World Wide Suicide
brianlux
Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,428
Great song, huh? I think so.
But is it? I mean... world-wide suicide? Is it? Please, some, convince me other wise. Can we just stop being idiots for awhile and do something constructive and useful? Maybe just start by being kind to each other and the world around us? If not, then why are we here?
But is it? I mean... world-wide suicide? Is it? Please, some, convince me other wise. Can we just stop being idiots for awhile and do something constructive and useful? Maybe just start by being kind to each other and the world around us? If not, then why are we here?
"Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"
"Try to not spook the horse."
-Neil Young
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He lost his life trying to make the world a better place doing what he thought was right.
We can follow his lead ...
lets learn unconditional love starting on a personal level
each day, each interaction.
Loving, accepting, understanding most especially those we don't agree with.
Not to allow petty differences like opinions or core beliefs interfere with love.
Let's make others feel loved. This is the most fulfilling part of being here,
I think.
Let's save the world, stop hating on an individual level and let's stop feeling superior to
others because of an opinion or belief. That's just not nice at all.
Embrace and say yes!
I guess that was my pep talk for the day
Funny, I heard this song on the radio yesterday and I thought that EV probably isn't proud of it any more. Just since he's not the activist he once used to be, and not as angry.
I am not sure we listen to the same band.
It's a story about a soldier losing his life in a hopeless war for a hopeless cause all because the president signed the orders to send our men off to fight in a war that has no meaning and no real resolution. The soldier's family member sees his picture, thinks of him, and can't believe they'll never see them in real life again. It's incredibly sad and doesn't really hit on the bravery/making the world a better place aspect of war at all.
Typo Man: "Thanks kidz, but remembir, stay in skool!"
in my book he was a very brave man a hero ...
you don't have to agree with a war to understand the heros that fought it
I like the song, but I always found it so strange how the music sounds a bit uplifting (maybe even happy), but the meaning is so damned sad.
This line I always thought was spectacular:
It's the same everyday and the wave won't break
Tell you to pray, while the devils on their shoulder
I took this song as the President being a heartless machine, just dropping our troops off like an assembly line.
Maybe Ed needs to hear this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es-Zws_g ... re=related
Tears fall down...
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Something some people can't acknowledge because they don't agree with the fight,
none the less he lived and died doing what he thought was right,
as many have throughout history. I respect that!
Celebrate him and that ... he was a hero!
I agree, gimme, I don't see or hear anything celebratory about this song. Sorry, Pandora, and with all due respect, this was not meant to be a celebratory post. And when I mention world-wide suicide I'm talking about much more than the middle east.
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"
Because we're here - roll the bones.
We're part of nature...therefore bound to fuck up, and continue to evolve.
Ad nauseum
that is sad and lacks compassion for him and his family's loss.
Yet you speak to change the world :? start here then.
By celebrating his life, his choice you do not condone war, you only understand him
Your original post speaks of the song, it's meaning to you.
I state mine to me and feel I understand Ed's message and reason for bringing Pat to us.
He was a hero ... I celebrate that and remember Pat's giving soul.
You can find other messages if you choose. But when you speak of love
please include all
a Rush reference...kick ass.
Typo Man: "Thanks kidz, but remembir, stay in skool!"
No-one is dismissing Pat Tillman or what he did. That is entirely not the point. You tried to turn this thread, yet again, into a life affirming, lesson-of-the-day post and it's not warranted.
Typo Man: "Thanks kidz, but remembir, stay in skool!"
The song is about a beautiful young man who chose to go to war and lost his life.
The story behind the story is that of many.
There is more here than ho hum that is awfully sad I hate war ...
cause we all do!
It is about a man's life ... that is what Ed gave to me with this song,
maybe it gave something different to others.
I do have a way of affirming positive emotions because that is what I feel.
I felt alot of love and pride in Ed's words for Pat Tillman...
and thankfully this is what has stayed with me over the years.
To tie into the original post -
There is unrest in the forest
There is trouble with the trees
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas
The trouble with the maples
(And they're quite convinced they're right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light
But the oaks can't help their feelings
If they like the way they're made
And they wonder why the maples
Can't be happy in their shade
There is trouble in the forest
And the creatures all have fled
As the maples scream 'Oppression!'
And the oaks just shake their heads
So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights
'The oaks are just too greedy
We will make them give us light'
Now there's no more oak oppression
For they passed a noble law
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet, axe and saw
(Brian, the Rush lyrics just fit, to me - in how we hold to our roots, how we battle, how we can co-exist, and how we can short-change ourselves too, in the end. I shall stop quoting them now
I see the Middle Kingdom between Heaven and Earth
Like the Chinese call the country of their birth
We all figure that our homes are set above
Other people than the ones we know and love
In every place with a name
They play the same territorial game
Hiding behind the lines
Sending up warning signs
The whole wide world
An endless universe
Yet we keep looking through
The eyeglass in reverse
Don't feed the people
But we feed the machines
Can't really feel
What international means
In different circles, we keep holding our ground
In different circles, we keep spinning round and round
We see so many tribes overrun and undermined
While their invaders dream of lands they've left behind
Better people...better food...and better beer...
Why move around the world when Eden was so near?
The bosses get talking so tough
And if that wasn't evil enough
We get the drunken and passionate pride
Of the citizens along for the ride
They shoot without shame
In the name of a piece of dirt
For a change of accent
Or the color of your shirt
Better the pride that resides
In a citizen of the world
Than the pride that divides
When a colorful rag is unfurled
Typo Man: "Thanks kidz, but remembir, stay in skool!"
I think these fit too ...
for Pat and the why to the question at hand ...
Do you see the way that tree bends?
Does it inspire?
Leaning out to catch the sun's rays
A lesson to be applied
Are you getting something out of this all-encompassing trip?
You can spend your time alone, re-digesting past regrets, oh
Or you can come to terms and realize
You're the only one who can't forgive yourself, oh
Makes much more sense, to live in the present tense
Have you ideas on how this life ends?
Checked your hands and studied the lines
Have you the belief that the road ahead, ascends off into the light?
Seems that needlessly it's getting harder
To find an approach and a way to live
Are we getting something out of this all-encompassing trip?
You can spend your time alone re-digesting past regrets, oh
Or you can come to terms and realize
You're the only one who cannot forgive yourself, oh
Makes much more sense, to live in the present tense
Thank you, BinFrog! Exactly what I'm thinking.
Pandora, I tried being respectful in my reply to you. For whatever reason, you seem to be trying to sabotage this thread. This thread is not about Pat Tillman. Please, start your own thread about Tillman. If you continue to sabotage this thread I'll ask the mods to lock it or delete it altogether and I'll try again elsewhere. I don't understand why you're doing this but please take it elsewhere. This thread is about what I see as the insanity of world-wide suicide. Disagree? Fine. Sabotage the thread, not fine and not nice.
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"
you can celebrate his life and try to find that meaning in this song, but it is not there. it is an angry song, like all of pearl jam's songs about war.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
2. Everyone is entitled to interpret a song as they choose and everyone is correct...it's a very personal thing and the author often leaves the lyrics open to multiple interpretations.
3. No one is in Ed's head and so making definitive statements about the meaning or meanings behind his lyrics would be an exercise in imagining, right?
This thread is being moved and a discussion of the lyrics should be in a friendly way...we're all Pearl Jam fans, right?
Thank you.
I like that line. Says a lot.
or to awaken in a world where I lost my child to war
that is living pain
this line too
"Looking in the eyes of the fallen
You got to know there's another, another, another, another
Another way "
I feel hope here that if everyone really looked and saw it could be changed
yes I do very much so and yes I am up to speed on the story of this brave man
of course I too feel the song is bittersweet ...
angry and proud, all that goes with the death of him and the tragic circumstances
and betrayal.
I have been a fan 20+ years, I recognize the anger, the injustice in the song
for this man and many others.
It is beautifully written so and as someone mentioned the tempo upbeat and challenging...
it is one of the finer masterpieces Pearl Jam has created and has
so much depth and meaning layers and complexity ...
it seems maybe it hasn't gotten enough credit.
it has brought much light for me personally, not only as a personal story written
but a much broader understanding of war ...
who doesn't feel this song? it is amazing!
I guess I should have seen this coming. If you read my OP I did not intend to start a thread about the song but rather of the madness I perceive in the world. I understand you're decision to move the thread, Kat, but I'm very disappointed that some of the other posts served to (as I see it) sabotage the thread. I'm inclined to say lets just delete the thread all together and I'll either try again with different wording. Maybe I just need to get of the shaky train for a while.
Bummed,
Brian
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"
I got from the OP, that the thread was meant to not interpret the song, but to address a topic very much meant for a Moving Train. :?
as he really brought awareness that remains.
The song means different things to different people how could he not be proud of that?
What Brian was trying to get across was something very different from what *you* interpret. So you had to go run to Kat because of it?
The Subject line is the song title.
The first comment by the OP is "Great song"
Then the OP questions the meaning of it.
This is lyric interpretation. If the intended thread was about something different, it will need to be framed differently. This thread is done.
A FINAL warning to people who want to continue this personal argument...don't. Your accounts will be read-only. If you can't get along, people will be leaving.