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all five horizons

wdoorninkwdoornink Posts: 2
edited June 2009 in Words and Music...Communication
Black has gotta be about my favorite song in the Pearl Jam catalog, but I can't seem to figure out what the "five horizons" are? Can someone enlighten me?
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  • little_wishlittle_wish Posts: 532
    I think it's pretty much open to interpritation but

    BUMP

    To see what people think...
    20-04-2006 04-09-2006 05-09-2006 11-09-2006 16-09-2006 17-09-2006 18-06-2007 21-06-2007 26-06-2007 28-06-2007 17-08-2009 20-05-2010 21-05-2010

    "The live shows? Well, that's church on Sundays"
  • ||Release_Me||||Release_Me|| Posts: 1,871
    Well this is only my interpretation so take it with a pinch of salt...

    I think that 'all five horizons revolved around her soul...' means that his whole life was about her. He lived and breathed this girl, she was his whole life and the centre of his world. Night and day, he thought about her.

    My all-time fave song ever as well!
    "This town deserves a better class of criminal... and I'm gonna give it to them."

  • wdoorninkwdoornink Posts: 2
    I absolutely agree. But any idea as to what specifically these "five horizons" are? I've never heard that term before. Maybe it's nothing - just poetry, but it's a bit of a strange metaphor if there's nothing behind it.
  • ||Release_Me||||Release_Me|| Posts: 1,871
    Well, me and Naomi (InsidelThelWell) were talking earlier, and we agreed that it could mean something about the universe and the galaxies. I also think it's related to night and day, that he thought about her every day and every night.
    "This town deserves a better class of criminal... and I'm gonna give it to them."

  • LBC1076LBC1076 Posts: 224
    Or it be as simple as his 5 senses. Everything he saw, heard, touched, tasted and felt was her. Just a thought.
  • PalavasPalavas Posts: 17
    I think 5 horizons like 5 lives (Stone, Jeff, Mike, Dave & Ed).
    Fabien

    07/11/1996 : Paris
    08/06/2000 : Paris
    09/09/2006 : Marseille - 11/09/2006 : Paris - 13/09/2006: Bern
    28/06/2007 : Nijmegen
  • escarinaescarina Posts: 44
    do you think a man can love a woman in this way?....


    definitely my all-time fave song too, no words can describe the feeling that flows inside me when i listen to it....and i hope such affection really is possible

    greets
    How can I be free with what's locked inside of me?
  • BerthaBertha Posts: 11
    the fifth horizon is where one´s mind ends.
    Like, four directions, four horizons, four spacial limitations...and the fifth one everyone kind of sets up for himself (well, the fortunate ones..the others just take walls and fences for horizons anyway).

    Ever came to a point where you knew that you´d fall over the brink into absolute nothingness if this - whatever- went on for just another split second?

    Ok, it´s my own interpretation, but I´m glad it came up...

    Love, Bertha
    I am a lie that always tells the truth (Jean Cocteau)
  • bitterhandsbitterhands Posts: 9
    This is THE song that hooked me on to Pearl Jam, I've always interpreted "all five horizons" as the north, south, east ,west and above. I dont know but after "I am Mine" came out with Eddie refering to the "North is to South...." he makes me think that he likes the direction thing.
    " Well, we drove by a few other names and decided to keep moving until we could find one that we could make ourselves at home in. And it was...I think the name's open to interpretation...even though the real story is the fact that my great grandma was married to an indian chief and... Actually I don't know if he was a chief... Yeah, actually he was demoted. He was a chief for a while and then... When he moved into like white society, he was no longer ordained...but they also...like the ultimate combining of their cultures was the fact that like my great grandma made this jam that was passed down for generations but then she added his end of it by adding, like peyote and hallucenogenics and it was this kind of hallucenogenic jam..."-EV

  • Pearl_Jam_NecklacePearl_Jam_Necklace Posts: 501
    Black -the masterpiece-i have to agree with all the thoughts on this thread...i know that feeling,Bertha,you spoke of ...What EdVed does with his lyrics is just Overwhelming..sometimes i get out the dictionary just to read the meaning ,though i know it...so why do i sear????.....ahh..have you ever hear that word "sear"used in any other song...i haven"t, don't want to..but i knew the meaning and it is ..to burn up..diff.dictionaries put it diff..oops i slipped away from the all 5 horizons......
    ...It's only after disaster that we can be resurrected...
    it's only after you've lost everything ...that you are free to do anything....(Fight Club)

    ... I'll ride the wave...where it takes me....
  • WernyWerny Posts: 63
    Escarina, what do you mean can a man love a woman this way? Some men have really deep feelings for the opposite sex.

    Maybe he was just saying that she was very special in a fancy way ;).
    This puke stinks like beer, and everybody's here, so come on come on come on, let's lay waste to this Century...
  • escarinaescarina Posts: 44
    Originally posted by Werny
    Escarina, what do you mean can a man love a woman this way? Some men have really deep feelings for the opposite sex.

    Maybe he was just saying that she was very special in a fancy way ;).

    i just wanted to know if others think its possible
    then im not the only one....
    How can I be free with what's locked inside of me?
  • savannah66savannah66 Posts: 65
    Originally posted by bitterhands
    This is THE song that hooked me on to Pearl Jam, I've always interpreted "all five horizons" as the north, south, east ,west and above. I dont know but after "I am Mine" came out with Eddie refering to the "North is to South...." he makes me think that he likes the direction thing.

    Ditto. I always saw it as: North, South, East, West, and the sky above. You can look in five directions, not four. I don't know if this is 'correct', just how I saw it.
  • little_wishlittle_wish Posts: 532
    I read something the other day about the Greeks and how they believed that everything in the world had 4 elements. The four seasons, 4 directions (north, east, south and west) things such as hot, cold, wet and dry were linked etc. And I might be reading too much into this but Eddie may have been exagerrating this '4' theory... he may have been stating that everything physical revolves around her and there is something else that isn't quite real but it's all about her.
    People do this with the five senses... they believe that there is another sense which no one can quite explain.
    Yeah I've probably read far too much into that, but this line has really got me thinking!
    20-04-2006 04-09-2006 05-09-2006 11-09-2006 16-09-2006 17-09-2006 18-06-2007 21-06-2007 26-06-2007 28-06-2007 17-08-2009 20-05-2010 21-05-2010

    "The live shows? Well, that's church on Sundays"
  • prljmngrlprljmngrl Posts: 320
    can we revive this discussion cuz i've always been curious about this issue too

    so far I like the four horizons plus the above theory and the four tangible horizons with the fifth being the inner self theory
  • PiCTuReKePTPiCTuReKePT Posts: 311
    it might be referring to a kind of power that is capable of starting and finishing something.
  • Rockin RitaRockin Rita Posts: 21
    LBC1076 wrote:
    Or it be as simple as his 5 senses. Everything he saw, heard, touched, tasted and felt was her. Just a thought.
    You hit it on the head.
  • redmosquito10redmosquito10 Posts: 568
    not to be an ass or a nitpicker or anything, but touched and felt are probably the same sense, unless by felt you mean emotionally, in which case disregard that statement. I think I heard somewhere that it was related to the 5 element idea, which has been associated with PJ in the past. I can't guarantee what I'm saying right now because I haven't read about it a while, but there's a theory where the 4 basic elements of the world (earth, water, fire, and air) are accompanied by a fifth element, which in one of its forms would be music. Just my 2 cents.
    "Ah, life is a gate, a way, a path to Paradise anyway, why not live for fun and joy and love or some sort of girl by a fireside, why not go to your desire and LAUGH..."
  • phungiphungi Posts: 641
    see, hear, smell, touch, taste...
    37 PJ Shows, 3 EV Shows, 1134 Total Songs, 24 Different Openers, 9 Different Closers, 252 Unique Songs (never enough)
  • JordyWordyJordyWordy Posts: 2,261
    i always thought it was the 5 senses, and not only because it makes sense but its a beautiful description of how every manner in which he was able to interact with his outside world focused on her, and she was the centre of it.

    i like the 5 directions one too, but the senses are referred to throughout the lyrics and its more sensual and romantic than the directions one in my eyes, so ill stick with it. :)
  • dimitrispearljamdimitrispearljam Posts: 139,720
    Inside|The|Well wrote:
    I read something the other day about the Greeks and how they believed that everything in the world had 4 elements. The four seasons, 4 directions (north, east, south and west) things such as hot, cold, wet and dry were linked etc. And I might be reading too much into this but Eddie may have been exagerrating this '4' theory... he may have been stating that everything physical revolves around her and there is something else that isn't quite real but it's all about her.
    People do this with the five senses... they believe that there is another sense which no one can quite explain.
    Yeah I've probably read far too much into that, but this line has really got me thinking!
    im greek,,and yes that a very smart thought...by the way is the best song ever,,,
    and if pearl jam made a video that song will be n1 ever..couse the picture is power in now days..and can u imagine a scene of eddie singing " i know some day" and a then the video show as her wedding day and she smile strangely strange...o.m.g.,,,
    "...Dimitri...He talks to me...'.."The Ghost of Greece..".
    "..That's One Happy Fuckin Ghost.."
    “..That came up on the Pillow Case...This is for the Greek, With Our Apologies.....”
  • verbtotrust4130verbtotrust4130 Posts: 52
    I think it might have something to do with four horizons north south east west, but the fifth is his love/life, and she is the center of everything right in the middle of north south east and west horizons and also the center of his life and now that she is gone he is going down and becoming dark like a sunset...... i am just rambling I'm pretty sure..... I can't get out the words in the right way I guess.... I always said I love Black because it explains something that so many people have felt but never had the ability to express it in such a beautiful way...... And I think that lines like "All five horizons" are best left unexplained exactly by the artist because that is what is so great about music is that it is open to interpretation so that you can mix and match to fit you
  • Travels WithTravels With Posts: 597
    Maybe this is too literal but the horizon is where the sky meets the ocean -- there are five major oceans -- therefore, all five horizons.
    “I suppose our capacity for self-delusion is boundless.” ― John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America
  • TravisTheSkyTravisTheSky Posts: 615
    I thought that five horizons referred to either five weeks, or months.

    I read a Vedder interview early in PJ's career where he stated that he doesn't write songs about "Girls or cars." Therefore, Black is not about a relationship with a woman. It must be about an abortion. Many reports can be found where it is stated that Vedder made a young woman pregnant when he was about sixteen. The woman had an abortion.

    Black is a tortured lovesong to Vedder's hypothetical child. Untouched canvas and clay are perfect metaphors for a foetus that never got to live. Why else would the laughter of children make him sear? After five horizons have revolved, his bitter hands "Cradle" broken glass. At the end of the song, he hopes for reincarnation: "I know some day you'll have a beautiful life, I know you will be a star in somebody else's sky. Why can't it be mine?"
    "May you live in interesting times."
  • Sleep.With.InnocenceSleep.With.Innocence Posts: 607
    Senses. It's that simple.
  • megatronmegatron Posts: 3,420
    escarina wrote:
    Originally posted by Werny
    Escarina, what do you mean can a man love a woman this way? Some men have really deep feelings for the opposite sex.

    Maybe he was just saying that she was very special in a fancy way ;).

    i just wanted to know if others think its possible
    then im not the only one....

    yes it is..unfortunately
  • DangDangDangDang Posts: 1,551
    TravisTheSky wrote:
    Black is a tortured lovesong to Vedder's hypothetical child.


    I guess this would fit in for some parts of the song, but not others. For example, he refers to "she" a lot. And she gave him all that she wore. Don't see how this could be a fetus.
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