I am very glad that you put into a lot of effort on your review.
I am one of those A.D.D. folks. :P And jobless. :P
But I always find ways around reading long posts/books by taking breaks. I bookmark or keep the links to long posts/articles and come back later. I really enjoy thought provoking and especially creative writing.
FYI - firefox came up with a great new plug called Read It Later. Found it useful! Can easily add/delete for later.
That's what I'm doing for your post, RockKing. It's ironic how I'd write long posts but take forever in reading others, depending on my attention span. But I always make an effort to finish reading them.
BTW, hubby was concerned about writing a long review on Backspacer... I told him so what? If they don't want to read it, they don't have to. Simply skip the thread, their choice.
Thanks, man.
JA: Why do I get the Ticketmaster question?
EV: It's your band.
~Q Magazine
"Kisses for the glow...kisses for the lease." - BDRII
Pearl Jam has always been a band to more or less wear their heart on their sleeves, and in the days of their decadent youth they truly were restless souls. You didn’t have to look much further beyond their song and album titles for clues to what Pearl Jam was all about. In their first 3 albums you had the likes of “Vitalogy”, “Alive”, “Deep”, “Immortality”, “Oceans”, and “Garden” all showing their spirit of life, youth, and vitality. Counterbalancing the inherent optimism those adjectives describe were elements of anger, frustration, and darkness with titles like “Vs”, “Not For You”, “Black”, “Blood”, “Whipping”, “Indifference”, “Dissident”, “Rats”, “Bugs”, and ”Nothingman”.
For many fans, it was always that balance, that melting pot of conflict between optimism and despair that made Pearl Jam so essential. But even more importantly, it was this balance and conflict that made Pearl Jam so intriguing and the reason so many fans spent so much time pouring over lyrics and trying to decipher the true meanings of the songs. This ambiguous nature behind all context of this mainstream band is what made them who they were. It was a band that wore their heart on their sleeves, and yet it was a band that most fans really didn’t know anything about. Stories were fabricated about the origin of the name Pearl Jam. The story of how the band found Eddie Vedder is told with the same vigor and feeling of chance as the greatest of folklore tales or the legends of ancient Greek mythology. A reverence for Andy Wood, a person 99.9999% of the fans never ever knew existed while he was still alive was held up as a tragic but necessary figure in the history of Pearl Jam.
It was under this backdrop of mystery and intrigue that so many of us came to develop our own understandings and interpretations of what this band was all about and who they really were. Ed’s song spoke to us on such a personal level, not because Ed knew our situations and what we were going through, but because he was able to be vague enough to allow us to apply our own scenarios to his words without being so obscure as to not give us a central point to anchor everything. It’s easy to understand why this was the most important band in the world to so many diverse people. Pearl Jam could speak to the well off upper class suburban spoon fed kids just as much as the middle class rebellious punks and the lower class survivors. We all had a stake in this band, and they genuinely made us care about their music.
When Pearl Jam went through the phase of deconstructing themselves and their fans with No Code, they dismantled their own empire. They pulled the rug out from underneath the structure as it existed at that time and left everything in a pile of rubble. They then took the ruins of their empire and what was left, and through the album YIELD, they rebuilt themselves into something completely different. And as is often the case, when you make your masterpiece, things will never be the same. The transition of No Code and YIELD was important to the longevity of the band, and it’s what gave us their greatest album, YIELD. But you sometimes can’t help but wonder how different their legacy would have been had they just let themselves burn out and explode like the supernova that they were. Perhaps I’m getting off point here, but beginning with Binaural, the band was different.
Suddenly, the windows into the world of Pearl Jam were opened. Songs that contained overtly political overtones such as “Soon Forget”, “Rival”, and “Grievance” started popping up. This was a band that no longer cared about ambiguity. This was a band who suddenly wanted to make a very specific difference in the world, and they were now going to create a vibe of either with us or against us that would begin to alienate even more fans.
But even among those of us who were generally “with them” in terms of their politics, there was a feeling of unease. It wasn’t so much that we disagreed, but it was more that we didn’t want to spoken down to like that. We didn’t want to be told what was right and wrong. We missed the lyrical nebulous of the first phase of the band’s career. But things were only going to get worse with the advent of Riot Act and PJ8. Suddenly there was no mystery left whatsoever, just an in your face political message and a spacious disconnect between the life of glamour the band seemed to be living and the daily strife the band seemed to be speaking to.
So it was under this pretense that the band gave us Backspacer. For the first time since YIELD, the band delivered an album free of clear political messages. Sure, you’ve got the line “Are you getting out? Are you dropping bombs? Have you heard of diplomatic resolve?” But it comes to us as a throwaway line in a song about a band being able to deliver a rock song to jump start your day. In its entirety, Backspacer is a very introverted album, and it’s refreshing to once again have some puzzles that we as fans can, not necessarily solve, but fit into our own lives.
The music of Backspacer is very lighthearted and fun, but there are some lyrics and songs on the album that have some meat on them. By no means is it a concept album of any kind whatsoever, but you see the recurring themes of longing and reconciliation. Once a band full of life and vigor, Pearl Jam seems to be a band staring at its own mortality and trying to set things right before we reach The End. There is a constant feeling on this album of someone trying to reach for something that is just beyond our reach. But it also feels like its Ed coming to terms with what it means to be in a band. So many of these songs seem to be talking about Pearl Jam themselves as a band rather than external forces. Of course, this is all open to interpretation as this really is a pretty ambiguous album. But it is worth noting that Ed is the sole lyricist on this album, getting credit for every single word on the album, and as a result, the message seems to be concise and consistent.
Gonna See My Friend
Pearl Jam has never been a band to struggle with finding ways to open their albums. They tend to know how to kick things off, and this song is no exception. This is Ed writing a raucous Who song that Pete Townshend himself would probably love to play. Lyrically, Ed is already taking on a sense of mortality. “Wanna hear something sick? We are but victims of desire. I’m gonna shake this thing, I wanna shake this pain before I retire.” I’ve read where some have wondered if this is a song about addiction and getting a fix from a dealer. “Buona sera, won’t be long before we all walk off the wire. I’m gonna see my friend, gonna see my friend for what I require.” It’s easy to see how that could fit, and maybe that is what Ed’s going for here, but as I am prone to do, I tend to find a more figurative meaning.
“I’m gonna see my friend, make it go away” is followed by “Wanna feel withdrawal. Want an overhaul. Wanna be there, hard as a statue, black as a tattoo, never to wash away.” Wow. At this point, nailing down this song become tricky. Ed wants to see his friend for what he requires, but yet he also wants to feel withdrawal? He wants to make it go away, yet he wants it to be there black as a tattoo, never to wash away? These are seemingly contradictory sentiments. On the other hand, maybe it just shows some doubt and reservations. Whatever it is that the protagonist here needs or wants to do is pretty unclear, but we can apply it to just about anything.
What this means is that the point of this song is not the person or thing that Ed is trying to reconcile with. Instead, the point of the song, to me, is that Ed is ready to start fixing things. Something in Ed’s life seems to be broken, or perhaps something has been wronged, and before we reach The End, Ed is going to make things right.
Got Some
Lyrically this is probably the least interesting song on the album. It really doesn’t say anything. The only thing that I find worth noting about it is that it does have a few lines that fit into my central theme for this album.
Overall, I guess this song is supposed to be about being able to write a good rock song that can get you going when you’re having trouble getting your day started. “Every time you can try but can’t turn on your rock song. Got some if you need it. Get it now, get it on, before it’s gone. Lets everybody carry on, carry on. Get it now, set it off, before it’s gone. Get everybody, carry on, carrying on.” So again it fits in with the theme of this being an autobiographical narrative about being in a band. You also have a reference to The End in this song, in the line “Turn it up, set it off, before we’re gone.”
The Fixer
Going back to the possibility of this album being about drugs, you certainly have a good trio of songs to start things off with Gonna See Me Friend (the dealer), Got Some (the dealer has drugs if you need them), and now The Fixer (aka, the dealer). When you have issues, and when you need something to make things seem better, the fixer can help you. The joke would truly be on us if this literal interpretation really was what these songs are about. However, I just don’t see it. To me, these lyrics seem purely allegorical in nature.
Stone has said in interviews that he thought this song was about Ed always working to make Pearl Jam’s songs “better”. I’m not sure it’s that specific. I think this song is just, again, about someone who wants to make things right. Whatever the issue is, that’s not really important. The message I take away from this is about reconciliation and redemption. Longing to make things right, fighting to get it back again. Once more, we also have a loose nod of the head to The End in “I’ll dig your grave. We’ll dance and sing. Who knows, could be our last lifetime.” Things are in motion and The End is getting closer, and we’re running out of time to make things right. Fight to get it back again.
Johnny Guitar
Johnny Guitar gives us our first break from the theme of the album that the first 3 songs set up. This song is one of my favorite songs lyrically, though. Even musically, I think this one is great. It’s quirky, it’s different, and it’s catchy. There’s no real verse-chorus-verse structure here. Lyrically it’s about someone seeing a picture of a girl on an album cover and becoming infatuated with her. Who is she? Why is she there? What events in her life led here to that moment when she was captured on the album cover. Our protagonist applies attributes and characteristics to this person, and he begins to fall in love with her, only to be disappointed that when she finally comes to him in his dreams, she’s actually looking for Johnny Watson.
This song is totally relatable to me as someone who grew up looking at girls on magazine covers, album covers, TV shows, music videos, whatever, and developing an infatuation and a fascination with them. Just like the guy in this song, I too have imagined what certain fictional girls were like, so I think this song is a classic piece of storytelling.
The one way this song does tie in to the central themes of this album is through this sense of longing. Waiting and hoping for someone or something to come. We’ll see this idea expanded later in Force of Nature, but whereas the first 3 songs have been primarily about redemption, this one talks a bit about reconciliation and longing. This isn’t the main point of the song, but I find it interesting that these themes are still present even in a fun little song like this.
Just Breathe
In my opinion, this is one of the most beautiful songs Ed has ever written. And the way Brendan O’Brien put it together with all the orchestration is perfect, in my opinion. Reconciliation is the theme here. We have our reference to The End in this song when Ed says “Nothing you would take, everything you gave. Hold me till I die, meet you on the other side.” So again, Ed is looking at The End and it’s weighing on his mind, and he wants to make sure someone important to him knows how much he loves her.
“Did I say that I need you? Did I say that I want you? Oh, if I didn’t, now I’m a fool you see. No one knows this more than me as I come clean.” Ed wants to set things straight and make things right. “As we sit alone, I know someday we must go. I’m a lucky man to count on both hands the ones I love.” I’m not sure where this fixation on The End comes from, nor do I know what The End necessarily is. It doesn’t have to be death. It could be The End of the band, The End of his marriage, The End of some other phase of his life. Whatever the case, it’s becoming quite clear that Ed is seeking redemption before he reaches The End.
Amongst The Waves
This may be my favorite song on the album. Musically, it’s Stone Gossard doing what he does best from a song writing standpoint. Definitively the most soaring song on the album, the chorus evicts the same feelings within me as a song like In Hiding or Given To Fly does. In fact, I think the music of this song would be able to fit right at home on YIELD, if not the lyrics. I don’t hear a whole lot of YIELD on Backspacer, but this is one song where I hear it in spades.
For the first time on this album, Ed is really allowing himself some peace. He’s reflecting and realizing the redemption he has achieved. “Riding high amongst the waves, I can feel like I have a soul that has been saved. I can feel like I put away my early grave.” So here Ed is looking at The End, but for the first time he really seems to be pushing it away and instead recognizing that the mortality that The End represents doesn’t have to be coming so soon.
Waves represent peaks and valleys, and I think Ed is allowing himself to embrace that fact. “Remember back the early days when you were young and thus amazed. Suddenly the channel changed the first time you saw blood. Cut to later, now you’re strong. You’ve bled yourself, the wounds are gone. It’s rare then when nothing’s wrong. Survived , and you’re among the fittest. Love ain’t love until you give it up, riding high amongst the waves.” Such powerful stuff there. Maybe my favorite lines of this entire album. We’ve been up, and we’ve been down, but when you’re riding the peaks of the waves, life couldn’t be better. “Gotta say it now. Better loud than too late.” Embrace it before it’s too late.
Unthought Known
As we are now getting ever closer to The End, Ed begins to symbolize this finite realization by talking about the setting moon. In most common usages of its symbolism, the moon represents the counter acting agent to the sun. Darkness to the light. However, in Tarot readings, the moon card represents life of the imagination independent of the life of the spirit. This is fascinating because if you do a Google search on the term ‘Unthought Known’, you’ll find that in 1987 a British psychologist named Christopher Bollas wrote a book called “The Shadow of the Object. Psychoanalysis of the Unthought Known.” I found an article published by Michael Robbins in the “Systems Centered News” in July 2008 in which he talks about what, exactly, Unthought Known really means:
“What then is the “unthought known”? Christopher Bollas first coined this provocative phrase in 1987 (Bollas, 1987). Basically it refers to what we “know” but for a variety of reasons may not be able to think about, have “forgotten”, “act out”, or have an “intuitive sense for” but cannot yet put into words. In psychoanalytic terms, it refers to the boundary between the “unconscious” and the “conscious” mind, i.e. the “preconscious mind.” In systems-centered terms, it refers to the boundary between what we know apprehensively, without words, and what we know, or will allow ourselves to know, comprehensively with words.”
This relates to the tarot’s interpretation of the moon as in the separation of the spirit of the imagination from life itself. If you think about this, it can apply to almost anything in life. I have always said that technology advances not at the rate of achievement, but at the rate of imagination. For example, we’ve known how to have satellites orbit the earth for 40 years, but we never fully imagined, or realized, what that advancement could mean to us in our daily lives. It wasn’t until someone had the imagination to create objects that could harness this technology that we saw advancements in cell phones, TV signals, radio signals, etc. So, too, does personal growth advance not at the rate of achievement, but at the rate of imagination. There’s this unthought known inside of us all, but until we realize it, we’re walking through life with blinders on.
“Dream the dreams of other men, you’ll be no one’s rival.” In other words, unlock your own unthought known and you will achieve more than you ever dreamed. “Feel the sky blanket you with gems and rhinestones. See the path cut the moon, for you to walk on.” As the moon is setting, it’s bringing about The End. We don’t know what’s on the other side, but what if it’s another sunrise? Perhaps the key to it all is to set things right with those you love, and only then can you have the redemption represented by a new dawn.
Supersonic
After the lyrical depth of Unthought Known, it’s time for us to take a little break. So Ed wrote a little love song. Not about a girl, but about rock music. So once more we have an autobiographical take on what rock music means to the band, or Ed in particular. Musically, this is again an obvious Stone song that harkens back to Mankind with a new twist. The bridge to this song is some of the band’s finest work on this album. After doing a LOT of thinking in the songs Just Breathe, Amongst The Waves, and Unthought Known (the trilogy that really represents the heart and soul of this album to me), it’s nice to just let loose and have some fun with this song. A song that just happens to about how great rock music can be. I couldn’t agree more.
Speed Of Sound
This is another song about longing for something, but life moving by so quickly you can’t reach it. “Yesterdays, how quick they change. All lost and gone now. It’s hard to remember anything moving at the speed of sound. And yet I’m still holding tight to this dream of distant light, and that somehow I’ll survive. But this night has been a long one, waiting on a sun that just don’t come.”
So not only is Ed longing for something, but he is also scared that the setting moon we discussed in Unthought Known may not be bringing a new dawn. And if the setting moon doesn’t bring the rising sun, then we are left with nothing. From the autobiographical point of view, the line “Why deny this drive inside? Just looking for some peace” is very telling to me. Perhaps Ed is saying that he wishes he could reach back to the way he was in his 20s, but he has to try to realize that now he is older, more at peace with himself, and just trying to make good music. “But this night has been a long one, waiting on a word that never comes. A whisper in the dark…is that you or just my thoughts? Wide awake and reaching out.”
Force Of Nature
Plenty more of our common themes can be found in this song. Once more, we have a realization of The End and a sense of longing and waiting for reconciliation. You even have some more drug references with references to Alice In Wonderland and contraband. But again, just as Alice In Wonderland is one of the greatest metaphorical stories ever written, so too are these songs metaphors for something deeper. “Somewhere there’s a siren singing a song only he hears. All the strength that you might think would disappear, resolving. One man stands alone, awaiting for her to come home. Eyes upon the horizon in dark before the darkness meets the dawn.” More darkness and waiting for daylight, and longing for someone or something to come to him.
This song is more powerful imagery as far as I’m concerned. Some may find it cheesy, but I find it to be relatable material and the power of Ed’s vocals, particularly in the chorus, really moves me. Standing on the shore of some great ocean, looking out for something that might or might not be out there, it’s a picture I have painted in my head many times in my life. It reminds me a lot of one of my favorite songs of all times, “The Great Below” by Nine Inch Nails: “Staring at the sea, will she come? Is there hope for me after all is said and done? Anything at any price, all of this for you…..Ocean pulls me close and whispers in my ear. The destiny I’ve chose, all becoming clear. The currents have their say, the time is drawing near. Washes me away, makes me disappear. And I descend from grace, in arms of undertow. I will take my place in the great below.” It’s staggering to me how much these 2 songs line up together. Longing for something on the horizon, all while sensing the closing in of The End.
Ed goes back to the moon again when he says “Last I saw, he was out there waiting. A silhouette in the black light, full moon glow. In the sand he stands upon the shore, forevermore.” I’ve read a couple reviews say they felt Ed’s lyrics were lazy on this album because they were so repetitive. That could be, and maybe I’m reading too much into things like I always do, but for me these lyrics are so profound even despite the repetition. Repetition doesn’t have to be lazy, it can sometimes be a device to drive home a point, and there’s a sense of urgency in this repetition that tells me that Ed is being more sincere on this album than anything else he’s done in a long time.
The End
The somewhat-climactic finish to this album. I say somewhat-climactic because we’re not given any answers. Just more questions are left lingering. The words themselves are so desperate on this song. This is one of the shortest songs on the album, but it has more lyrics than most songs. Ed had a lot to say in a short period of time on this song.
Ed is pleading for reconciliation and redemption on this song. “More than friends I always pledged, ‘cause friends they come and go. People change as does everything. I wanted to grow old, just want to grow old. Slide on next to me, I’m just a human being. I will take the blame, but just the same, this is not me. You see, believe, I’m better than this.” Ed is practically begging in this song, asking for another chance. “Don’t leave me so cold or buried beneath the stones. I just want to hold on and know I’m worth your love. Enough. I don’t think there’s such a thing.”
You get the feeling that Ed senses this is his last shot at redemption with whoever this song is about. It doesn’t necessarily have to be about a romantic relationship, either. A lot of the same sentiments can be applied to any platonic relationship that is important to us. The moral, though, that seems to be driven home is to not waste your opportunities to tell people what they mean to you and how important they are to you.
We also get one last take from the would-be autobiographical point of view, when Ed says “It’s my fault, now I’ve been caught. A sickness in my bones. How it pains to leave you here, with the kids on your own. Just don’t let me go.” When you read these lyrics, you wonder if Ed is beginning to tire of touring and being in a band. Perhaps it’s weighing on him more than we can tell. Were it not for all of Ed’s talk about how much he loves where the band is at now on a personal level, and how much fun he’s having with the band, and how happy he is with their process of making music, I would wonder if Ed was writing his farewell to the fans and explaining why he was leaving us.
Instead, Ed finishes with “Before I disappear, whisper in my ear. Give me something to echo in my unknown future’s ear. My dear, The End comes near. I’m here [gasp] but not much longer.” And with that jarring gasp, The End has come. I simply love the way this album closes like that. We’ve reach The End, and now what? It’s up to us to decide. It depends on our unique interpretation of these songs, and this is precisely what I have been missing from Pearl Jam’s music for so long.
In Ed’s case, I think The End represents not the end of the band, not the end of his marriage, not the end of his life…..but instead, I think it represents The End of the time he gets to spend with his family. It’s a tearful goodbye to his loved ones as he leaves them once more to head back out on tour.
Summary/Conclusion
If you think about what the title “Backspacer” represents, I think it could be more symbolic than I initially realized. The Backspacer key on a typewriter is used to go back and make changes to something you wrote. It represents the ability to offer up a second take. In life, we often long for a Backspacer key that could allow us to go back and have a second chance. And that’s what redemption gives us. Redemption is the ability to wash away the mistakes of yesterday and to have a second life, or a second chance.
Backspacer, the album, covers a lot of ground and there are hundreds of different topics and themes that I didn’t cover here. Some of it is nonsense and some of it beyond my grasp. But when you have one lyricist delivering all of the lyrics, it can be fun to try to decipher the artist’s mindset, and from there you can begin to piece together the central themes of what the album is really all about. If YIELD is an accidental concept album, I would say Backspacer is a pretty good contrast to that. On Backspacer, I don’t get the sense anything is accidental, hence the recurring themes and imagery.
Most importantly to me on a personal level, Backspacer represents Pearl Jam getting a second chance with me. I’ve been waiting for so long for an album like this from Pearl Jam. It’s finally something I can find ways to relate to, and musically it eliminates the muddiness of the past few albums where the band often tried too hard or did too much.
The most essential element that remains for me is the test of time. As of right now, Backspacer is unquestionably my favorite Pearl Jam album since YIELD. For the first time since around 2000 I feel like I’m back on the same page both musically and lyrically with the band. Will it last? Will these songs hold up? Only time can answer that question.
You present an interesting argument.
Pearl Jam has always been a band to more or less wear their heart on their sleeves, and in the days of their decadent youth they truly were restless souls. You didn’t have to look much further beyond their song and album titles for clues to what Pearl Jam was all about. In their first 3 albums you had the likes of “Vitalogy”, “Alive”, “Deep”, “Immortality”, “Oceans”, and “Garden” all showing their spirit of life, youth, and vitality. Counterbalancing the inherent optimism those adjectives describe were elements of anger, frustration, and darkness with titles like “Vs”, “Not For You”, “Black”, “Blood”, “Whipping”, “Indifference”, “Dissident”, “Rats”, “Bugs”, and ”Nothingman”.
For many fans, it was always that balance, that melting pot of conflict between optimism and despair that made Pearl Jam so essential. But even more importantly, it was this balance and conflict that made Pearl Jam so intriguing and the reason so many fans spent so much time pouring over lyrics and trying to decipher the true meanings of the songs. This ambiguous nature behind all context of this mainstream band is what made them who they were. It was a band that wore their heart on their sleeves, and yet it was a band that most fans really didn’t know anything about. Stories were fabricated about the origin of the name Pearl Jam. The story of how the band found Eddie Vedder is told with the same vigor and feeling of chance as the greatest of folklore tales or the legends of ancient Greek mythology. A reverence for Andy Wood, a person 99.9999% of the fans never ever knew existed while he was still alive was held up as a tragic but necessary figure in the history of Pearl Jam.
It was under this backdrop of mystery and intrigue that so many of us came to develop our own understandings and interpretations of what this band was all about and who they really were. Ed’s song spoke to us on such a personal level, not because Ed knew our situations and what we were going through, but because he was able to be vague enough to allow us to apply our own scenarios to his words without being so obscure as to not give us a central point to anchor everything. It’s easy to understand why this was the most important band in the world to so many diverse people. Pearl Jam could speak to the well off upper class suburban spoon fed kids just as much as the middle class rebellious punks and the lower class survivors. We all had a stake in this band, and they genuinely made us care about their music.
When Pearl Jam went through the phase of deconstructing themselves and their fans with No Code, they dismantled their own empire. They pulled the rug out from underneath the structure as it existed at that time and left everything in a pile of rubble. They then took the ruins of their empire and what was left, and through the album YIELD, they rebuilt themselves into something completely different. And as is often the case, when you make your masterpiece, things will never be the same. The transition of No Code and YIELD was important to the longevity of the band, and it’s what gave us their greatest album, YIELD. But you sometimes can’t help but wonder how different their legacy would have been had they just let themselves burn out and explode like the supernova that they were. Perhaps I’m getting off point here, but beginning with Binaural, the band was different.
Suddenly, the windows into the world of Pearl Jam were opened. Songs that contained overtly political overtones such as “Soon Forget”, “Rival”, and “Grievance” started popping up. This was a band that no longer cared about ambiguity. This was a band who suddenly wanted to make a very specific difference in the world, and they were now going to create a vibe of either with us or against us that would begin to alienate even more fans.
But even among those of us who were generally “with them” in terms of their politics, there was a feeling of unease. It wasn’t so much that we disagreed, but it was more that we didn’t want to spoken down to like that. We didn’t want to be told what was right and wrong. We missed the lyrical nebulous of the first phase of the band’s career. But things were only going to get worse with the advent of Riot Act and PJ8. Suddenly there was no mystery left whatsoever, just an in your face political message and a spacious disconnect between the life of glamour the band seemed to be living and the daily strife the band seemed to be speaking to.
So it was under this pretense that the band gave us Backspacer. For the first time since YIELD, the band delivered an album free of clear political messages. Sure, you’ve got the line “Are you getting out? Are you dropping bombs? Have you heard of diplomatic resolve?” But it comes to us as a throwaway line in a song about a band being able to deliver a rock song to jump start your day. In its entirety, Backspacer is a very introverted album, and it’s refreshing to once again have some puzzles that we as fans can, not necessarily solve, but fit into our own lives.
The music of Backspacer is very lighthearted and fun, but there are some lyrics and songs on the album that have some meat on them. By no means is it a concept album of any kind whatsoever, but you see the recurring themes of longing and reconciliation. Once a band full of life and vigor, Pearl Jam seems to be a band staring at its own mortality and trying to set things right before we reach The End. There is a constant feeling on this album of someone trying to reach for something that is just beyond our reach. But it also feels like its Ed coming to terms with what it means to be in a band. So many of these songs seem to be talking about Pearl Jam themselves as a band rather than external forces. Of course, this is all open to interpretation as this really is a pretty ambiguous album. But it is worth noting that Ed is the sole lyricist on this album, getting credit for every single word on the album, and as a result, the message seems to be concise and consistent.
Gonna See My Friend
Pearl Jam has never been a band to struggle with finding ways to open their albums. They tend to know how to kick things off, and this song is no exception. This is Ed writing a raucous Who song that Pete Townshend himself would probably love to play. Lyrically, Ed is already taking on a sense of mortality. “Wanna hear something sick? We are but victims of desire. I’m gonna shake this thing, I wanna shake this pain before I retire.” I’ve read where some have wondered if this is a song about addiction and getting a fix from a dealer. “Buona sera, won’t be long before we all walk off the wire. I’m gonna see my friend, gonna see my friend for what I require.” It’s easy to see how that could fit, and maybe that is what Ed’s going for here, but as I am prone to do, I tend to find a more figurative meaning.
“I’m gonna see my friend, make it go away” is followed by “Wanna feel withdrawal. Want an overhaul. Wanna be there, hard as a statue, black as a tattoo, never to wash away.” Wow. At this point, nailing down this song become tricky. Ed wants to see his friend for what he requires, but yet he also wants to feel withdrawal? He wants to make it go away, yet he wants it to be there black as a tattoo, never to wash away? These are seemingly contradictory sentiments. On the other hand, maybe it just shows some doubt and reservations. Whatever it is that the protagonist here needs or wants to do is pretty unclear, but we can apply it to just about anything.
What this means is that the point of this song is not the person or thing that Ed is trying to reconcile with. Instead, the point of the song, to me, is that Ed is ready to start fixing things. Something in Ed’s life seems to be broken, or perhaps something has been wronged, and before we reach The End, Ed is going to make things right.
Got Some
Lyrically this is probably the least interesting song on the album. It really doesn’t say anything. The only thing that I find worth noting about it is that it does have a few lines that fit into my central theme for this album.
Overall, I guess this song is supposed to be about being able to write a good rock song that can get you going when you’re having trouble getting your day started. “Every time you can try but can’t turn on your rock song. Got some if you need it. Get it now, get it on, before it’s gone. Lets everybody carry on, carry on. Get it now, set it off, before it’s gone. Get everybody, carry on, carrying on.” So again it fits in with the theme of this being an autobiographical narrative about being in a band. You also have a reference to The End in this song, in the line “Turn it up, set it off, before we’re gone.”
The Fixer
Going back to the possibility of this album being about drugs, you certainly have a good trio of songs to start things off with Gonna See Me Friend (the dealer), Got Some (the dealer has drugs if you need them), and now The Fixer (aka, the dealer). When you have issues, and when you need something to make things seem better, the fixer can help you. The joke would truly be on us if this literal interpretation really was what these songs are about. However, I just don’t see it. To me, these lyrics seem purely allegorical in nature.
Stone has said in interviews that he thought this song was about Ed always working to make Pearl Jam’s songs “better”. I’m not sure it’s that specific. I think this song is just, again, about someone who wants to make things right. Whatever the issue is, that’s not really important. The message I take away from this is about reconciliation and redemption. Longing to make things right, fighting to get it back again. Once more, we also have a loose nod of the head to The End in “I’ll dig your grave. We’ll dance and sing. Who knows, could be our last lifetime.” Things are in motion and The End is getting closer, and we’re running out of time to make things right. Fight to get it back again.
Johnny Guitar
Johnny Guitar gives us our first break from the theme of the album that the first 3 songs set up. This song is one of my favorite songs lyrically, though. Even musically, I think this one is great. It’s quirky, it’s different, and it’s catchy. There’s no real verse-chorus-verse structure here. Lyrically it’s about someone seeing a picture of a girl on an album cover and becoming infatuated with her. Who is she? Why is she there? What events in her life led here to that moment when she was captured on the album cover. Our protagonist applies attributes and characteristics to this person, and he begins to fall in love with her, only to be disappointed that when she finally comes to him in his dreams, she’s actually looking for Johnny Watson.
This song is totally relatable to me as someone who grew up looking at girls on magazine covers, album covers, TV shows, music videos, whatever, and developing an infatuation and a fascination with them. Just like the guy in this song, I too have imagined what certain fictional girls were like, so I think this song is a classic piece of storytelling.
The one way this song does tie in to the central themes of this album is through this sense of longing. Waiting and hoping for someone or something to come. We’ll see this idea expanded later in Force of Nature, but whereas the first 3 songs have been primarily about redemption, this one talks a bit about reconciliation and longing. This isn’t the main point of the song, but I find it interesting that these themes are still present even in a fun little song like this.
Just Breathe
In my opinion, this is one of the most beautiful songs Ed has ever written. And the way Brendan O’Brien put it together with all the orchestration is perfect, in my opinion. Reconciliation is the theme here. We have our reference to The End in this song when Ed says “Nothing you would take, everything you gave. Hold me till I die, meet you on the other side.” So again, Ed is looking at The End and it’s weighing on his mind, and he wants to make sure someone important to him knows how much he loves her.
“Did I say that I need you? Did I say that I want you? Oh, if I didn’t, now I’m a fool you see. No one knows this more than me as I come clean.” Ed wants to set things straight and make things right. “As we sit alone, I know someday we must go. I’m a lucky man to count on both hands the ones I love.” I’m not sure where this fixation on The End comes from, nor do I know what The End necessarily is. It doesn’t have to be death. It could be The End of the band, The End of his marriage, The End of some other phase of his life. Whatever the case, it’s becoming quite clear that Ed is seeking redemption before he reaches The End.
Amongst The Waves
This may be my favorite song on the album. Musically, it’s Stone Gossard doing what he does best from a song writing standpoint. Definitively the most soaring song on the album, the chorus evicts the same feelings within me as a song like In Hiding or Given To Fly does. In fact, I think the music of this song would be able to fit right at home on YIELD, if not the lyrics. I don’t hear a whole lot of YIELD on Backspacer, but this is one song where I hear it in spades.
For the first time on this album, Ed is really allowing himself some peace. He’s reflecting and realizing the redemption he has achieved. “Riding high amongst the waves, I can feel like I have a soul that has been saved. I can feel like I put away my early grave.” So here Ed is looking at The End, but for the first time he really seems to be pushing it away and instead recognizing that the mortality that The End represents doesn’t have to be coming so soon.
Waves represent peaks and valleys, and I think Ed is allowing himself to embrace that fact. “Remember back the early days when you were young and thus amazed. Suddenly the channel changed the first time you saw blood. Cut to later, now you’re strong. You’ve bled yourself, the wounds are gone. It’s rare then when nothing’s wrong. Survived , and you’re among the fittest. Love ain’t love until you give it up, riding high amongst the waves.” Such powerful stuff there. Maybe my favorite lines of this entire album. We’ve been up, and we’ve been down, but when you’re riding the peaks of the waves, life couldn’t be better. “Gotta say it now. Better loud than too late.” Embrace it before it’s too late.
Unthought Known
As we are now getting ever closer to The End, Ed begins to symbolize this finite realization by talking about the setting moon. In most common usages of its symbolism, the moon represents the counter acting agent to the sun. Darkness to the light. However, in Tarot readings, the moon card represents life of the imagination independent of the life of the spirit. This is fascinating because if you do a Google search on the term ‘Unthought Known’, you’ll find that in 1987 a British psychologist named Christopher Bollas wrote a book called “The Shadow of the Object. Psychoanalysis of the Unthought Known.” I found an article published by Michael Robbins in the “Systems Centered News” in July 2008 in which he talks about what, exactly, Unthought Known really means:
“What then is the “unthought known”? Christopher Bollas first coined this provocative phrase in 1987 (Bollas, 1987). Basically it refers to what we “know” but for a variety of reasons may not be able to think about, have “forgotten”, “act out”, or have an “intuitive sense for” but cannot yet put into words. In psychoanalytic terms, it refers to the boundary between the “unconscious” and the “conscious” mind, i.e. the “preconscious mind.” In systems-centered terms, it refers to the boundary between what we know apprehensively, without words, and what we know, or will allow ourselves to know, comprehensively with words.”
This relates to the tarot’s interpretation of the moon as in the separation of the spirit of the imagination from life itself. If you think about this, it can apply to almost anything in life. I have always said that technology advances not at the rate of achievement, but at the rate of imagination. For example, we’ve known how to have satellites orbit the earth for 40 years, but we never fully imagined, or realized, what that advancement could mean to us in our daily lives. It wasn’t until someone had the imagination to create objects that could harness this technology that we saw advancements in cell phones, TV signals, radio signals, etc. So, too, does personal growth advance not at the rate of achievement, but at the rate of imagination. There’s this unthought known inside of us all, but until we realize it, we’re walking through life with blinders on.
“Dream the dreams of other men, you’ll be no one’s rival.” In other words, unlock your own unthought known and you will achieve more than you ever dreamed. “Feel the sky blanket you with gems and rhinestones. See the path cut the moon, for you to walk on.” As the moon is setting, it’s bringing about The End. We don’t know what’s on the other side, but what if it’s another sunrise? Perhaps the key to it all is to set things right with those you love, and only then can you have the redemption represented by a new dawn.
Supersonic
After the lyrical depth of Unthought Known, it’s time for us to take a little break. So Ed wrote a little love song. Not about a girl, but about rock music. So once more we have an autobiographical take on what rock music means to the band, or Ed in particular. Musically, this is again an obvious Stone song that harkens back to Mankind with a new twist. The bridge to this song is some of the band’s finest work on this album. After doing a LOT of thinking in the songs Just Breathe, Amongst The Waves, and Unthought Known (the trilogy that really represents the heart and soul of this album to me), it’s nice to just let loose and have some fun with this song. A song that just happens to about how great rock music can be. I couldn’t agree more.
Speed Of Sound
This is another song about longing for something, but life moving by so quickly you can’t reach it. “Yesterdays, how quick they change. All lost and gone now. It’s hard to remember anything moving at the speed of sound. And yet I’m still holding tight to this dream of distant light, and that somehow I’ll survive. But this night has been a long one, waiting on a sun that just don’t come.”
So not only is Ed longing for something, but he is also scared that the setting moon we discussed in Unthought Known may not be bringing a new dawn. And if the setting moon doesn’t bring the rising sun, then we are left with nothing. From the autobiographical point of view, the line “Why deny this drive inside? Just looking for some peace” is very telling to me. Perhaps Ed is saying that he wishes he could reach back to the way he was in his 20s, but he has to try to realize that now he is older, more at peace with himself, and just trying to make good music. “But this night has been a long one, waiting on a word that never comes. A whisper in the dark…is that you or just my thoughts? Wide awake and reaching out.”
Force Of Nature
Plenty more of our common themes can be found in this song. Once more, we have a realization of The End and a sense of longing and waiting for reconciliation. You even have some more drug references with references to Alice In Wonderland and contraband. But again, just as Alice In Wonderland is one of the greatest metaphorical stories ever written, so too are these songs metaphors for something deeper. “Somewhere there’s a siren singing a song only he hears. All the strength that you might think would disappear, resolving. One man stands alone, awaiting for her to come home. Eyes upon the horizon in dark before the darkness meets the dawn.” More darkness and waiting for daylight, and longing for someone or something to come to him.
This song is more powerful imagery as far as I’m concerned. Some may find it cheesy, but I find it to be relatable material and the power of Ed’s vocals, particularly in the chorus, really moves me. Standing on the shore of some great ocean, looking out for something that might or might not be out there, it’s a picture I have painted in my head many times in my life. It reminds me a lot of one of my favorite songs of all times, “The Great Below” by Nine Inch Nails: “Staring at the sea, will she come? Is there hope for me after all is said and done? Anything at any price, all of this for you…..Ocean pulls me close and whispers in my ear. The destiny I’ve chose, all becoming clear. The currents have their say, the time is drawing near. Washes me away, makes me disappear. And I descend from grace, in arms of undertow. I will take my place in the great below.” It’s staggering to me how much these 2 songs line up together. Longing for something on the horizon, all while sensing the closing in of The End.
Ed goes back to the moon again when he says “Last I saw, he was out there waiting. A silhouette in the black light, full moon glow. In the sand he stands upon the shore, forevermore.” I’ve read a couple reviews say they felt Ed’s lyrics were lazy on this album because they were so repetitive. That could be, and maybe I’m reading too much into things like I always do, but for me these lyrics are so profound even despite the repetition. Repetition doesn’t have to be lazy, it can sometimes be a device to drive home a point, and there’s a sense of urgency in this repetition that tells me that Ed is being more sincere on this album than anything else he’s done in a long time.
The End
The somewhat-climactic finish to this album. I say somewhat-climactic because we’re not given any answers. Just more questions are left lingering. The words themselves are so desperate on this song. This is one of the shortest songs on the album, but it has more lyrics than most songs. Ed had a lot to say in a short period of time on this song.
Ed is pleading for reconciliation and redemption on this song. “More than friends I always pledged, ‘cause friends they come and go. People change as does everything. I wanted to grow old, just want to grow old. Slide on next to me, I’m just a human being. I will take the blame, but just the same, this is not me. You see, believe, I’m better than this.” Ed is practically begging in this song, asking for another chance. “Don’t leave me so cold or buried beneath the stones. I just want to hold on and know I’m worth your love. Enough. I don’t think there’s such a thing.”
You get the feeling that Ed senses this is his last shot at redemption with whoever this song is about. It doesn’t necessarily have to be about a romantic relationship, either. A lot of the same sentiments can be applied to any platonic relationship that is important to us. The moral, though, that seems to be driven home is to not waste your opportunities to tell people what they mean to you and how important they are to you.
We also get one last take from the would-be autobiographical point of view, when Ed says “It’s my fault, now I’ve been caught. A sickness in my bones. How it pains to leave you here, with the kids on your own. Just don’t let me go.” When you read these lyrics, you wonder if Ed is beginning to tire of touring and being in a band. Perhaps it’s weighing on him more than we can tell. Were it not for all of Ed’s talk about how much he loves where the band is at now on a personal level, and how much fun he’s having with the band, and how happy he is with their process of making music, I would wonder if Ed was writing his farewell to the fans and explaining why he was leaving us.
Instead, Ed finishes with “Before I disappear, whisper in my ear. Give me something to echo in my unknown future’s ear. My dear, The End comes near. I’m here [gasp] but not much longer.” And with that jarring gasp, The End has come. I simply love the way this album closes like that. We’ve reach The End, and now what? It’s up to us to decide. It depends on our unique interpretation of these songs, and this is precisely what I have been missing from Pearl Jam’s music for so long.
In Ed’s case, I think The End represents not the end of the band, not the end of his marriage, not the end of his life…..but instead, I think it represents The End of the time he gets to spend with his family. It’s a tearful goodbye to his loved ones as he leaves them once more to head back out on tour.
Summary/Conclusion
If you think about what the title “Backspacer” represents, I think it could be more symbolic than I initially realized. The Backspacer key on a typewriter is used to go back and make changes to something you wrote. It represents the ability to offer up a second take. In life, we often long for a Backspacer key that could allow us to go back and have a second chance. And that’s what redemption gives us. Redemption is the ability to wash away the mistakes of yesterday and to have a second life, or a second chance.
Backspacer, the album, covers a lot of ground and there are hundreds of different topics and themes that I didn’t cover here. Some of it is nonsense and some of it beyond my grasp. But when you have one lyricist delivering all of the lyrics, it can be fun to try to decipher the artist’s mindset, and from there you can begin to piece together the central themes of what the album is really all about. If YIELD is an accidental concept album, I would say Backspacer is a pretty good contrast to that. On Backspacer, I don’t get the sense anything is accidental, hence the recurring themes and imagery.
Most importantly to me on a personal level, Backspacer represents Pearl Jam getting a second chance with me. I’ve been waiting for so long for an album like this from Pearl Jam. It’s finally something I can find ways to relate to, and musically it eliminates the muddiness of the past few albums where the band often tried too hard or did too much.
The most essential element that remains for me is the test of time. As of right now, Backspacer is unquestionably my favorite Pearl Jam album since YIELD. For the first time since around 2000 I feel like I’m back on the same page both musically and lyrically with the band. Will it last? Will these songs hold up? Only time can answer that question.
It's a story about love, deception, greed, lust and... unbridled enthusiasm. Eddie is a simple country boy. You might say a cockeyed optimist, who got himself mixed up in the high stakes game of world diplomacy and international intrigue.
1996: Randall's Island 2 1998: East Rutherford | MSG 1 & 2 2000: Cincinnati | Columbus | Jones Beach 1, 2, & 3 | Boston 1 | Camden 1 & 2 2003: Philadelphia | Uniondale | MSG 1 & 2 | Holmdel 2005: Atlantic City 1 2006: Camden 1 | East Rutherford 1 & 2 2008: Camden 1 & 2 | MSG 1 & 2 | Newark (EV) 2009: Philadelphia 1, 2 & 4 2010: Newark | MSG 1 & 2 2011: Toronto 1 2013: Wrigley Field | Brooklyn 2 | Philadelphia 1 & 2 | Baltimore 2015: Central Park 2016: Philadelphia 1 & 2 | MSG 1 & 2 | Fenway Park 2 | MSG (TOTD) 2017: Brooklyn (RnR HOF) 2020: MSG | Asbury Park2021: Asbury Park 2022: MSG | Camden | Nashville 2024: MSG 1 & 2 (#50) | Philadelphia 1 & 2 | Baltimore
Comments
Or people without a job...........
I am one of those A.D.D. folks. :P And jobless. :P
But I always find ways around reading long posts/books by taking breaks. I bookmark or keep the links to long posts/articles and come back later. I really enjoy thought provoking and especially creative writing.
FYI - firefox came up with a great new plug called Read It Later. Found it useful! Can easily add/delete for later.
That's what I'm doing for your post, RockKing. It's ironic how I'd write long posts but take forever in reading others, depending on my attention span. But I always make an effort to finish reading them.
BTW, hubby was concerned about writing a long review on Backspacer... I told him so what? If they don't want to read it, they don't have to. Simply skip the thread, their choice.
Thanks, man.
EV: It's your band.
~Q Magazine
"Kisses for the glow...kisses for the lease." - BDRII
For many fans, it was always that balance, that melting pot of conflict between optimism and despair that made Pearl Jam so essential. But even more importantly, it was this balance and conflict that made Pearl Jam so intriguing and the reason so many fans spent so much time pouring over lyrics and trying to decipher the true meanings of the songs. This ambiguous nature behind all context of this mainstream band is what made them who they were. It was a band that wore their heart on their sleeves, and yet it was a band that most fans really didn’t know anything about. Stories were fabricated about the origin of the name Pearl Jam. The story of how the band found Eddie Vedder is told with the same vigor and feeling of chance as the greatest of folklore tales or the legends of ancient Greek mythology. A reverence for Andy Wood, a person 99.9999% of the fans never ever knew existed while he was still alive was held up as a tragic but necessary figure in the history of Pearl Jam.
It was under this backdrop of mystery and intrigue that so many of us came to develop our own understandings and interpretations of what this band was all about and who they really were. Ed’s song spoke to us on such a personal level, not because Ed knew our situations and what we were going through, but because he was able to be vague enough to allow us to apply our own scenarios to his words without being so obscure as to not give us a central point to anchor everything. It’s easy to understand why this was the most important band in the world to so many diverse people. Pearl Jam could speak to the well off upper class suburban spoon fed kids just as much as the middle class rebellious punks and the lower class survivors. We all had a stake in this band, and they genuinely made us care about their music.
When Pearl Jam went through the phase of deconstructing themselves and their fans with No Code, they dismantled their own empire. They pulled the rug out from underneath the structure as it existed at that time and left everything in a pile of rubble. They then took the ruins of their empire and what was left, and through the album YIELD, they rebuilt themselves into something completely different. And as is often the case, when you make your masterpiece, things will never be the same. The transition of No Code and YIELD was important to the longevity of the band, and it’s what gave us their greatest album, YIELD. But you sometimes can’t help but wonder how different their legacy would have been had they just let themselves burn out and explode like the supernova that they were. Perhaps I’m getting off point here, but beginning with Binaural, the band was different.
Suddenly, the windows into the world of Pearl Jam were opened. Songs that contained overtly political overtones such as “Soon Forget”, “Rival”, and “Grievance” started popping up. This was a band that no longer cared about ambiguity. This was a band who suddenly wanted to make a very specific difference in the world, and they were now going to create a vibe of either with us or against us that would begin to alienate even more fans.
But even among those of us who were generally “with them” in terms of their politics, there was a feeling of unease. It wasn’t so much that we disagreed, but it was more that we didn’t want to spoken down to like that. We didn’t want to be told what was right and wrong. We missed the lyrical nebulous of the first phase of the band’s career. But things were only going to get worse with the advent of Riot Act and PJ8. Suddenly there was no mystery left whatsoever, just an in your face political message and a spacious disconnect between the life of glamour the band seemed to be living and the daily strife the band seemed to be speaking to.
So it was under this pretense that the band gave us Backspacer. For the first time since YIELD, the band delivered an album free of clear political messages. Sure, you’ve got the line “Are you getting out? Are you dropping bombs? Have you heard of diplomatic resolve?” But it comes to us as a throwaway line in a song about a band being able to deliver a rock song to jump start your day. In its entirety, Backspacer is a very introverted album, and it’s refreshing to once again have some puzzles that we as fans can, not necessarily solve, but fit into our own lives.
The music of Backspacer is very lighthearted and fun, but there are some lyrics and songs on the album that have some meat on them. By no means is it a concept album of any kind whatsoever, but you see the recurring themes of longing and reconciliation. Once a band full of life and vigor, Pearl Jam seems to be a band staring at its own mortality and trying to set things right before we reach The End. There is a constant feeling on this album of someone trying to reach for something that is just beyond our reach. But it also feels like its Ed coming to terms with what it means to be in a band. So many of these songs seem to be talking about Pearl Jam themselves as a band rather than external forces. Of course, this is all open to interpretation as this really is a pretty ambiguous album. But it is worth noting that Ed is the sole lyricist on this album, getting credit for every single word on the album, and as a result, the message seems to be concise and consistent.
Gonna See My Friend
Pearl Jam has never been a band to struggle with finding ways to open their albums. They tend to know how to kick things off, and this song is no exception. This is Ed writing a raucous Who song that Pete Townshend himself would probably love to play. Lyrically, Ed is already taking on a sense of mortality. “Wanna hear something sick? We are but victims of desire. I’m gonna shake this thing, I wanna shake this pain before I retire.” I’ve read where some have wondered if this is a song about addiction and getting a fix from a dealer. “Buona sera, won’t be long before we all walk off the wire. I’m gonna see my friend, gonna see my friend for what I require.” It’s easy to see how that could fit, and maybe that is what Ed’s going for here, but as I am prone to do, I tend to find a more figurative meaning.
“I’m gonna see my friend, make it go away” is followed by “Wanna feel withdrawal. Want an overhaul. Wanna be there, hard as a statue, black as a tattoo, never to wash away.” Wow. At this point, nailing down this song become tricky. Ed wants to see his friend for what he requires, but yet he also wants to feel withdrawal? He wants to make it go away, yet he wants it to be there black as a tattoo, never to wash away? These are seemingly contradictory sentiments. On the other hand, maybe it just shows some doubt and reservations. Whatever it is that the protagonist here needs or wants to do is pretty unclear, but we can apply it to just about anything.
What this means is that the point of this song is not the person or thing that Ed is trying to reconcile with. Instead, the point of the song, to me, is that Ed is ready to start fixing things. Something in Ed’s life seems to be broken, or perhaps something has been wronged, and before we reach The End, Ed is going to make things right.
Got Some
Lyrically this is probably the least interesting song on the album. It really doesn’t say anything. The only thing that I find worth noting about it is that it does have a few lines that fit into my central theme for this album.
Overall, I guess this song is supposed to be about being able to write a good rock song that can get you going when you’re having trouble getting your day started. “Every time you can try but can’t turn on your rock song. Got some if you need it. Get it now, get it on, before it’s gone. Lets everybody carry on, carry on. Get it now, set it off, before it’s gone. Get everybody, carry on, carrying on.” So again it fits in with the theme of this being an autobiographical narrative about being in a band. You also have a reference to The End in this song, in the line “Turn it up, set it off, before we’re gone.”
The Fixer
Going back to the possibility of this album being about drugs, you certainly have a good trio of songs to start things off with Gonna See Me Friend (the dealer), Got Some (the dealer has drugs if you need them), and now The Fixer (aka, the dealer). When you have issues, and when you need something to make things seem better, the fixer can help you. The joke would truly be on us if this literal interpretation really was what these songs are about. However, I just don’t see it. To me, these lyrics seem purely allegorical in nature.
Stone has said in interviews that he thought this song was about Ed always working to make Pearl Jam’s songs “better”. I’m not sure it’s that specific. I think this song is just, again, about someone who wants to make things right. Whatever the issue is, that’s not really important. The message I take away from this is about reconciliation and redemption. Longing to make things right, fighting to get it back again. Once more, we also have a loose nod of the head to The End in “I’ll dig your grave. We’ll dance and sing. Who knows, could be our last lifetime.” Things are in motion and The End is getting closer, and we’re running out of time to make things right. Fight to get it back again.
Johnny Guitar
Johnny Guitar gives us our first break from the theme of the album that the first 3 songs set up. This song is one of my favorite songs lyrically, though. Even musically, I think this one is great. It’s quirky, it’s different, and it’s catchy. There’s no real verse-chorus-verse structure here. Lyrically it’s about someone seeing a picture of a girl on an album cover and becoming infatuated with her. Who is she? Why is she there? What events in her life led here to that moment when she was captured on the album cover. Our protagonist applies attributes and characteristics to this person, and he begins to fall in love with her, only to be disappointed that when she finally comes to him in his dreams, she’s actually looking for Johnny Watson.
This song is totally relatable to me as someone who grew up looking at girls on magazine covers, album covers, TV shows, music videos, whatever, and developing an infatuation and a fascination with them. Just like the guy in this song, I too have imagined what certain fictional girls were like, so I think this song is a classic piece of storytelling.
The one way this song does tie in to the central themes of this album is through this sense of longing. Waiting and hoping for someone or something to come. We’ll see this idea expanded later in Force of Nature, but whereas the first 3 songs have been primarily about redemption, this one talks a bit about reconciliation and longing. This isn’t the main point of the song, but I find it interesting that these themes are still present even in a fun little song like this.
Just Breathe
In my opinion, this is one of the most beautiful songs Ed has ever written. And the way Brendan O’Brien put it together with all the orchestration is perfect, in my opinion. Reconciliation is the theme here. We have our reference to The End in this song when Ed says “Nothing you would take, everything you gave. Hold me till I die, meet you on the other side.” So again, Ed is looking at The End and it’s weighing on his mind, and he wants to make sure someone important to him knows how much he loves her.
“Did I say that I need you? Did I say that I want you? Oh, if I didn’t, now I’m a fool you see. No one knows this more than me as I come clean.” Ed wants to set things straight and make things right. “As we sit alone, I know someday we must go. I’m a lucky man to count on both hands the ones I love.” I’m not sure where this fixation on The End comes from, nor do I know what The End necessarily is. It doesn’t have to be death. It could be The End of the band, The End of his marriage, The End of some other phase of his life. Whatever the case, it’s becoming quite clear that Ed is seeking redemption before he reaches The End.
Amongst The Waves
This may be my favorite song on the album. Musically, it’s Stone Gossard doing what he does best from a song writing standpoint. Definitively the most soaring song on the album, the chorus evicts the same feelings within me as a song like In Hiding or Given To Fly does. In fact, I think the music of this song would be able to fit right at home on YIELD, if not the lyrics. I don’t hear a whole lot of YIELD on Backspacer, but this is one song where I hear it in spades.
For the first time on this album, Ed is really allowing himself some peace. He’s reflecting and realizing the redemption he has achieved. “Riding high amongst the waves, I can feel like I have a soul that has been saved. I can feel like I put away my early grave.” So here Ed is looking at The End, but for the first time he really seems to be pushing it away and instead recognizing that the mortality that The End represents doesn’t have to be coming so soon.
Waves represent peaks and valleys, and I think Ed is allowing himself to embrace that fact. “Remember back the early days when you were young and thus amazed. Suddenly the channel changed the first time you saw blood. Cut to later, now you’re strong. You’ve bled yourself, the wounds are gone. It’s rare then when nothing’s wrong. Survived , and you’re among the fittest. Love ain’t love until you give it up, riding high amongst the waves.” Such powerful stuff there. Maybe my favorite lines of this entire album. We’ve been up, and we’ve been down, but when you’re riding the peaks of the waves, life couldn’t be better. “Gotta say it now. Better loud than too late.” Embrace it before it’s too late.
Unthought Known
As we are now getting ever closer to The End, Ed begins to symbolize this finite realization by talking about the setting moon. In most common usages of its symbolism, the moon represents the counter acting agent to the sun. Darkness to the light. However, in Tarot readings, the moon card represents life of the imagination independent of the life of the spirit. This is fascinating because if you do a Google search on the term ‘Unthought Known’, you’ll find that in 1987 a British psychologist named Christopher Bollas wrote a book called “The Shadow of the Object. Psychoanalysis of the Unthought Known.” I found an article published by Michael Robbins in the “Systems Centered News” in July 2008 in which he talks about what, exactly, Unthought Known really means:
“What then is the “unthought known”? Christopher Bollas first coined this provocative phrase in 1987 (Bollas, 1987). Basically it refers to what we “know” but for a variety of reasons may not be able to think about, have “forgotten”, “act out”, or have an “intuitive sense for” but cannot yet put into words. In psychoanalytic terms, it refers to the boundary between the “unconscious” and the “conscious” mind, i.e. the “preconscious mind.” In systems-centered terms, it refers to the boundary between what we know apprehensively, without words, and what we know, or will allow ourselves to know, comprehensively with words.”
This relates to the tarot’s interpretation of the moon as in the separation of the spirit of the imagination from life itself. If you think about this, it can apply to almost anything in life. I have always said that technology advances not at the rate of achievement, but at the rate of imagination. For example, we’ve known how to have satellites orbit the earth for 40 years, but we never fully imagined, or realized, what that advancement could mean to us in our daily lives. It wasn’t until someone had the imagination to create objects that could harness this technology that we saw advancements in cell phones, TV signals, radio signals, etc. So, too, does personal growth advance not at the rate of achievement, but at the rate of imagination. There’s this unthought known inside of us all, but until we realize it, we’re walking through life with blinders on.
“Dream the dreams of other men, you’ll be no one’s rival.” In other words, unlock your own unthought known and you will achieve more than you ever dreamed. “Feel the sky blanket you with gems and rhinestones. See the path cut the moon, for you to walk on.” As the moon is setting, it’s bringing about The End. We don’t know what’s on the other side, but what if it’s another sunrise? Perhaps the key to it all is to set things right with those you love, and only then can you have the redemption represented by a new dawn.
Supersonic
After the lyrical depth of Unthought Known, it’s time for us to take a little break. So Ed wrote a little love song. Not about a girl, but about rock music. So once more we have an autobiographical take on what rock music means to the band, or Ed in particular. Musically, this is again an obvious Stone song that harkens back to Mankind with a new twist. The bridge to this song is some of the band’s finest work on this album. After doing a LOT of thinking in the songs Just Breathe, Amongst The Waves, and Unthought Known (the trilogy that really represents the heart and soul of this album to me), it’s nice to just let loose and have some fun with this song. A song that just happens to about how great rock music can be. I couldn’t agree more.
Speed Of Sound
This is another song about longing for something, but life moving by so quickly you can’t reach it. “Yesterdays, how quick they change. All lost and gone now. It’s hard to remember anything moving at the speed of sound. And yet I’m still holding tight to this dream of distant light, and that somehow I’ll survive. But this night has been a long one, waiting on a sun that just don’t come.”
So not only is Ed longing for something, but he is also scared that the setting moon we discussed in Unthought Known may not be bringing a new dawn. And if the setting moon doesn’t bring the rising sun, then we are left with nothing. From the autobiographical point of view, the line “Why deny this drive inside? Just looking for some peace” is very telling to me. Perhaps Ed is saying that he wishes he could reach back to the way he was in his 20s, but he has to try to realize that now he is older, more at peace with himself, and just trying to make good music. “But this night has been a long one, waiting on a word that never comes. A whisper in the dark…is that you or just my thoughts? Wide awake and reaching out.”
Force Of Nature
Plenty more of our common themes can be found in this song. Once more, we have a realization of The End and a sense of longing and waiting for reconciliation. You even have some more drug references with references to Alice In Wonderland and contraband. But again, just as Alice In Wonderland is one of the greatest metaphorical stories ever written, so too are these songs metaphors for something deeper. “Somewhere there’s a siren singing a song only he hears. All the strength that you might think would disappear, resolving. One man stands alone, awaiting for her to come home. Eyes upon the horizon in dark before the darkness meets the dawn.” More darkness and waiting for daylight, and longing for someone or something to come to him.
This song is more powerful imagery as far as I’m concerned. Some may find it cheesy, but I find it to be relatable material and the power of Ed’s vocals, particularly in the chorus, really moves me. Standing on the shore of some great ocean, looking out for something that might or might not be out there, it’s a picture I have painted in my head many times in my life. It reminds me a lot of one of my favorite songs of all times, “The Great Below” by Nine Inch Nails: “Staring at the sea, will she come? Is there hope for me after all is said and done? Anything at any price, all of this for you…..Ocean pulls me close and whispers in my ear. The destiny I’ve chose, all becoming clear. The currents have their say, the time is drawing near. Washes me away, makes me disappear. And I descend from grace, in arms of undertow. I will take my place in the great below.” It’s staggering to me how much these 2 songs line up together. Longing for something on the horizon, all while sensing the closing in of The End.
Ed goes back to the moon again when he says “Last I saw, he was out there waiting. A silhouette in the black light, full moon glow. In the sand he stands upon the shore, forevermore.” I’ve read a couple reviews say they felt Ed’s lyrics were lazy on this album because they were so repetitive. That could be, and maybe I’m reading too much into things like I always do, but for me these lyrics are so profound even despite the repetition. Repetition doesn’t have to be lazy, it can sometimes be a device to drive home a point, and there’s a sense of urgency in this repetition that tells me that Ed is being more sincere on this album than anything else he’s done in a long time.
The End
The somewhat-climactic finish to this album. I say somewhat-climactic because we’re not given any answers. Just more questions are left lingering. The words themselves are so desperate on this song. This is one of the shortest songs on the album, but it has more lyrics than most songs. Ed had a lot to say in a short period of time on this song.
Ed is pleading for reconciliation and redemption on this song. “More than friends I always pledged, ‘cause friends they come and go. People change as does everything. I wanted to grow old, just want to grow old. Slide on next to me, I’m just a human being. I will take the blame, but just the same, this is not me. You see, believe, I’m better than this.” Ed is practically begging in this song, asking for another chance. “Don’t leave me so cold or buried beneath the stones. I just want to hold on and know I’m worth your love. Enough. I don’t think there’s such a thing.”
You get the feeling that Ed senses this is his last shot at redemption with whoever this song is about. It doesn’t necessarily have to be about a romantic relationship, either. A lot of the same sentiments can be applied to any platonic relationship that is important to us. The moral, though, that seems to be driven home is to not waste your opportunities to tell people what they mean to you and how important they are to you.
We also get one last take from the would-be autobiographical point of view, when Ed says “It’s my fault, now I’ve been caught. A sickness in my bones. How it pains to leave you here, with the kids on your own. Just don’t let me go.” When you read these lyrics, you wonder if Ed is beginning to tire of touring and being in a band. Perhaps it’s weighing on him more than we can tell. Were it not for all of Ed’s talk about how much he loves where the band is at now on a personal level, and how much fun he’s having with the band, and how happy he is with their process of making music, I would wonder if Ed was writing his farewell to the fans and explaining why he was leaving us.
Instead, Ed finishes with “Before I disappear, whisper in my ear. Give me something to echo in my unknown future’s ear. My dear, The End comes near. I’m here [gasp] but not much longer.” And with that jarring gasp, The End has come. I simply love the way this album closes like that. We’ve reach The End, and now what? It’s up to us to decide. It depends on our unique interpretation of these songs, and this is precisely what I have been missing from Pearl Jam’s music for so long.
In Ed’s case, I think The End represents not the end of the band, not the end of his marriage, not the end of his life…..but instead, I think it represents The End of the time he gets to spend with his family. It’s a tearful goodbye to his loved ones as he leaves them once more to head back out on tour.
Summary/Conclusion
If you think about what the title “Backspacer” represents, I think it could be more symbolic than I initially realized. The Backspacer key on a typewriter is used to go back and make changes to something you wrote. It represents the ability to offer up a second take. In life, we often long for a Backspacer key that could allow us to go back and have a second chance. And that’s what redemption gives us. Redemption is the ability to wash away the mistakes of yesterday and to have a second life, or a second chance.
Backspacer, the album, covers a lot of ground and there are hundreds of different topics and themes that I didn’t cover here. Some of it is nonsense and some of it beyond my grasp. But when you have one lyricist delivering all of the lyrics, it can be fun to try to decipher the artist’s mindset, and from there you can begin to piece together the central themes of what the album is really all about. If YIELD is an accidental concept album, I would say Backspacer is a pretty good contrast to that. On Backspacer, I don’t get the sense anything is accidental, hence the recurring themes and imagery.
Most importantly to me on a personal level, Backspacer represents Pearl Jam getting a second chance with me. I’ve been waiting for so long for an album like this from Pearl Jam. It’s finally something I can find ways to relate to, and musically it eliminates the muddiness of the past few albums where the band often tried too hard or did too much.
The most essential element that remains for me is the test of time. As of right now, Backspacer is unquestionably my favorite Pearl Jam album since YIELD. For the first time since around 2000 I feel like I’m back on the same page both musically and lyrically with the band. Will it last? Will these songs hold up? Only time can answer that question.
I fixed a few spelling and grammatical errors
It's a story about love, deception, greed, lust and... unbridled enthusiasm. Eddie is a simple country boy. You might say a cockeyed optimist, who got himself mixed up in the high stakes game of world diplomacy and international intrigue.