i'm new here, and this is my first post. i read the guidelines, and hope to do us all proud.
"sirens"... sometimes i think it is a very literal song, others i just find little hints that make me wonder about other meanings. but i guess all pj songs do that for me. i learn something new everytime i hear them.
it's a very special song to me, and i feel very comforted when i hear the words. the street i live in is a fastlane for ambulances, medic cars, police cars, firefighters' trucks... i hear sirens all day long. and so, so often.
it has happened to me having someone special being in an ambulance, flying by this fastlane, without me even knowing it. i try to explain to people that everytime i hear a siren, i think about just how it can change my life - my friends' lives, anybodies' lives - in just a split second. so i wonder... "will it come for me next time"?
i tried to explain you can get used to the sound, still sleep and still live your life normaly, but you can never, ever get used to the meaning of the sirens.
i'm sorry if i wrote too much, and i hope you don't think i'm off the topic. that's "sirens". love, loss, and the feeling that someone on another part of the globe "said" what i felt. now, when i can't make myself clear, i can say "you know what? there's this song that says it better"...
I have been totally hooked by this song, it's like a musical drug and I can't stop listening to it. Here's the review I left on Amazon for this song :
Sirens is simply a work of art, speaking in terms of the combined lyrics, music and the overwhelming emotion that Eddie pours into singing this song. I've been a hard core Pearl Jam fan since 1992 & have followed them thru their ups and downs over the years, but this song took me completely by surprise. I've always been a sucker for a good power ballad, but I gave up years ago hoping that Pearl Jam would ever do anything comparable to Black... well, Sirens blows Black right out of the water and is easily now my favorite Pearl Jam song.
Oct. 15, 2013 Worcester, MA
Aug. 05, 2016 - Fenway Park, Boston Oct. 15, 2013 - Worcester, Massachusetts
First bunch of listens, I thought it was a good song. Then it started to grow on me. Then yesterday I saw someone elsewhere say they thought it was about Ed's daughter. On my way into work today, I was in tears listening to it. I can definitely see how you could just say it's about a loved one, but I think it's more than that.
I've got three kids now (enough thanks) and if there's a kid in my bed at night, I DO reach out, hold their hand, check their breath. I think about what will happen if I die, if they know how much I love them. I don't even know how to explain it to someone. My whole chest tightens when I look at them. I'm simultaneously filled with love, joy, pride and fear.
Maybe not. Maybe it's just a really touching song about being in love with another adult and the fragility of life. But from here on out, it's totally about my kids to me.
just wondering - with headphones on it sounds like 'a distant laughter with the ever-after'
i know the booklet indicates otherwise.
does anyone else hear it?
before you were here, a distant laughter with the ever-after
Awesome tune! Can't stop listening to it. So powerful from the intro to the end. My favourite song from Lightning Bolt. I was priveleged enough to see it's libe debut in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 10/11/13 Detroit, MI 10/16/14 Tampa, FL 4/11/16 Jacksonville, FL 4/13/16 Toronto, ON 5/12/16 Chicago, IL 8/22/16 Chicago, IL 8/18/18 Chicago, IL 8/20/18 Boston, MA 9/4/18 Ottawa, ON 9/3/22 Hamilton, ON 9/6/22 Toronto, ON 9/8/22
That song hits me at my core. The lyrics are extremely literal and powerful. When I listened to it the first time, thoughts of people I love flashed through my mind.
last Sunday night, our 45 year old neighbor across the street wasn't feeling well after dinner. he had been with his partner for 6 years, and married just under a year. i woke around midnight which was two hours after he arrived home from dinner to hear his partner yelling. the paramedics were already there trying to resuscitate him. the paramedics took him to the hospital, about a 4 minute drive from our house, and my wife and i took his 53 year old spouse. we arrived at the hospital emergency room and they were still trying to resuscitate him. it never happened, he passed. we stood with him as we were told that his husband didn't make it. it seemed so surreal, not like how television nor movies show it.
I too am 45. My wife and I have been married just 2 years, and together 6.
i haven't been able to stop thinking about this song over the last week. i haven't been able to listen to it yet, but tomorrow is the memorial. perhaps after that i will be able to. you never know when it's the last meal. treat every day as the last. tell people how you feel and hold them close, for you aren't sure when it might be the last time.
91 - 11/22 Detroit (opening for RHCP)
98 - 7/14 Los Angeles Forum (missed Tenacious D)
00 - 8/24 Jones Beach, 10/24 Los Angeles Greek (can't find a Better Van!), 25 San Diego & 28 San Bernadino (Glen Helen)
03 - 6/2 & 3 Irvine, 5 San Diego, 6 Las Vegas MGM (10th Annivesary), 7 Phoenix
05 - 9/2 Vancouver
06 - 7/9 & 10 Los Angeles, 12 Hollywood (Fonda Theatre, it's a Worldwide Suicide), 15 & 16 San Francisco
08 - 7/12 The Who Tribute at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion! (Love, Reign o'er me! with orchestra) 09 - 8/23 & 24 Chicago United Center, 9/26 Portland, 9/30, 10/1, 6 & 7 Universal City Amphiteatre, 9 San Diego (2nd row)
10 - 5/20 & 21 MSG, 10/23 Bridge School
12 - 6/20 & 21 Manchester, UK
13 - 11/19 Phoenix, 21 San Diego, 23 & 24 Los Angeles, 12/6 Seattle (finally)!
14 - 10/16 Detroit, 20 Milwaukee (YIELDED), 22 Denver
16 - 8/20 Wrigley #1 18 - 8/18 Wrigley #1 (40th show!), 8/20 Wrigley #2
I empathize with your pain and experience. I truly hope the song comes back to you and I'm sure that when it does, you'll feel it stronger than ever. Thoughts with you, your wife and your neighbor. And what you've said is bang on.
theebradness
Quincy, IL originally from Weymouth, MA Posts: 278
I bought Lightning Bolt the day it came out and loved it. Especially Sirens. I played it for everyone I know telling them, this is the new Black, the new Even Flow, the new song that will live forever.
It ALWAYS makes me think of my dad, who is still alive, healthy, more active now in his 70's then in years. But that threat of mortality lingers. I know when they play this in St Louis, I'll be crying. This song live will break me, and I can't WAIT!
Lollapalooza 1992 Mansfield MA STL 2014
Wrigley Aug 20th 2016
St Louis 2022
I'm a lucky man to count on both hands the ones I love.
This is what I imagine Eddie saying in an interview: "One night...couldn't sleep. Jill's sleeping next to me. I laid there, eyes open, for hours. There was a sound that kept piercing the night - sirens. After about the third or fourth time, I'm really contemplating the fragility of life. It's fascinating how things that you once took for granted or that didn't even register, say when you're in you're 20's, become so profound as you age. Especially if you're lucky enough to love and be loved. I mean the fragility of life REALLY hit me. I looked over at Jill and felt so content, complete, at peace...then suddenly I'm paralyzed with fear, imagining life without her. Knowing that one day for her or me, that would be the case. I almost woke her. I wanted to tell her how she's become my core. How thinking about her and our love makes me tear up--in a good way. But instead I just pulled her close and held on. Eventually falling asleep. Just hold on. Yeah. Hah. When I woke up, Jill was gone. Probably off with the girls. Another day closer to the end. I grabbed my notebook and a pencil. Sirens was born."
Thank you for posting this. This is exactly how I'd like to think it would go, too. :x
"So now, I drink wine." - Milwaukee, WI 10/20/14 "How fortunate were we that we were born in Chicago..." - Rosemont, IL 5/14/15 "The irony is that maybe someday they'll find exactly that... maybe that's a good thing." - Rosemont, IL 5/15/15 "[Unthought Known] wasn't the *worst* thing I'd ever done..." Central Park, NYC 9/26/15 "Cómo se dice 'really high'?" - Mexico City, DF 11/28/15
This is what I imagine Eddie saying in an interview: "One night...couldn't sleep. Jill's sleeping next to me. I laid there, eyes open, for hours. There was a sound that kept piercing the night - sirens. After about the third or fourth time, I'm really contemplating the fragility of life. It's fascinating how things that you once took for granted or that didn't even register, say when you're in you're 20's, become so profound as you age. Especially if you're lucky enough to love and be loved. I mean the fragility of life REALLY hit me. I looked over at Jill and felt so content, complete, at peace...then suddenly I'm paralyzed with fear, imagining life without her. Knowing that one day for her or me, that would be the case. I almost woke her. I wanted to tell her how she's become my core. How thinking about her and our love makes me tear up--in a good way. But instead I just pulled her close and held on. Eventually falling asleep. Just hold on. Yeah. Hah. When I woke up, Jill was gone. Probably off with the girls. Another day closer to the end. I grabbed my notebook and a pencil. Sirens was born."
Thank you for posting this. This is exactly how I'd like to think it would go, too. :x
Comments
i'm new here, and this is my first post. i read the guidelines, and hope to do us all proud.
"sirens"... sometimes i think it is a very literal song, others i just find little hints that make me wonder about other meanings. but i guess all pj songs do that for me. i learn something new everytime i hear them.
it's a very special song to me, and i feel very comforted when i hear the words. the street i live in is a fastlane for ambulances, medic cars, police cars, firefighters' trucks... i hear sirens all day long. and so, so often.
it has happened to me having someone special being in an ambulance, flying by this fastlane, without me even knowing it. i try to explain to people that everytime i hear a siren, i think about just how it can change my life - my friends' lives, anybodies' lives - in just a split second. so i wonder... "will it come for me next time"?
i tried to explain you can get used to the sound, still sleep and still live your life normaly, but you can never, ever get used to the meaning of the sirens.
i'm sorry if i wrote too much, and i hope you don't think i'm off the topic. that's "sirens". love, loss, and the feeling that someone on another part of the globe "said" what i felt. now, when i can't make myself clear, i can say "you know what? there's this song that says it better"...
have a great night/day everyone.
cheers
Sirens is simply a work of art, speaking in terms of the combined lyrics, music and the overwhelming emotion that Eddie pours into singing this song. I've been a hard core Pearl Jam fan since 1992 & have followed them thru their ups and downs over the years, but this song took me completely by surprise. I've always been a sucker for a good power ballad, but I gave up years ago hoping that Pearl Jam would ever do anything comparable to Black... well, Sirens blows Black right out of the water and is easily now my favorite Pearl Jam song.
Oct. 15, 2013 Worcester, MA
Oct. 15, 2013 - Worcester, Massachusetts
I've got three kids now (enough thanks) and if there's a kid in my bed at night, I DO reach out, hold their hand, check their breath. I think about what will happen if I die, if they know how much I love them. I don't even know how to explain it to someone. My whole chest tightens when I look at them. I'm simultaneously filled with love, joy, pride and fear.
Maybe not. Maybe it's just a really touching song about being in love with another adult and the fragility of life. But from here on out, it's totally about my kids to me.
i know the booklet indicates otherwise.
does anyone else hear it?
before you were here, a distant laughter with the ever-after
Detroit, MI 10/16/14
Tampa, FL 4/11/16
Jacksonville, FL 4/13/16
Toronto, ON 5/12/16
Chicago, IL 8/22/16
Chicago, IL 8/18/18
Chicago, IL 8/20/18
Boston, MA 9/4/18
Ottawa, ON 9/3/22
Hamilton, ON 9/6/22
Toronto, ON 9/8/22
last Sunday night, our 45 year old neighbor across the street wasn't feeling well after dinner. he had been with his partner for 6 years, and married just under a year. i woke around midnight which was two hours after he arrived home from dinner to hear his partner yelling. the paramedics were already there trying to resuscitate him. the paramedics took him to the hospital, about a 4 minute drive from our house, and my wife and i took his 53 year old spouse. we arrived at the hospital emergency room and they were still trying to resuscitate him. it never happened, he passed. we stood with him as we were told that his husband didn't make it. it seemed so surreal, not like how television nor movies show it.
I too am 45. My wife and I have been married just 2 years, and together 6.
i haven't been able to stop thinking about this song over the last week. i haven't been able to listen to it yet, but tomorrow is the memorial. perhaps after that i will be able to. you never know when it's the last meal. treat every day as the last. tell people how you feel and hold them close, for you aren't sure when it might be the last time.
98 - 7/14 Los Angeles Forum (missed Tenacious D)
00 - 8/24 Jones Beach, 10/24 Los Angeles Greek (can't find a Better Van!), 25 San Diego & 28 San Bernadino (Glen Helen)
03 - 6/2 & 3 Irvine, 5 San Diego, 6 Las Vegas MGM (10th Annivesary), 7 Phoenix
05 - 9/2 Vancouver
06 - 7/9 & 10 Los Angeles, 12 Hollywood (Fonda Theatre, it's a Worldwide Suicide), 15 & 16 San Francisco
08 - 7/12 The Who Tribute at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion! (Love, Reign o'er me! with orchestra)
09 - 8/23 & 24 Chicago United Center, 9/26 Portland, 9/30, 10/1, 6 & 7 Universal City Amphiteatre, 9 San Diego (2nd row)
10 - 5/20 & 21 MSG, 10/23 Bridge School
12 - 6/20 & 21 Manchester, UK
13 - 11/19 Phoenix, 21 San Diego, 23 & 24 Los Angeles, 12/6 Seattle (finally)!
14 - 10/16 Detroit, 20 Milwaukee (YIELDED), 22 Denver
16 - 8/20 Wrigley #1
18 - 8/18 Wrigley #1 (40th show!), 8/20 Wrigley #2
And what you've said is bang on.
2010 WATCH IT GO TO FIRE!!
It ALWAYS makes me think of my dad, who is still alive, healthy, more active now in his 70's then in years. But that threat of mortality lingers. I know when they play this in St Louis, I'll be crying. This song live will break me, and I can't WAIT!
STL 2014
I'm a lucky man to count on both hands the ones I love.
"How fortunate were we that we were born in Chicago..." - Rosemont, IL 5/14/15
"The irony is that maybe someday they'll find exactly that... maybe that's a good thing." - Rosemont, IL 5/15/15
"[Unthought Known] wasn't the *worst* thing I'd ever done..." Central Park, NYC 9/26/15
"Cómo se dice 'really high'?" - Mexico City, DF 11/28/15