Tremor Christ meaning (or your interpretation)

SOLAT319

vedder89 wrote:

There is never any guarantee, or even expectation of victory, but it is the fight that preserves our humanity. There is no promise that he’ll find what he is looking for, and in fact he may be too far gone to be redeemed, but he is willing to accept responsibility for the mistakes made, and he is willing to keep searching for the possibility of a wavering, uncertain salvation (tremor Christ). Since that is all we can have, it will have to be enough.

THIS....

I know who does those interpretations and loved each one he did for every album....He's a great person to have conversations about lyrics.

slightofjeff

That is awesome.

PilateOfTheStorm

slightofjeff wrote:

That is awesome.

+1000000000

I love reading other people's interpretations of songs and this one was great. Really great writing.

Kimba

I always think of The Tempest every time I hear this song.....

ttdman

I have no idea what that song means but I absolutely love it. I remember hearing it for the first time here in NY on q104.3 before Vitalogy released...an instant classic for me. Definitely on my top 10 PJ songs.

zarocat

Jonathan (adampants) can explain it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2PzsRCgWdE

m0jorisen

If I interpret it literally, it sounds like a man who did something terrible to someone he loves. "wounded is the organ" - maybe his heart?; "gorgeous" is drowning, crying - he hurt her - and he blames fate. Whatever he did started small and became large (tremors turn to quake etc); he blames fate again, which he calls the devil. I think for a while he considers what to do next, then in the end he decides to just accept what he did and get on with life.

Gerald Richey

Triumphant are the angels if they ca get there first

melivil

wow, i understood something completely different to everyone´s perception. i think is about a love you have to left behind, just to follow with your life, without thinking, that maybe and only maybe, you will regret later.
.... the smallest oceans still get big, big waves ....

happiness

PilateOfTheStorm wrote:

The Waiting Trophy Man wrote:

This. Song. Kicks. Ass.

agreed. love it.

to me it's about secrets, lies that we all get caught up in. the bad things that we do to get what we want, how we get tempted to do bad things so easily and so many of us fall into a trap. one that we can't escape from and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. same for lying and how easy it is and how it creates a web that we can get tangled in.
also about being strong willed, doing things for you instead of doing it to please others, having faith

lots of different ideas really, i get a different meaning from it each time i listen to it

my favourite part:

I'll decide...take the dive...
Take my time...not my life...
Wait for signs...believe in lies...
To get by...it's divine...whoa...
Oh, you know what it's like...

and of course

Little secrets, tremors...turned to quake...
The smallest oceans still get...big, big waves...

Love your response!! I agree the end is my favorite part of the song. As with any Vedder song it can mean many things, which is why it resonates with so many people. Me...I think it's about the struggle between our egos/human and our divine selves (our souls). our egos, our human selves see ourselves navigating as a lone sailor/boat in a huge ocean (the universe) and being alone, getting trapped in the "storms" of our lives and struggling, struggling, struggling. Sometimes we have moments where we step outside ourselves and our egos and realize this and the power we hold as individuals if we do realize we aren't separate from everyone and everything. If the angels reach us maybe we give up these struggles, have faith, believe that things are divinely guided, and realizing our oneness with each other in the universe...and be happy and not. if not we view our life is a constant battle for survival, clinging to our attachments, fearing death, and life too (believing in lies to get by) and are miserable. Sometimes you need a tremor christ (an earthquake ...catastrophic event) that shakes up your life and makes you realize this.

If i only knew then

Glorified_N wrote:

The Waiting Trophy Man wrote:

This. Song. Kicks. Ass.

*Agree*

Great song that seems to be forgotten about on the album never really understood it or been able to relate to it, these songs always seem to be the best in their own way.

NoOne'sRival

This is a hard-core awe-some song, in my opinion...and thanks for the deciphering with the liner notes. Does make one wonder what type of literature the lyracist was devouring at the time, and what state of mind and of being said lyriacist was in at the time of writing. Alls I can say is I am thankful for whatever he was going through to put such thought provoking words to an outstandingly matched piece of music.

creepybirdlady

I'm totally late to this party, but reading back urges me to post my interpretation. I think Tremor Christ is all about the price of fame, and the fact that they have sacrificed their inner most feelings and privacy to people who always want more. PJ is the sailor..Drifting past the storm (media scrutiny) His savior that is drowing in his wake is his wife (and/or family). Just my interpretation, for what it's worth.

23scidoo

Masterpiece..need more play..my tattoo..

mickeyrat

First I think its off their best album period. Truly the one most personally profound.

think its his cryptic way of briefly describing his experience in finding out about his father. And how it was music that saved him.

joseph33

I think its about the toying of the soul between God and the devil. The constant conflict between the flesh and the spirit.

RYME

Like I've said before, I like a lot of music. But this band has set the bar so high for me in many ways, in terms of what I preceve as good, quality, & great music. Like this song. It's not catchy, it's not a balad, or is it? But so full of imagery that your mind produces while listening. You get thoughts of being at sea in a realitivly small but stable sail boat (like literally) at night maybe raining and foggy, with a lighthouse way in the distance behind you, the light from it so faint that you only catch a faint blink from it once in a while. At the same time you are thinking about it medaphoricly pondering where you are at in life and what you are deciding to do with your self.
How many bands or songwriters can do that?
Yes I've seen some awkward reviews over the years regarding Vitalogy, one guy said it's disjointed and hard to listen to.
I've always thought that it is an outstanding masterpiece.

Kweir

different Live lyrics... 
"Hansom is the devil.. When he is whispering pleasing words... "
"Turns the bow back flows and.."

I like the spin... less heady!! 👌

bjmjpl

vedder89 said:

This is from THE SKY I SCRAPEs guided tour of vitalogy
i think its pretty dead on with the mean...


There is a lot going on in Vitalogy but one of the main themes playing itself out is the desire for purity in the face of corruption—a desire for the salvation of music, and the salvation of self in a world where both are threatened, perverted, distorted (I’ve long felt Red Mosquito needs to be on Vitalogy, as it is addressing these same themes).

RM poster SLH has made the argument that Not For You should be seen as working itself out over time, rather than capturing a particular moment—and her interpretation makes a great deal of sense segueing into Tremor Christ. It picks up in the aftermath of a metaphorical shipwreck and while the song is exhausted you can cut yourself on its jagged sounds and sharp vocals. Musically Tremor Christ does a wonderful job evoking the stormy feel of the song. The subject had succumbed to the superficial ease of temptation, the promise of reward without cost. Slight surrenders of principle, seemingly innocuous decisions quickly spiral out of control. The smallest oceans still get big big waves. It turns out that there was a steep price after all, demanding payment in terms of lost love, lost innocence, lost purity. Both the art and the artist suffer for the easy choices, for the refusal to see the hidden price of playing the game instead of choosing to move Sisyphus’s rock. We’re left with an exhausted artist, passion bleeding itself dry, and the emancipatory promise of the music drowning in the wake left by the industry.

The second verse, chronologically, comes before the first one—it’s a flashback of sorts, what happened to the subject that lead to him washed up on the shore. The Devil is seductive, and it is rare for the angels to reach an artist before they’ve accepted his bargain, to let him know exactly what is at stake. We can hope for angels but if we’re honest with ourselves we know it is going we’re going to have to learn to fight the devils (this theme returns in Corduroy and Satan’s Bed).

While the subject is wounded, he isn’t dead yet. The second half of the song is a fighting creed, a declaration to resist, to forgo temptation and endure hardship, to do what is necessary to regain control over his soul, the only prize the devil ever seeks. And the song ends with the eerily calm determination to turn the boat back to the water, enter the waves and prepare to fight, with nothing on his side but faith in love (love of music, love as meaningful attachment and solidarity, love as purity), and the knowledge that the struggle itself has meanings. The liner notes of Not For You intimate that Eddie has at least a passing familiarity with Albert Camus, and this really starts to play itself out in the moments of defiance on Vitalogy (here, Whipping, and Corduroy). There is never any guarantee, or even expectation of victory, but it is the fight that preserves our humanity. There is no promise that he’ll find what he is looking for, and in fact he may be too far gone to be redeemed, but he is willing to accept responsibility for the mistakes made, and he is willing to keep searching for the possibility of a wavering, uncertain salvation (tremor Christ). Since that is all we can have, it will have to be enough.

Thank you

My Lucky Hand

vedder89 said:

This is from THE SKY I SCRAPEs guided tour of vitalogy
i think its pretty dead on with the mean...


There is a lot going on in Vitalogy but one of the main themes playing itself out is the desire for purity in the face of corruption—a desire for the salvation of music, and the salvation of self in a world where both are threatened, perverted, distorted (I’ve long felt Red Mosquito needs to be on Vitalogy, as it is addressing these same themes).

RM poster SLH has made the argument that Not For You should be seen as working itself out over time, rather than capturing a particular moment—and her interpretation makes a great deal of sense segueing into Tremor Christ. It picks up in the aftermath of a metaphorical shipwreck and while the song is exhausted you can cut yourself on its jagged sounds and sharp vocals. Musically Tremor Christ does a wonderful job evoking the stormy feel of the song. The subject had succumbed to the superficial ease of temptation, the promise of reward without cost. Slight surrenders of principle, seemingly innocuous decisions quickly spiral out of control. The smallest oceans still get big big waves. It turns out that there was a steep price after all, demanding payment in terms of lost love, lost innocence, lost purity. Both the art and the artist suffer for the easy choices, for the refusal to see the hidden price of playing the game instead of choosing to move Sisyphus’s rock. We’re left with an exhausted artist, passion bleeding itself dry, and the emancipatory promise of the music drowning in the wake left by the industry.

The second verse, chronologically, comes before the first one—it’s a flashback of sorts, what happened to the subject that lead to him washed up on the shore. The Devil is seductive, and it is rare for the angels to reach an artist before they’ve accepted his bargain, to let him know exactly what is at stake. We can hope for angels but if we’re honest with ourselves we know it is going we’re going to have to learn to fight the devils (this theme returns in Corduroy and Satan’s Bed).

While the subject is wounded, he isn’t dead yet. The second half of the song is a fighting creed, a declaration to resist, to forgo temptation and endure hardship, to do what is necessary to regain control over his soul, the only prize the devil ever seeks. And the song ends with the eerily calm determination to turn the boat back to the water, enter the waves and prepare to fight, with nothing on his side but faith in love (love of music, love as meaningful attachment and solidarity, love as purity), and the knowledge that the struggle itself has meanings. The liner notes of Not For You intimate that Eddie has at least a passing familiarity with Albert Camus, and this really starts to play itself out in the moments of defiance on Vitalogy (here, Whipping, and Corduroy). There is never any guarantee, or even expectation of victory, but it is the fight that preserves our humanity. There is no promise that he’ll find what he is looking for, and in fact he may be too far gone to be redeemed, but he is willing to accept responsibility for the mistakes made, and he is willing to keep searching for the possibility of a wavering, uncertain salvation (tremor Christ). Since that is all we can have, it will have to be enough.

Whoa, this is amazing. Like the OP, I love the imagery of Tremor Christ, but like many here could never decipher a specific meaning. This is a wonderful and honestly probably accurate analysis.