Has Pearl Jam changed my life? The answer to that is a resounding YES! Without them I would not have seen the cities I have seen, would not have experienced the life that I have.
But have they 'saved' my life? No, that honor resides only in my nephew. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him, and all he did was being born.
Well, I don't know about them saving my life but they certainly helped me preserve my sanity numerous times. Especially since they basically taught me to play the guitar. (And that, in fact, DID save my life, i think )
I was 12 years old, in the seventh grade, and contemplating suicide back in 1991/92. Except I didn't know what it was called; I just knew I wanted to die.
Jeremy spoke for me. I would spend hours after school watching MTV, back when they actually played music videos. In the video, Jeremy did what I yearned to do. I too had an abusive father and largely absent mother (not her fault tho; she was a single mom, she had to work to support us, but still, absent). I was lonely. At school I was a target for bullies. I absolutely hated life. I wanted to stand up in front of my history class, where I'd endured months of mental torment and sexual harassment from both teacher and students, look each and every one in the eye, and blow my brains out all over the heartless fuckers. I did it vicariously through Jeremy.
And I'm still here.
Try to forget this...
Try to erase this...
From the blackboard.
I was debating on killing myself last year until I listened to the lyrics in Present Tense.
Yeah, Present Tense had the same effect on me, too, and still has sometimes...
But Inside Job really opend my eyes and changed my way of thinking about myself, life and the people around me...
Absolutey and I can fill this thread up with the longest post ever recorded. This band has brought so much to not only my life, but to the lives of hundreds or thousands through me or linked to me. One day I need to write a book...and Present Tense definitely got me through some hard times back in 1996. I get the chills and start crying every time I hear those first few notes by Mike
twice, once in 1994
and again in 2002
they didnt necessarily save my life but the music did provide solace and some direction in 1994
and in 2002, i don't think i would have made it through that year and the next without the music, my life was a mess and riot act and the subsequent tour was just what the Dr ordered.
and honestly, there isnt a day that goes by that i dont listen to the music or remind myself of what the lyrics are saying.
gotta have my daily dose of vitamin pearl jam
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Get it now, get enough, before its gone, let's everybody carry on, carry on....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
www.wishlistfoundation.org
WE WANT YOU!!!!
join the street team http://wishlistfoundation.fancorps.com
"headphones are highly recommended...." Jeff Ament
Absolutey and I can fill this thread up with the longest post ever recorded. This band has brought so much to not only my life, but to the lives of hundreds or thousands through me or linked to me. One day I need to write a book...and Present Tense definitely got me through some hard times back in 1996. I get the chills and start crying every time I hear those first few notes by Mike
Same here. I actually posted in another thread about what the band meant to me...I'll copy it, and it is probably way too long, but I actually shortened it. Yeah, I am just gonna put it all out there. This band deserve so much respect just because of the fact that their art can touch people so deeply.
What does Pearl Jam mean to me? I have never really been able to convey my feelings of "What Pearl Jam means to me" to most of my real life friends and for that matter, my family, because when I attempt to, I usually get...
*blank stare*
This is such a simple question when you read it, but it has evoked the most complex sub-questions in my mind, as I try to answer it. It is a loaded question. As I am compiling my answer, questions arise. Why Me? Why this band and not Coldplay? Why does music affect me more deeply than my neighbor? I am lacking something in my life and am making up for it by replacing it with music? On and on and on and on.
I don't think I can even answer this question. Music has the ability to tap into the mysterious, deep well of my emotions It is not possible for me to explain this in ordinary language, as it can only be felt. Music has always been my boyfriend, my drug. As a kid as early as 6, it could take me away. I can remember choregraphing dances in my head, and totally unaware of anything around me. I hung out with bands all through school in Deep Ellum in Dallas and 6th Street in Austin. It has been the underlying force that has taken me, and helped me through, every stage of life. It makes my world cease to exist for a moment. I get lost, I get overwhelmed, I feel. In other words, it makes my soul dance.
Then, the real world kicked in and I got married young and had a kid right away, was working full time so I could continue school and live my dream of being an environmental lawyer. It was all too hard, and I gave myself up for what others said I needed to be. I was drowning in suburbia. That was in 1991. I was still so young but felt I had lived my life already.
As what I see as fate, I went out with one of my best girlfriends on 12/11/91. We went to our usual hangout in Deep Ellum, one of them being Trees. You could not get in the place. Luckily, her brother was in town and knew most of the club owners in the area. He was in a San Diego band called The Rugburns and we got in. He said we needed to see this band. They were called Pearl Jam. They opened with Wash and I was lost once again, and knew I could never lose that feeling again as I once had, and need to fight to get “me” back. It had an epiphany that night. Yes, this sounds trite and all, but I felt ALIVE.
I have lost myself several more times after 1991. And this band has always helped me out of that deep, dark well. It might be a concert, or just a fucking line from a song. “Release” encouraged me to open communication with my Dad who I had not spoken to for years. Life Wasted (the world awaits you just up the stair, leave the pain for someone else, nothing back there for you to find, or was it you, you left behind) literally pulled me out of that well that I might never have returned from. Present Tense got me to the person that I now am and that I now love.
Pearl Jam’s music, their songs, have been the soundtrack to my life in so many aspects. It is always the right time at the right place. ALWAYS. Many times, it has been a wakeup call. Their music takes my mind on a journey that I am unable to lead myself. It endows me not only aesthetically, but provides intellectual pleasure as well. It touches my soul and leaves an imprint, preparing it for something higher.
This was ridiculously long, but it just need to come out. I guess all I am trying to say is that Pearl Jam means a whole fucking lot to me. I owe them “me”.
I had severe insomnia and depression for about 6 months when I was in college. Binaural came out that May, and at that point I was already a Pearl Jam fan, but I sincerely believe that album was one of the strong threads in the rope that I used to pull myself back to sanity. I'm not going to say that Binaural saved my life, but at the time it was the only thing that could get me to relax enough where I could actually sleep. That meant the world to me.
Chicago 2000 : Chicago 2003 : Chicago 2006 : Summerfest 2006 : Lollapalooza 2007 : Chicago 2009 : Noblesville (Indy) 2010 : PJ20 (East Troy) 2011 : Wrigley Field 2013 : Milwaukee (Yield) 2014 : Wrigley Field 2016
Tried to kill myself with pills. After being taken to the hospital, they did not pump my stomach (I guess because I was conscious, and they thought I had processed it all by then). So, the pills kept on keepin' on through my system. A day or so later, I didn't wake up. Was in a coma with liver failure, and had been put at the top of the list for the next available liver. My parents had basically been told to start planning the funeral.
My best friend would come to the hospital and play Pearl Jam while I was comatose. She brought pictures of the band and put a few up, and would read articles over and over.
5 days later, I woke up. My liver simply started functioning again, after having been shut down completely.
Nurses who had heard of the 'incident' would literally come up to me in awe and touch me, just a gentle touch on the arm. The staff who believed in God called what happened a miracle, while those who did not simply called it inexplicable.
I got called for jury duty this week. The first panel for which I was called was a 35-day trial beginning September 14. There were only three excuses that permitted you to answer "no" if your name was called. Two didn't apply to me, but the third was "pre-paid vacation." It didn't change or save my life, but let's just say that I was very glad to have purchased those plane tickets to Seattle on September 21 as well as tickets to the two shows. Thanks, PJ!
changed my life, yes. i also think they helped me pass exams and my driving test. ed's voice has always been a nerve soother for me. so whenever i had an exam or whatever that i was nervous about - ed's rescue remedy voice would step right in and make the butterflies go away.
Indifference certainly helped me make some wise decisions during a tricky time in my life. I haven't been a fan of PJ's from the start.. Given, for example, my age. But when I found them (a few years ago) it was love at first listen!
I'm lucky to live near a library with a great collection of music so I was able to listen to Ten and Vs. before actually having the money to buy them.
The first time I heard Indifference.. It was late at night, I was getting ready to go to bed and was thinking about a lot of stuff that was going on with my friends. I was feeling exhausted and emotionally wiped out cause my friends (or so-called-friends as it seemed at the time) were using me as someone who was always there to listen and always there to make everyone else happy and feel good. I was the one everyone bitched and moaned to about everything and everyone and I felt as if nobody really gave two craps about how I felt or what was going on with me. It was draining.
And then.. I will hold the candle till it burns up my arm/I'll keep takin punches until their will grows tired
Even if the lyrics weren't completely reflective of the situation I was in, they made me think. And they made me stand up for myself. And I haven't looked back since.
"Don't be faint-hearted, I have a solution! We shall go and commandeer some small craft, then drift at leisure until we happen upon another ideal place for our waterside supper with riparian entertainments."
Comments
"Vinyl or not, you will need to pay someone to take RA of your hands" - Smile05
424, xxx
Oh wait, that isn't what this thread is about...
But have they 'saved' my life? No, that honor resides only in my nephew. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him, and all he did was being born.
really? Thats pretty incredible. Very cool indeed.
I was 12 years old, in the seventh grade, and contemplating suicide back in 1991/92. Except I didn't know what it was called; I just knew I wanted to die.
Jeremy spoke for me. I would spend hours after school watching MTV, back when they actually played music videos. In the video, Jeremy did what I yearned to do. I too had an abusive father and largely absent mother (not her fault tho; she was a single mom, she had to work to support us, but still, absent). I was lonely. At school I was a target for bullies. I absolutely hated life. I wanted to stand up in front of my history class, where I'd endured months of mental torment and sexual harassment from both teacher and students, look each and every one in the eye, and blow my brains out all over the heartless fuckers. I did it vicariously through Jeremy.
And I'm still here.
Try to erase this...
From the blackboard.
Yeah, Present Tense had the same effect on me, too, and still has sometimes...
But Inside Job really opend my eyes and changed my way of thinking about myself, life and the people around me...
BRISBANE 1998,2003,2006,2009!!!
Christchurch 2009
Oh I'm a lucky man to count those I love on two hands
come say hi on facebook http://www.facebook.com/sean.montgomery
and again in 2002
they didnt necessarily save my life but the music did provide solace and some direction in 1994
and in 2002, i don't think i would have made it through that year and the next without the music, my life was a mess and riot act and the subsequent tour was just what the Dr ordered.
and honestly, there isnt a day that goes by that i dont listen to the music or remind myself of what the lyrics are saying.
gotta have my daily dose of vitamin pearl jam
Get it now, get enough, before its gone, let's everybody carry on, carry on....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
www.wishlistfoundation.org
WE WANT YOU!!!!
join the street team
http://wishlistfoundation.fancorps.com
"headphones are highly recommended...." Jeff Ament
Same here. I actually posted in another thread about what the band meant to me...I'll copy it, and it is probably way too long, but I actually shortened it. Yeah, I am just gonna put it all out there. This band deserve so much respect just because of the fact that their art can touch people so deeply.
What does Pearl Jam mean to me? I have never really been able to convey my feelings of "What Pearl Jam means to me" to most of my real life friends and for that matter, my family, because when I attempt to, I usually get...
*blank stare*
This is such a simple question when you read it, but it has evoked the most complex sub-questions in my mind, as I try to answer it. It is a loaded question. As I am compiling my answer, questions arise. Why Me? Why this band and not Coldplay? Why does music affect me more deeply than my neighbor? I am lacking something in my life and am making up for it by replacing it with music? On and on and on and on.
I don't think I can even answer this question. Music has the ability to tap into the mysterious, deep well of my emotions It is not possible for me to explain this in ordinary language, as it can only be felt. Music has always been my boyfriend, my drug. As a kid as early as 6, it could take me away. I can remember choregraphing dances in my head, and totally unaware of anything around me. I hung out with bands all through school in Deep Ellum in Dallas and 6th Street in Austin. It has been the underlying force that has taken me, and helped me through, every stage of life. It makes my world cease to exist for a moment. I get lost, I get overwhelmed, I feel. In other words, it makes my soul dance.
Then, the real world kicked in and I got married young and had a kid right away, was working full time so I could continue school and live my dream of being an environmental lawyer. It was all too hard, and I gave myself up for what others said I needed to be. I was drowning in suburbia. That was in 1991. I was still so young but felt I had lived my life already.
As what I see as fate, I went out with one of my best girlfriends on 12/11/91. We went to our usual hangout in Deep Ellum, one of them being Trees. You could not get in the place. Luckily, her brother was in town and knew most of the club owners in the area. He was in a San Diego band called The Rugburns and we got in. He said we needed to see this band. They were called Pearl Jam. They opened with Wash and I was lost once again, and knew I could never lose that feeling again as I once had, and need to fight to get “me” back. It had an epiphany that night. Yes, this sounds trite and all, but I felt ALIVE.
I have lost myself several more times after 1991. And this band has always helped me out of that deep, dark well. It might be a concert, or just a fucking line from a song. “Release” encouraged me to open communication with my Dad who I had not spoken to for years. Life Wasted (the world awaits you just up the stair, leave the pain for someone else, nothing back there for you to find, or was it you, you left behind) literally pulled me out of that well that I might never have returned from. Present Tense got me to the person that I now am and that I now love.
Pearl Jam’s music, their songs, have been the soundtrack to my life in so many aspects. It is always the right time at the right place. ALWAYS. Many times, it has been a wakeup call. Their music takes my mind on a journey that I am unable to lead myself. It endows me not only aesthetically, but provides intellectual pleasure as well. It touches my soul and leaves an imprint, preparing it for something higher.
This was ridiculously long, but it just need to come out. I guess all I am trying to say is that Pearl Jam means a whole fucking lot to me. I owe them “me”.
No wait, yes.
Tried to kill myself with pills. After being taken to the hospital, they did not pump my stomach (I guess because I was conscious, and they thought I had processed it all by then). So, the pills kept on keepin' on through my system. A day or so later, I didn't wake up. Was in a coma with liver failure, and had been put at the top of the list for the next available liver. My parents had basically been told to start planning the funeral.
My best friend would come to the hospital and play Pearl Jam while I was comatose. She brought pictures of the band and put a few up, and would read articles over and over.
5 days later, I woke up. My liver simply started functioning again, after having been shut down completely.
Nurses who had heard of the 'incident' would literally come up to me in awe and touch me, just a gentle touch on the arm. The staff who believed in God called what happened a miracle, while those who did not simply called it inexplicable.
I think it was the PJ
Indifference certainly helped me make some wise decisions during a tricky time in my life. I haven't been a fan of PJ's from the start.. Given, for example, my age. But when I found them (a few years ago) it was love at first listen!
I'm lucky to live near a library with a great collection of music so I was able to listen to Ten and Vs. before actually having the money to buy them.
The first time I heard Indifference.. It was late at night, I was getting ready to go to bed and was thinking about a lot of stuff that was going on with my friends. I was feeling exhausted and emotionally wiped out cause my friends (or so-called-friends as it seemed at the time) were using me as someone who was always there to listen and always there to make everyone else happy and feel good. I was the one everyone bitched and moaned to about everything and everyone and I felt as if nobody really gave two craps about how I felt or what was going on with me. It was draining.
And then.. I will hold the candle till it burns up my arm/I'll keep takin punches until their will grows tired
Even if the lyrics weren't completely reflective of the situation I was in, they made me think. And they made me stand up for myself. And I haven't looked back since.