Song interpretations
Olivavu
Posts: 1,683
ALIVE
Born Edward Louis Severson III, Eddie first knew himself as Eddie Mueller after his stepfather, a lawyer with whom he never saw eye-to-eye. When he was a teenager, Vedder's family moved briefly from Chicago to San Diego, leaving Vedder behind them when they returned to the Windy City. Vedder adopted his mother Karen's maiden name, and set about pursuing a career in music. His mother then split with Mueller, and visited Eddie in San Diego to hell him of the seperation...
"At first I was pretty happy about it," Vedder told Cameron Crowe in Rolling Stone. "Then she told me who my real dad was..."
Eddie's biological father was a lounge singer called Edward Louis Severson II who had died of multiple sclerosis.
"...I had met the guy three or four times, he was a friend of the family, kind of a distant friend. He died of MS, so when I met him he was in hospital. He had crutches...or maybe he was in a wheelchair."
Once they knew the secret was out, Severson's side of the family made themselves known, and talked about how his musical talent had obviously been passed on to his son. Vedder, by then extremely angry about his mother's deceit, was initially resentful of such statements - especially as he'd worked hard to save money for guitars and equipment. These days, he's proud of his father and has learnt to accept his background.
"He had no impact on my life," Vedder told Crowe, "but here I am. I look just like him. People in my family - they can't help it - they look at me like I'm a replacement. That's where 'Alive' comes in..."
WHY GO and LEASH
Both written about Heather, a girl who was put into care for smoking pot. Accoring to Vedder, that's what happens in Chicago suburbs. Heather was in the home for two years, although she was one of the smartest people Vedder knew. When she finally managed to leave the home, her mother threatened to put her into hospital. At the age of 16, Heather wasn't allowed out after 8pm, couldn't spend the night at friends' houses: she had no freedom whatsoever.
Vedder was inspired to write 'Leash' after hearing about Heather's mother and her restrictions on her daughter's rights.
JEREMY
Inspired by a story in a Texan newspaper, 'Jeremy' tells the tale of a child who was bullied at school and consequently blew his brains out in an English class.
"It's a byproduct of America's fascination - or rather perversion - with guns." Vedder told Kerrang! in 1992.
DISSIDENT
Based around the story of a political fugitive who's taken in by a woman. She can't handle the responsibility and so turns him in, changing her life to one of unbearable guilt. After betraying the one person who gave meaning to her life, she cracks...
WMA
Originally called 'Policeman', this song was inspired - like so many of Vedder's lyrcis - by a true incident. In Detroit a black man called Malice Johnson was beaten to death by a white policeman using flashlights. WMA stands for White Male American, ironically what Pearl Jam are...
GLORIFIED G
Dave Abruzzese had just bought himself two guns and was discussing it at rehearsals with the band. In Texas, argued the drummer (where he lived prior to moving north to Washington state), people have a very different attitude to guns. There they are used to defend land. But Eddie Vedder (who spent so many of his formative years in the more laid back state of California) was outraged, and took notes during the conversation, later working them into lyrics about a gun being nothing more than a silly macho symbol...
DAUGHTER
It wasn't until recently that 'word blindness' or dyslexia was identified. Only a few years ago, such learning difficulties were interpreted as disobedience or plain stupidity. 'Daughter' deals with the ignorance surrounding the issue, telling the story of a mother with a dyslexic daughter, whose problem she doesn't understand...
RATS
Actually not about rats at all, but people. People who run around backstabbing eachother, wheeling and dealing, behaving like parasites, or generally being dishonest and untrustworthy. Vedder says he believes rats actually behave better than people do...
ELDERLY WOMAN BEHIND THE COUNTER IN A SMALL TOWN
Fascinated by small towns, Vedder wrote this scenario of a woman of advancing years, stuck in a small community. One day her old flame comes into the shop looking rather cool, but when she remembers who he is, she's too embarassed to say anything. Vedder describes this song as a "pocket memory"...
Born Edward Louis Severson III, Eddie first knew himself as Eddie Mueller after his stepfather, a lawyer with whom he never saw eye-to-eye. When he was a teenager, Vedder's family moved briefly from Chicago to San Diego, leaving Vedder behind them when they returned to the Windy City. Vedder adopted his mother Karen's maiden name, and set about pursuing a career in music. His mother then split with Mueller, and visited Eddie in San Diego to hell him of the seperation...
"At first I was pretty happy about it," Vedder told Cameron Crowe in Rolling Stone. "Then she told me who my real dad was..."
Eddie's biological father was a lounge singer called Edward Louis Severson II who had died of multiple sclerosis.
"...I had met the guy three or four times, he was a friend of the family, kind of a distant friend. He died of MS, so when I met him he was in hospital. He had crutches...or maybe he was in a wheelchair."
Once they knew the secret was out, Severson's side of the family made themselves known, and talked about how his musical talent had obviously been passed on to his son. Vedder, by then extremely angry about his mother's deceit, was initially resentful of such statements - especially as he'd worked hard to save money for guitars and equipment. These days, he's proud of his father and has learnt to accept his background.
"He had no impact on my life," Vedder told Crowe, "but here I am. I look just like him. People in my family - they can't help it - they look at me like I'm a replacement. That's where 'Alive' comes in..."
WHY GO and LEASH
Both written about Heather, a girl who was put into care for smoking pot. Accoring to Vedder, that's what happens in Chicago suburbs. Heather was in the home for two years, although she was one of the smartest people Vedder knew. When she finally managed to leave the home, her mother threatened to put her into hospital. At the age of 16, Heather wasn't allowed out after 8pm, couldn't spend the night at friends' houses: she had no freedom whatsoever.
Vedder was inspired to write 'Leash' after hearing about Heather's mother and her restrictions on her daughter's rights.
JEREMY
Inspired by a story in a Texan newspaper, 'Jeremy' tells the tale of a child who was bullied at school and consequently blew his brains out in an English class.
"It's a byproduct of America's fascination - or rather perversion - with guns." Vedder told Kerrang! in 1992.
DISSIDENT
Based around the story of a political fugitive who's taken in by a woman. She can't handle the responsibility and so turns him in, changing her life to one of unbearable guilt. After betraying the one person who gave meaning to her life, she cracks...
WMA
Originally called 'Policeman', this song was inspired - like so many of Vedder's lyrcis - by a true incident. In Detroit a black man called Malice Johnson was beaten to death by a white policeman using flashlights. WMA stands for White Male American, ironically what Pearl Jam are...
GLORIFIED G
Dave Abruzzese had just bought himself two guns and was discussing it at rehearsals with the band. In Texas, argued the drummer (where he lived prior to moving north to Washington state), people have a very different attitude to guns. There they are used to defend land. But Eddie Vedder (who spent so many of his formative years in the more laid back state of California) was outraged, and took notes during the conversation, later working them into lyrics about a gun being nothing more than a silly macho symbol...
DAUGHTER
It wasn't until recently that 'word blindness' or dyslexia was identified. Only a few years ago, such learning difficulties were interpreted as disobedience or plain stupidity. 'Daughter' deals with the ignorance surrounding the issue, telling the story of a mother with a dyslexic daughter, whose problem she doesn't understand...
RATS
Actually not about rats at all, but people. People who run around backstabbing eachother, wheeling and dealing, behaving like parasites, or generally being dishonest and untrustworthy. Vedder says he believes rats actually behave better than people do...
ELDERLY WOMAN BEHIND THE COUNTER IN A SMALL TOWN
Fascinated by small towns, Vedder wrote this scenario of a woman of advancing years, stuck in a small community. One day her old flame comes into the shop looking rather cool, but when she remembers who he is, she's too embarassed to say anything. Vedder describes this song as a "pocket memory"...
Wembley 2000 • Reading 2006 • Paris 2006 • Wembley 2007 • Shepherds Bush 2009 • Manchester 2009 • O2 Arena 2009 • Hyde Park 2010 • Arras 2010 • Manchester 2012 • Manchester II 2012 • Leeds 2014 • Milton Keynes 2014 • Amsterdam 2018 • Amsterdam II 2018 • London 2018 • London II 2018 • Hyde Park II 2022
http://www.last.fm/user/olivavu
http://www.last.fm/user/olivavu
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Comments
Listening to vinyl.
The ambiguous lyrics might also be hinting at drug use.
Vedder insists it's about the bands love for vinyl...but the lyrics suggest it's about addiction...drug addiction.
I'd agree that the ambiguity does suggest it's about addiction and it is about addiction.
http://www.last.fm/user/olivavu
Maybe it's addiction to vinyl!