Examiner: Can you give me a rundown as to what each panel means?
Perkins: Having the band open up and talk to me was with the understanding that what we talked about stay private. I don't mean to be coy, but it's not my place to do that.
Examiner: Fans are looking at the panels and trying to trace back their origins.
Perkins: I'm glad everyone's having fun looking for this stuff, but I would caution people they shouldn't confuse the map for the territory, as they say in semiotics. Even if you do find the photo I used for source material, it may just be a photograph. It may not mean anything at all. The reason I used it more likely has something to do with a private conversation I had with someone in the band, and that's not something you can Google.
If I had the meaning of life, I don't think I'd be hiding it in album covers. (laughs)
JA: Why do I get the Ticketmaster question?
EV: It's your band.
~Q Magazine
"Kisses for the glow...kisses for the lease." - BDRII
i know the fire technically isn't there, but this train is "hellbound" and as the myth goes there's fire in hell...also not sure if this has already been posted as a possibility and i'm apologizing now for not sifting through every thread...at work right now and my lunch is pretty much over LOL.
as for the boy, the second song on this album is called "lost and lonely child"
Examiner: Can you give me a rundown as to what each panel means?
Perkins: Having the band open up and talk to me was with the understanding that what we talked about stay private. I don't mean to be coy, but it's not my place to do that.
Examiner: Fans are looking at the panels and trying to trace back their origins.
Perkins: I'm glad everyone's having fun looking for this stuff, but I would caution people they shouldn't confuse the map for the territory, as they say in semiotics. Even if you do find the photo I used for source material, it may just be a photograph. It may not mean anything at all. The reason I used it more likely has something to do with a private conversation I had with someone in the band, and that's not something you can Google.
If I had the meaning of life, I don't think I'd be hiding it in album covers. (laughs)
not that our intention is to scrutinize the work or anything like that, but we also have to take into consideration that the artist probably doesn't his work being "picked apart" so to speak. it's like when you walk into a gallery and you actually get to talk to the artist and you ask "what made you wanna paint that?...where did you get that idea??"...they usually look at you with a face like "what's it matter, it's there, enjoy it" but what they actually say is "oh i don't know, i guess i've just had flowers on the brain and i've been experimenting with..." etc etc. you don't often get a clear answer and kind of just have to accept it for what it is.
the woman in the red nightie has got to be real, it's just a matter of time before we find the original widely-published shot, like the other two girls were in.
"If you love someone, set them free. If someone loves you, don't fuck up." -ev
6/29/03 - Montreal, QC 10/1/04 - Reading, PA
10/3/05 - Philadelphia, PA 5/12/06 - Albany, NY
6/27/08 - Hartford, CT (FRONT ROW CENTER!)
8/2/08 - (ev) Boston, MA 6/9/09 - (ev) Albany, NY
8/21/09 - Toronto, ON 5/10/10 - Buffalo, NY
not that our intention is to scrutinize the work or anything like that, but we also have to take into consideration that the artist probably doesn't his work being "picked apart" so to speak.
Not that they don't necessarily want their work scrutinized, but artists know to expect it. Visual artists are all completely aware of the volumes of work analyzing paintings by Degas, Warhol, DaVinci, Scorsese, Cristo, Basquiat, etc... Any artist who actively makes their work available for public consumption and says they don't like the attention it gets is full of it. They may not like getting the attention themelves, but they hope and expect that their work is scrutinized over.
Continue the scrutiny.
"A lot more people are capable of being big out there that just don't give themselves a chance." -Stone Gossard
not that our intention is to scrutinize the work or anything like that, but we also have to take into consideration that the artist probably doesn't his work being "picked apart" so to speak. it's like when you walk into a gallery and you actually get to talk to the artist and you ask "what made you wanna paint that?...where did you get that idea??"...they usually look at you with a face like "what's it matter, it's there, enjoy it" but what they actually say is "oh i don't know, i guess i've just had flowers on the brain and i've been experimenting with..." etc etc. you don't often get a clear answer and kind of just have to accept it for what it is.
The real reasons for not wanting to be asked a question like "Where did you get that idea?" is because the artists usually don't know and they're scared somebody will find out. Mind you, there is a standard element of craft involved (eg. layout, foreground, background). But a piece of artwork would only be an empty shell if it were craft alone. It is the core idea embedded that makes it come alive. Really the truth of the matter is 'they make them up out of their head'. And there is a huge vulnerability in that notion. Mike McCready expresses as much in SVT when he worries about losing his "creative edge". Eddie describes finding the right lyric can be like waiting for a beam of light to strike him.
Anyway, I find the best art can not only withstand scrutiny, rather it grows by actively engaging the work. Speaking of which, with all of these Backspacer reviews coming in from different publications, I realize music with any depth tends to be wasted on most professional music critics who are only interested in how it relates to the altar of 'pop culture' they seem to kneel before. But back to the cover art. Even if we are imagining what wasn't even intended by Mr. Tomorrow, that's okay because it enables us to help elevate Backspacer to a level of insight all Pearl Jam albums deserve. To delve deeper is key because the best music, novels, paintings, etc., always know you better than you can know them; which leaves plenty to discover.
That said, I would love to find the reference used for the locomotive. All along I sort of figured the kid in that illustration represented Jeff. I kept googling things like "Montana steam locomotive" without any success.
thank you red dot...heavy hands and pleatherman i totally agree with both of you, which is why i will continue to spend my lunch hours at work google-imaging.
"If you love someone, set them free. If someone loves you, don't fuck up." -ev
6/29/03 - Montreal, QC 10/1/04 - Reading, PA
10/3/05 - Philadelphia, PA 5/12/06 - Albany, NY
6/27/08 - Hartford, CT (FRONT ROW CENTER!)
8/2/08 - (ev) Boston, MA 6/9/09 - (ev) Albany, NY
8/21/09 - Toronto, ON 5/10/10 - Buffalo, NY
ok, let me preface by i certainly didnt read all 25 pages of this thread although i have tried to keep up over the weeks...i finally just got Backspacer today, listened to it only once (avoided the leak), and looked thru the artwork one time in its entirety.
A total longshot but here it goes:
Regarding the picture (#7), you know- the one with the robot and the tv on it's head and the spaceships in the background....I think, and its a long shot and please dont flame me but could it be, a picture of "Smitty", the band's tour manager as a child? I would have never thought of this until I saw the inside artwork with the 1-eyed Chewbacca thing holding the tv and to me, again in just my opinion is "Smitty". Go ahead and roast me here. Just my initial thoughts and reactions!!
My apologies if this was already offered/suggested in the 1st 25 pages.
-EV
This is probably gonna get me in hot water (even that phrase seems politically incorrect), but I think the legs have to belong to a black woman - having a black man surrounded by white women may be still too soon for some states..?
Feel free to laugh at me, I'm from the UK.
i say tanned, not black...
no problem with all white women + black "pimp"
I'm loving this Thread. Even now that no-one is viewing it.
So while we continue with the Backspacer cover discovered, I'm lovin the way the PJ Home page has been changing every few days.
Subtley.
Who? noticed the new single hand today on PJ Home.? :ugeek:
I'm loving this Thread. Even now that no-one is viewing it.
So while we continue with the Backspacer cover discovered, I'm lovin the way the PJ Home page has been changing every few days.
Subtley.
Who? noticed the new single hand today on PJ Home.? :ugeek:
"...Dimitri...He talks to me...'.."The Ghost of Greece..".
"..That's One Happy Fuckin Ghost.."
“..That came up on the Pillow Case...This is for the Greek, With Our Apologies.....”
"Johnny Guitar Watson staring at me riding on three wheels a woman on his knee with a leg under a red dress I wish I could see..."
"On the left the girl in red so innocent
...
Can't help but wonder where and who she is."
Seems like maybe they don't quite know either...
Maybe I'm reading too much into it... but it clicked when I looked at the lyrics today.
PJ: St. Paul 6.16.2003, St. Paul 6.26.2006, St. Paul 6.27.2006, Hartford 6.27.2008, Mansfield 6.28.2008, Mansfield 6.30.2008, Beacon Theater 7.1.2008, Toronto 8.21.2009, Chicago 8.23.2009, Chicago 8.24.2009, Philly 10.30.2009, Philly 10.31.2009, Columbus 5.6.2010, Noblesville 5.7.2010
EV: Los Angeles 4.12.2008, Los Angeles 4.13.2008, Nashville 6.17.2009, Nashville 6.18.2009, Memphis 6.20.2009
"Johnny Guitar Watson staring at me riding on three wheels a woman on his knee with a leg under a red dress I wish I could see..."
"On the left the girl in red so innocent
...
Can't help but wonder where and who she is."
Seems like maybe they don't quite know either...
Maybe I'm reading too much into it... but it clicked when I looked at the lyrics today.
we're all reading too much into it LOL!
i have this really odd feeling though that the song was completed before the album artwork was done. :idea:
So maybe "Jerome Turner" brought the lyrics with when he collaborated with Tom Tomorrow on the concept..
This IS fun.
PJ: St. Paul 6.16.2003, St. Paul 6.26.2006, St. Paul 6.27.2006, Hartford 6.27.2008, Mansfield 6.28.2008, Mansfield 6.30.2008, Beacon Theater 7.1.2008, Toronto 8.21.2009, Chicago 8.23.2009, Chicago 8.24.2009, Philly 10.30.2009, Philly 10.31.2009, Columbus 5.6.2010, Noblesville 5.7.2010
EV: Los Angeles 4.12.2008, Los Angeles 4.13.2008, Nashville 6.17.2009, Nashville 6.18.2009, Memphis 6.20.2009
"Johnny Guitar Watson staring at me riding on three wheels a woman on his knee with a leg under a red dress I wish I could see..."
"On the left the girl in red so innocent
...
Can't help but wonder where and who she is."
Seems like maybe they don't quite know either...
Maybe I'm reading too much into it... but it clicked when I looked at the lyrics today.
This is a wlcome contribution thankyou.
While we are here, can we talk about the subtle changes in the art work on PJ Home?
I noticed the hand appeared a couple of days ago, then I saw legs floating in, but now, the hand has gone again, like she's floating away. Anyone?
Is it not where the bottom of the page is loading in over the top image, then correcting itself (sorry I'm not the most technical guy)? I initially thought some weird stuff was going on, then scrolled down and found the other images...
While we are here, can we talk about the subtle changes in the art work on PJ Home?
I noticed the hand appeared a couple of days ago, then I saw legs floating in, but now, the hand has gone again, like she's floating away. Anyone?
Thanks for pointing that out...I missed that. :?
JA: Why do I get the Ticketmaster question?
EV: It's your band.
~Q Magazine
"Kisses for the glow...kisses for the lease." - BDRII
Ugh, disturbing.... but that's the intention, isn't it. It should disturb people with the manipulation of the corrupt and greedy people using powerful media intended for the purpose of personal gain, at the expense of others.
I hope I'm not hacking this thread...nor do I want to embarrass my husband.... but I found it interesting that on the first page of the book with the eyeless and earless man with the radio.... sending signals (hubby pointed out it looked like a fingerprint).
Back in early August with the artwork hunt on the internet.... hubby had his own interpretation of the artwork and asked me to post his interpretation under his username, mysmallself.
But no one responded to him and he was like *gulps* nobody said anything.... *crickets chirping*
He also was saying people aren't really using their brains.... robots following others in the rat pack race...not thinking for themselves. Well, there's that drawing of the band members with tubes attached to their heads to the brain tubebox (whatever you call it).
:P (my apologies to hubby.... :oops: )
JA: Why do I get the Ticketmaster question?
EV: It's your band.
~Q Magazine
"Kisses for the glow...kisses for the lease." - BDRII
+1.... and we should announce the winner for the girl in red....Arcticangel!!
Haha, well, if this does seem to be the case, I should probably cop to inside info..
I'm the girl in the red dress.
xoxo
PJ: St. Paul 6.16.2003, St. Paul 6.26.2006, St. Paul 6.27.2006, Hartford 6.27.2008, Mansfield 6.28.2008, Mansfield 6.30.2008, Beacon Theater 7.1.2008, Toronto 8.21.2009, Chicago 8.23.2009, Chicago 8.24.2009, Philly 10.30.2009, Philly 10.31.2009, Columbus 5.6.2010, Noblesville 5.7.2010
EV: Los Angeles 4.12.2008, Los Angeles 4.13.2008, Nashville 6.17.2009, Nashville 6.18.2009, Memphis 6.20.2009
speaking of reading too much into things... I still think that the number of panels on the cover is no coincidence to the numbers of albums PJ put out. like each panel represents each lp (spaceman being Binaural, etc.) And so now buying the Target cd is certainly helping that thinking. Now if the panels line up to the number of lps, then it would make the brain in the jar "Yield" as it's the 5th lp, right? well the last lp PJ did with Brendan O'Brien was Yield and......both Backspacer and Yield have diecut cutouts on their covers. plus I'll throw the whole "Brain of J" thing into the mix. If you don't have the Target release, the guys brains are attached to the jar, and that is what's the cutout.
ok perhaps I have to put the bong down, but this is what I'm thinking...
This might be another one? If so, I am sensing a theme.
http://www.aversion.com/news/news_artic ... ws_id=4057
Bad Astronaut Drummer Commits Suicide
Mar 31, 2005
Bad Astronaut drummer Derrick Plourde was found dead yesterday (March 30), the victim of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Probably a stretch...but how about Keith Moon of The Who???
That's an even bigger stretch. He's closer with Derrick Plourde.
I'm not sure... i like the keith moon nod potential. as in earth shown below and the white skins on the floor bass drum (moon resemblence). just a thought...
Comments
Thank you for posting the link and I am going to quote from page 2 of that article that has to do with this thread and what we have been doing.
________________________________________________________________
Examiner: Can you give me a rundown as to what each panel means?
Perkins: Having the band open up and talk to me was with the understanding that what we talked about stay private. I don't mean to be coy, but it's not my place to do that.
Examiner: Fans are looking at the panels and trying to trace back their origins.
Perkins: I'm glad everyone's having fun looking for this stuff, but I would caution people they shouldn't confuse the map for the territory, as they say in semiotics. Even if you do find the photo I used for source material, it may just be a photograph. It may not mean anything at all. The reason I used it more likely has something to do with a private conversation I had with someone in the band, and that's not something you can Google.
If I had the meaning of life, I don't think I'd be hiding it in album covers. (laughs)
EV: It's your band.
~Q Magazine
"Kisses for the glow...kisses for the lease." - BDRII
Yeah, I'll be missing this thread too. :(
EV: It's your band.
~Q Magazine
"Kisses for the glow...kisses for the lease." - BDRII
my obsession has been the fiery train
6/29/03 - Montreal, QC 10/1/04 - Reading, PA
10/3/05 - Philadelphia, PA 5/12/06 - Albany, NY
6/27/08 - Hartford, CT (FRONT ROW CENTER!)
8/2/08 - (ev) Boston, MA 6/9/09 - (ev) Albany, NY
8/21/09 - Toronto, ON 5/10/10 - Buffalo, NY
Good find, that is pretty close!
Is it possible the one on the left in the cover pic could just be there to represent this line from the song ?
And as long as I'm stretching here...
"Yeah on top the girl responsible for original sin" - the girl from 1,000,000 BC !!
I got nuthin'...
not that our intention is to scrutinize the work or anything like that, but we also have to take into consideration that the artist probably doesn't his work being "picked apart" so to speak. it's like when you walk into a gallery and you actually get to talk to the artist and you ask "what made you wanna paint that?...where did you get that idea??"...they usually look at you with a face like "what's it matter, it's there, enjoy it" but what they actually say is "oh i don't know, i guess i've just had flowers on the brain and i've been experimenting with..." etc etc. you don't often get a clear answer and kind of just have to accept it for what it is.
the woman in the red nightie has got to be real, it's just a matter of time before we find the original widely-published shot, like the other two girls were in.
6/29/03 - Montreal, QC 10/1/04 - Reading, PA
10/3/05 - Philadelphia, PA 5/12/06 - Albany, NY
6/27/08 - Hartford, CT (FRONT ROW CENTER!)
8/2/08 - (ev) Boston, MA 6/9/09 - (ev) Albany, NY
8/21/09 - Toronto, ON 5/10/10 - Buffalo, NY
Not that they don't necessarily want their work scrutinized, but artists know to expect it. Visual artists are all completely aware of the volumes of work analyzing paintings by Degas, Warhol, DaVinci, Scorsese, Cristo, Basquiat, etc... Any artist who actively makes their work available for public consumption and says they don't like the attention it gets is full of it. They may not like getting the attention themelves, but they hope and expect that their work is scrutinized over.
Continue the scrutiny.
The real reasons for not wanting to be asked a question like "Where did you get that idea?" is because the artists usually don't know and they're scared somebody will find out. Mind you, there is a standard element of craft involved (eg. layout, foreground, background). But a piece of artwork would only be an empty shell if it were craft alone. It is the core idea embedded that makes it come alive. Really the truth of the matter is 'they make them up out of their head'. And there is a huge vulnerability in that notion. Mike McCready expresses as much in SVT when he worries about losing his "creative edge". Eddie describes finding the right lyric can be like waiting for a beam of light to strike him.
Anyway, I find the best art can not only withstand scrutiny, rather it grows by actively engaging the work. Speaking of which, with all of these Backspacer reviews coming in from different publications, I realize music with any depth tends to be wasted on most professional music critics who are only interested in how it relates to the altar of 'pop culture' they seem to kneel before. But back to the cover art. Even if we are imagining what wasn't even intended by Mr. Tomorrow, that's okay because it enables us to help elevate Backspacer to a level of insight all Pearl Jam albums deserve. To delve deeper is key because the best music, novels, paintings, etc., always know you better than you can know them; which leaves plenty to discover.
That said, I would love to find the reference used for the locomotive. All along I sort of figured the kid in that illustration represented Jeff. I kept googling things like "Montana steam locomotive" without any success.
If there was a prize for this...............Hidden meanings..............
It would have been solved by now.
You lot have to try harder.
6/29/03 - Montreal, QC 10/1/04 - Reading, PA
10/3/05 - Philadelphia, PA 5/12/06 - Albany, NY
6/27/08 - Hartford, CT (FRONT ROW CENTER!)
8/2/08 - (ev) Boston, MA 6/9/09 - (ev) Albany, NY
8/21/09 - Toronto, ON 5/10/10 - Buffalo, NY
A total longshot but here it goes:
Regarding the picture (#7), you know- the one with the robot and the tv on it's head and the spaceships in the background....I think, and its a long shot and please dont flame me but could it be, a picture of "Smitty", the band's tour manager as a child? I would have never thought of this until I saw the inside artwork with the 1-eyed Chewbacca thing holding the tv and to me, again in just my opinion is "Smitty". Go ahead and roast me here. Just my initial thoughts and reactions!!
My apologies if this was already offered/suggested in the 1st 25 pages.
-EV
this picture is found at: http://www.daysofyesterday.com/odd.html
6/29/03 - Montreal, QC 10/1/04 - Reading, PA
10/3/05 - Philadelphia, PA 5/12/06 - Albany, NY
6/27/08 - Hartford, CT (FRONT ROW CENTER!)
8/2/08 - (ev) Boston, MA 6/9/09 - (ev) Albany, NY
8/21/09 - Toronto, ON 5/10/10 - Buffalo, NY
i say tanned, not black...
no problem with all white women + black "pimp"
So while we continue with the Backspacer cover discovered, I'm lovin the way the PJ Home page has been changing every few days.
Subtley.
Who? noticed the new single hand today on PJ Home.? :ugeek:
"..That's One Happy Fuckin Ghost.."
“..That came up on the Pillow Case...This is for the Greek, With Our Apologies.....”
"Johnny Guitar Watson staring at me
riding on three wheels a woman on his knee
with a leg under a red dress I wish I could see..."
"On the left the girl in red so innocent
...
Can't help but wonder where and who she is."
Seems like maybe they don't quite know either...
Maybe I'm reading too much into it... but it clicked when I looked at the lyrics today.
EV: Los Angeles 4.12.2008, Los Angeles 4.13.2008, Nashville 6.17.2009, Nashville 6.18.2009, Memphis 6.20.2009
we're all reading too much into it LOL!
i have this really odd feeling though that the song was completed before the album artwork was done. :idea:
6/29/03 - Montreal, QC 10/1/04 - Reading, PA
10/3/05 - Philadelphia, PA 5/12/06 - Albany, NY
6/27/08 - Hartford, CT (FRONT ROW CENTER!)
8/2/08 - (ev) Boston, MA 6/9/09 - (ev) Albany, NY
8/21/09 - Toronto, ON 5/10/10 - Buffalo, NY
So maybe "Jerome Turner" brought the lyrics with when he collaborated with Tom Tomorrow on the concept..
This IS fun.
EV: Los Angeles 4.12.2008, Los Angeles 4.13.2008, Nashville 6.17.2009, Nashville 6.18.2009, Memphis 6.20.2009
Every animal on the planet is doing what it can to hear Backspacer.
While we are here, can we talk about the subtle changes in the art work on PJ Home?
I noticed the hand appeared a couple of days ago, then I saw legs floating in, but now, the hand has gone again, like she's floating away. Anyone?
+1.... and we should announce the winner for the girl in red....Arcticangel!!
Thanks for pointing that out...I missed that. :?
EV: It's your band.
~Q Magazine
"Kisses for the glow...kisses for the lease." - BDRII
Ugh, disturbing.... but that's the intention, isn't it. It should disturb people with the manipulation of the corrupt and greedy people using powerful media intended for the purpose of personal gain, at the expense of others.
I hope I'm not hacking this thread...nor do I want to embarrass my husband.... but I found it interesting that on the first page of the book with the eyeless and earless man with the radio.... sending signals (hubby pointed out it looked like a fingerprint).
Back in early August with the artwork hunt on the internet.... hubby had his own interpretation of the artwork and asked me to post his interpretation under his username, mysmallself.
But no one responded to him and he was like *gulps* nobody said anything.... *crickets chirping*
Here's his thread: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=105960&p=2427628#p2427628
He asked me to cut off the bottom, not showing his drawing of Mr. Big Ears and No Eyes. But this was his full drawing: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v17/m ... noears.jpg
He also was saying people aren't really using their brains.... robots following others in the rat pack race...not thinking for themselves. Well, there's that drawing of the band members with tubes attached to their heads to the brain tubebox (whatever you call it).
:P (my apologies to hubby.... :oops: )
EV: It's your band.
~Q Magazine
"Kisses for the glow...kisses for the lease." - BDRII
Haha, well, if this does seem to be the case, I should probably cop to inside info..
I'm the girl in the red dress.
xoxo
EV: Los Angeles 4.12.2008, Los Angeles 4.13.2008, Nashville 6.17.2009, Nashville 6.18.2009, Memphis 6.20.2009
ok perhaps I have to put the bong down, but this is what I'm thinking...
I'm not sure... i like the keith moon nod potential. as in earth shown below and the white skins on the floor bass drum (moon resemblence). just a thought...