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Porch really pro-life?

Tenzing N.Tenzing N. Posts: 466
edited August 2010 in Words and Music...Communication
I've been watching the unplugged video a lot and although I know it's a pro-choice song the lyrics just don't add up to me. I keep hearing either great regret over the decision or interperating some of the lyrics from the point of view of the baby.

The only other option I see here is this is a conversation between two people (the parents?) and this episode has driven them apart, to the dismay of the author.

I think it's very possible that if we didn't know the meaning behind this song as revealed by Ed none of us would have interperated this song as a pro-choice song.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • John Van NordJohn Van Nord Posts: 35
    I dont think its a pro-choice song, I just think Ed chosed to mumble about abortion (not a fan of it) in the middle of it cus he was on tv...
  • sparky_frysparky_fry Posts: 760
    I think its about a relationship gone bad, and who knows maybe the girl is pregnant and eddie supports pro choice when its the best option.


    Honestly everybody has different meanings and emotions to songs, so why ruin it by placing global meanings on the songs.
  • John Van NordJohn Van Nord Posts: 35
    Exactly!, We all know what the words in the songs mean (if you can speak english) and we may apply them on anything we want, no matter what Eddie was talkin' 'bout.
  • Tenzing N.Tenzing N. Posts: 466
    I'd normally agree with you all but I'd be interested in some interpretations that support the evidence that this is a pro-choice song. And I'd like some specific line references. For instance, we all know that Even FLow is about the homeless and we can hear it in the lines but Porch is harder to devine. I'd just like to hear someones point of view as to how this IS a pro-choice song, not just whatever we want it to be.
  • TravisTheSkyTravisTheSky Posts: 615
    I think that Porch and Black are variations of the same theme. For some reason, Porch is widely accepted as being about the abortion from Vedder's youth, but Black is not. The lyrics at the end of each song are interchangeable, as are the tags that are added when played live. My argument appears in this recent thread:

    http://forums.pearljam.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=138939

    In my life, the few people I've known who were passionately outspoken about being pro-choice were the ones who were personally affected by an abortion: To herself, to a spouse/girlfriend, to a sister, to a BFF. To them, the abortion(s) WAS right and good and 'all for the best because' the alternative is... "Oops! Maybe not..." They cannot live with soul-crushing guilt. So they channel their doubt, turn all of their emotion into activism, shouting that abortion = freedom.

    Most people are not very passionate about abortion one way or the other. I understand Pearl Jam's very public pro-choice stance. It fits perfectly with the real-life examples I know. Porch and Black sound like funeral laments, yet Ed wrote "PRO CHOICE!!!" on his arm during Unplugged.

    Yup.
    "May you live in interesting times."
  • number1PJfannumber1PJfan Posts: 3,748
    Pro choice does not mean you have to be pro abortion. It just means a woman should have a choice on what to do with her own body. People seem to confuse those two concepts. You can be pro choice and not be particularly fond of the idea of abortions. You just don't want someone else telling you what to do with your own body in the event you did have to make a choice.
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