparXR]

This is like being asked, would you rather someone punch you in the balls or in the head of your penis?  Both options are very unappealing.

But if forced to pick, You Not Me is less bad.  You Or Me's plodding verses are atrocious.

LOL

[Zydar]

Album version. I don't get people bitching about it. It's not actually a bad song, just underwhelming for DT's standards. There's actually two songs that are worse on the same album.

Yup.

[BlobVanDam]

I think YNM is slightly better, but we're splitting hairs here. Either way it's not a great song. I don't think it's quite as bad as people generally say it is, but it never would have been considered a good DT song in either arrangement.

[Implode]

They are both equal to me. I think they are okay songs, and I enjoy listening to them both sometimes.

[Eldomm]

I much prefer You not Me. It seems to me it's more dynamic and melodic than You or Me.

[ZirconBlue]

I picked YOM. But I actually quite like both songs.

This. 

[MondayMorningLunatic]

I voted for You Not Me, but You Or Me does have that cool middle section.

[?]

You or Me wins because it has that great piano part after the second chorus, saving an otherwise weak song.