"Dream the dreams of other men..."

TheVan218

"Dream the dreams of other men, you'll be no one's rival"

Now, Pearl Jam has gotten a lot of shit lately, with the whole Target promotion, making radio friendly music, and honestly I'm fine with all that. I think they're doing it to better themselves, and good for them. This lyric though at the end of "Unthought Known" though, really bothers me. It's one thing to change the way you go about marketing, business, or music style, but to me this lyric seems almost like they're changing they're outlooks. This isn't the Pearl Jam who made music who encouraged me to stand out and be myself.

I'm sorry, I just needed to vent, I love the rest of the song though. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Tonykin

I love the song, but I hear you... Those lyrics a few albums back would be:
"Dream the dreams of other men, you will be an asshole"

StickmanJam

I could be off base here...but I'm pretty sure the lyric is meant to be interpreted as a warning, as in, if you dream the dreams of other men, you'll be no one's rival, so don't do it.

In that context, Eddie and the boys still stand for everything they always have. Don't follow the trend, stand out.

BB126827

i think that is what it means.....NOT to dream the dreams of others

Digital Twilight

BB126827 wrote:

i think that is what it means.....NOT to dream the dreams of others

StickmanJam wrote:

I could be off base here...but I'm pretty sure the lyric is meant to be interpreted as a warning, as in, if you dream the dreams of other men, you'll be no one's rival, so don't do it.

In that context, Eddie and the boys still stand for everything they always have. Don't follow the trend, stand out.

Yup

These...

Ample Jar

Tonykin wrote:

I love the song, but I hear you... Those lyrics a few albums back would be:
"Dream the dreams of other men, you will be an asshole"

Oh man I hope you're interpreting it incorrectly because that's one of my favorite lines from the ablum.

Similar to what others have said, I think it's saying if you strive for things in life that everyone wants (or society makes you feel you need) than you won't ever challenge anyone...people will see you as a non-threat because you just conform.

Just my two cents

SPEEDY MCCREADY

4 or 5 virgins.....and a pelican......

Nothingbetter

I took the lyric to mean that the true essence of what men dream is peace, family, etc. That deep down we all truly want peace in the world, a family to love and protect, etc. If we stripped it down to the core, we would realize we are all more alike than we realize. If that dream is realized in all of us, we will no longer be rivals but rather brothers.

NacreRock

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

4 or 5 virgins.....and a pelican......

Speedy, I have always struggled with the meaning of that one to. What's your take?

JaneNY

BB126827 wrote:

i think that is what it means.....NOT to dream the dreams of others

That is how I interpreted it. That you need to be yourself and follow your own dreams. Ed's lines like that are so awesome - gives you something to ponder on in spare moments.

NacreRock

NacreRock wrote:

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

4 or 5 virgins.....and a pelican......

Speedy, I have always struggled with the meaning of that one to. What's your take?

too. My damn typing sucks.

LikeAnOpeningBandForTheSun

StickmanJam wrote:

I could be off base here...but I'm pretty sure the lyric is meant to be interpreted as a warning, as in, if you dream the dreams of other men, you'll be no one's rival, so don't do it.

In that context, Eddie and the boys still stand for everything they always have. Don't follow the trend, stand out.

yeah thats what it is to me. i never got why people thought it gets interpreted as something ytou should do.

"do what everyone else does, and you'll never stand out"

SPEEDY MCCREADY

NacreRock wrote:

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

4 or 5 virgins.....and a pelican......

Speedy, I have always struggled with the meaning of that one to. What's your take?

This is easy....

From what I hear, Ed showed up at Stone's house one afternoon...

Stone, along with 3 or 4 of his friends, were sitting around eating some Vlasic pickles....

The lyric just popped into Ed's mind....

4 or 5 virgins.....and a pelican.....

NacreRock

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

NacreRock wrote:

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

4 or 5 virgins.....and a pelican......

Speedy, I have always struggled with the meaning of that one to. What's your take?

This is easy....

From what I hear, Ed showed up at Stone's house one afternoon...

Stone, along with 3 or 4 of his friends, were sitting around eating some Vlasic pickles....

The lyric just popped into Ed's mind....

4 or 5 virgins.....and a pelican.....

That is so deep and thought provoking. I wonder how he knew they were virgins?

SPEEDY MCCREADY

Like I said, they were Stone's friends.........

NacreRock

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

Like I said, they were Stone's friends.........

Duhh. I am a little slow....thanks for giving a rat's patootie on helping me out with this.

LikeAnOcean

I think its pretty straight forward. If you dream the dreams of other men, have the same goals and visions for life, there will be no need to fight or rival with them. Everyone will want the same thing. Thats how I understand it.

in eds tree

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

4 or 5 virgins.....and a pelican......

lol this is the way i will always hear that song from now on

5vs1wma

in eds tree wrote:

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

4 or 5 virgins.....and a pelican......

lol this is the way i will always hear that song from now on

Check this out: //www.youtube.com/watch#!v=xLd22ha_-VU

mcrok

LikeAnOcean wrote:

I think its pretty straight forward. If you dream the dreams of other men, have the same goals and visions for life, there will be no need to fight or rival with them. Everyone will want the same thing. Thats how I understand it.

This is on point. I'm not sure if anyone here has read "The Power of Now" by Eckart Tolle...but the meaning of the lyrics (for this song and others, ie present tense) can be found in this book. It is a great book and I recommend it to all. Eddie is ridiculously good at conveying these types of messages to all through his lyrics.

Peace.

morgie2

To me, "dream the dreams ......" is a type of "walk in another man's shoes". Try to see things from others points of view, find some common ground, and avoid conflict (war in other words). Falls right in line with what Pearl Jam has always stood for.