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yellow ledbetter official lyrics

lostdogs89lostdogs89 Posts: 134
edited March 2010 in Words and Music...Communication
I know im not the first to ask but does anyone know the official lyrics? or a very good interpretation of what ed is saying?
Post edited by Unknown User on

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  • CantKeepMeHereCantKeepMeHere Posts: 2,177
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  • lostdogs89lostdogs89 Posts: 134
    awesome whats the lyrics
  • CantKeepMeHereCantKeepMeHere Posts: 2,177
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  • lostdogs89lostdogs89 Posts: 134
    so whats the lyrics?
  • CantKeepMeHereCantKeepMeHere Posts: 2,177
    The web site with the closest lyrics to the studio release is here

    http://www.lyricsfreak.com/p/pearl+jam/ ... 06395.html

    you cannot copy and cut and paste from here - but the lyrics are solid
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  • FenwayFaithfulFenwayFaithful Posts: 8,626
    YLB is a song that there are no official lyrics. The song has evolved so much over the years to the point that Ed could essentially use anything for lyrics.
    "FF, I've heard the droning about the Sawx being the baby dolls. Yeah, I get it, you guys invented baseball and suffered forever. I get it." -JearlPam0925
  • lostdogs89lostdogs89 Posts: 134
    I want to know the original words he spoke or someones idea at least of what they think he said
  • RhinoJamRhinoJam Posts: 596
    a pretty good translation...

    If I remember correctly, this song is about a friend of the band's that was injured in the Iraq war (Desert Storm) - - but I believe the guy's name was Tim Ledbetter... and the song is referencing soldiers coming back from war and were they the aggressor, the boxer. or the victim, the bag. and they don't wave (dead, injured, otherwise), the yellow referring to the yellow ribbons for the safety of soldiers abroad...? ...and the "reason ought'to leave her calm" - because he was defending his country and that should be reason enough?... Please correct me if I am wrong 10 Clubbers!

    from songmeaning.net
    The song was written by Mike McCready and Eddie, Eddie's voice is supposed to be more of an instrument by using improvised words, the words are never the same in concert. Ledbetter refers to Eddie's friend from Chicago named Tim Ledbetter. In the song I see a family sitting on a porch when a man comes to deliver a telegram and the family is so devestated about their loss that they cannot even bear to open it.

    "Yellow Ledbetter"

    Unsealed on a porch a letter sat.
    Then you said, "I wanna leave it again."
    Once I saw her on a beach of weathered sand.
    And on the sand I wanna leave it again. Yeah.
    On a weekend I wanna wish it all away, yeah.
    And they called and I said that "and I want what I said" and then I call out again.
    And the reason oughta' leave her calm, I know.
    "I said, I don’t know whether I was the boxer or the bag,"

    Ah yeah, can you see them out on the porch? Yeah, but they don't wave.
    I see them round the front way. Yeah.
    And I know, and I know I don't want to stay.
    Make me cry...

    I see... Oh I don't know why there's something else.
    I wanna drum it all away...
    Oh, I said, "I don't, I don't know whether I was the boxer or the bag."

    Ah yeah, can you see them out on the porch? Yeah, but they don't wave.
    But I see them round the front way. Yeah.
    And I know, and I know. I don't wanna stay at all.
    I don't wanna stay. Yeah.
    I don't wanna stay. [x2]
    I don't... Don't wanna, oh... Yeah. Ooh... Ohh...
    Charlotte 10/4/96 Raleigh 8/31/98 Charlotte 8/4/00 Raleigh 4/15/03 Asheville 10/6/04
    Bonnaroo 6/14/08 Spectrum 10/30/09 Spectrum 10/31/09 Atlanta 9/22/12 Wrigley 7/19/13
    Baltimore 10/27/13 Charlottesville 10/29/13 Charlotte 10/30/13 OKC 11/16/13
    St. Louis 10/03/14 Greenville 4/16/16 Hampton 4/18/16
    Columbia 4/21/16 Wrigley 8/18/18
  • juan lesterjuan lester Posts: 321
    check out youtube - yellow ledbetter misheard lyrics

    potato wave

    make me fries
    uke can save the world
  • RhinoJamRhinoJam Posts: 596
    from Wikipedia... not the best source... but helps paint a bit more of a picture behind the song...

    "The song title "Yellow Ledbetter" is derived from the actual name of an old friend of Vedder from Chicago, named Tim Ledbetter.[2] The lyrics of "Yellow Ledbetter" have proven indecipherable when heard live and even on the early recorded version, as Vedder mumbles through much of the song with only certain parts being heard prominently, such as the famous line at the end of each verse "I said, I don’t know whether I was the boxer or the bag," with these parts of the song heard on almost every live rendition of the song. There are many unofficial lyrics on various websites.

    Although many fans have made their own interpretations of the song, a common theory has been that the song is about someone receiving a letter and finding his or her brother had died overseas in war,[6] cited from the lyrics in the Live at the Garden version "I don't know whether my brother will be coming home in a box or a bag".[7] On the official bootleg release of 5/3/03 - State College, Pennsylvania, Vedder sings "I'd like to wish this war away, and I tried but it just, just don't happen, don't happen that way/And my brother...they sent him off to fight for the flag, I just, I don't hope he comes home in a box or a bag", and "And I know that he's just following his path, as long, as long as it's not a box or a bag."[8] On the official bootleg release of 7/11/03 - Mansfield, Massachusetts, Vedder sings in the first verse "I think of him when I go to bed, and he's coming home in a box or a bag."[9]

    Regarding the song, Vedder said in an online chat that it was written around the time of the Gulf War, and added that "it's an anti-patriotic song, actually."[10] On August 7, 2008, at a solo performance in Newark, New Jersey at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Vedder took a question from the audience requesting that he explain the meaning of "Yellow Ledbetter". At first, Vedder joked, saying, "Wait...you mean there's lyrics?" He went on to talk about how the song took as its subject a friend of his from Seattle whose brother served in the first Gulf War. His friend received a "yellow letter" in the mail informing him that his brother had died in the war. Vedder and his friend then went for a walk. On this walk, the friend, whom Vedder described as "alternative-looking," happened by a house with an American flag flying, and people on the porch. He stopped and gestured to the flag, as if to salute it, however the people on the porch glared at him disapprovingly due to his appearance.[11]"
    Charlotte 10/4/96 Raleigh 8/31/98 Charlotte 8/4/00 Raleigh 4/15/03 Asheville 10/6/04
    Bonnaroo 6/14/08 Spectrum 10/30/09 Spectrum 10/31/09 Atlanta 9/22/12 Wrigley 7/19/13
    Baltimore 10/27/13 Charlottesville 10/29/13 Charlotte 10/30/13 OKC 11/16/13
    St. Louis 10/03/14 Greenville 4/16/16 Hampton 4/18/16
    Columbia 4/21/16 Wrigley 8/18/18
  • CazzaBGirlCazzaBGirl Posts: 234
    Wow,thanks above......often wondered bout the lyrics and what they meant,its a little sad to know the story behind it,but also gives more meaning to the song ;)
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  • BinauralJamBinauralJam Posts: 14,158
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbbW2y6v ... E&index=38

    Check it, jersey 9/08'
  • craigbcraigb Posts: 806
    juan lester wrote:
    check out youtube - yellow ledbetter misheard lyrics

    potato wave

    make me fries

    icee dems :lol:
    "Speak clearly if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall"

    Los Angeles 10.7.2009
  • morellomorello Posts: 6,217
    I always hear 'on the west side....' in it a lot but can't work out what bit it is that I'm mis-hearing like that. I think it's the bit that 'should' be 'unsealed on a porch sat...' or somehting but I just don't get how that sounds like 'on the west side' to me. >:-E
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  • Brain of DaveBrain of Dave Posts: 149
    KO282453 wrote:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbbW2y6vFRA&amp;feature=PlayList&amp;p=010238886885AACE&amp;index=38

    Check it, jersey 9/08'

    Wow, didn't know that. Thanks.

    Mike McCready doesn't even know what the song means. He says that in the Lost Dogs booklet.
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