"I would rather starve than eat your bread"

webberf1

Don't know if anyone else considered this, but i think i just realised what this lyric from Corduroy is referring to.

Refer to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin-eater

Basically, in medieval England and Scotland there was a practice whereby they got a beggar to eat a dying person's bread by their side so as to absolve the sins of the dying person and the beggar would take on those sins.

"They would be brought to the dying person's bedside, where a relative would place a crust of bread on the breast of the dying and pass a bowl of ale to him over the corpse. After praying or reciting the ritual, he would then drink and remove the from the breast and eat it, the act of which would remove the sin from the dying person and take it into himself.

I think this ties in even more closely when you consider there is also the line "I would rather starve than eat your breast" as the breast is mentioned in the previous passage.

Its all food for thought;)

Switch

I've always considered that line to be Eddie saying he doesn't need anything from the media, and would rather go unknown (Starve) than have their hype and attention (Bread)

webberf1

i totally agree that thats what it is actually about, but he's discovered the history of the sin-eaters and used it as a metaphor here.

whispering hands

I have used that line many a times on peeps. It tends to get a good reaction out of people. But what it reminds me of is this chick in Hemet (CA) she used to live down the road from us.....she used to think Ed was singing "I'd rather starve than eat your breasts." It still makes me laugh to this day when I think of that. this chick also cried when Ed got married.. We gave her so much crap for that!! I will never forget that chick..she totally loved Pearl Jam as much as I do.. I wonder what ever happened to her.. wether or not she still listens to them..oh well Corderouy is an excellent song and I have to go listen to it now.. lol

Ms. Haiku

Way to research! Man, I though he just wrote that line off the cuff, but he must have quite the eclectic store of information in his brain.

Deni

I've always known about the sin-eaters, being born and raised near the mountains in Kentucky. It's an old Appalachian mountain people practice. But I never actually thought that could be what Ed was referring to in that line. Its a very interesting thought there webberf1.

Switch

webberf1 wrote:

i totally agree that thats what it is actually about, but he's discovered the history of the sin-eaters and used it as a metaphor here.

I think it may just be a co-incidence. The only way i see it fitting would be if Eddie considered 'eating the bread' of the media IE taking their support would infect him with their 'sins' and therefore would rather 'starve'.

Deni

Switch wrote:

I think it may just be a co-incidence. The only way i see it fitting would be if Eddie considered 'eating the bread' of the media IE taking their support would infect him with their 'sins' and therefore would rather 'starve'.

I don't know. The line could just be referencing the immoral acts of the people who run the media. And that by eating the bread he would be corrupted by those same immoral acts.

macgyver06

whispering hands wrote:

I have used that line many a times on peeps. It tends to get a good reaction out of people. But what it reminds me of is this chick in Hemet (CA) she used to live down the road from us.....she used to think Ed was singing "I'd rather starve than eat your breasts." It still makes me laugh to this day when I think of that. this chick also cried when Ed got married.. We gave her so much crap for that!! I will never forget that chick..she totally loved Pearl Jam as much as I do.. I wonder what ever happened to her.. wether or not she still listens to them..oh well Corderouy is an excellent song and I have to go listen to it now.. lol

he does say breasts the second time

whispering hands

what if it was about all the crazy shit we fans write about in letters.. like putting him on that infamous pedestal...you have to remember the era in which the song was written.. second album they'd just blown up surely they got lots of ( and probably still do to this day) crazy letters about what all the fans had been through in life as if expecting the band or even Ed as an individual to save their lives.. make all the shit go away.. just a theory.. but I've always wondered if he didn't mean us in that line..

whispering hands

and that chick, she seriously thought that was what he was singing the entirety of the song not just that one line..

momofglynn

whispering hands wrote:

I have used that line many a times on peeps. It tends to get a good reaction out of people. But what it reminds me of is this chick in Hemet (CA) she used to live down the road from us.....she used to think Ed was singing "I'd rather starve than eat your breasts." It still makes me laugh to this day when I think of that. this chick also cried when Ed got married.. We gave her so much crap for that!! I will never forget that chick..she totally loved Pearl Jam as much as I do.. I wonder what ever happened to her.. wether or not she still listens to them..oh well Corderouy is an excellent song and I have to go listen to it now.. lol

so you were both right!

Stereotype

webberf1 wrote:

Don't know if anyone else considered this, but i think i just realised what this lyric from Corduroy is referring to.

Refer to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin-eater

Basically, in medieval England and Scotland there was a practice whereby they got a beggar to eat a dying person's bread by their side so as to absolve the sins of the dying person and the beggar would take on those sins.

"They would be brought to the dying person's bedside, where a relative would place a crust of bread on the breast of the dying and pass a bowl of ale to him over the corpse. After praying or reciting the ritual, he would then drink and remove the from the breast and eat it, the act of which would remove the sin from the dying person and take it into himself.

I think this ties in even more closely when you consider there is also the line "I would rather starve than eat your breast" as the breast is mentioned in the previous passage.

Its all food for thought;)

No.

MarylandTeacher

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Vedder shows that EV had a tumultuous relationship with his stepfather; a relationsihp that soured once EV learned that the man knew to be his father was, in fact, not his father. This anger is also echoed in Alive:

What you thought was your daddy was nothin but a...
While you were sittin home alone at age thirteen
Your real daddy was dyin, sorry you didnt see him, but Im glad we talked...

Perhaps, in his anger, he would refuse "food" offered to him by his stepfather. Perhaps it's a metaphor for the anger he once felt for the man he thought to be his father.

just my .02

Matt

webberf1 wrote:

Don't know if anyone else considered this, but i think i just realised what this lyric from Corduroy is referring to.

Refer to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin-eater

Basically, in medieval England and Scotland there was a practice whereby they got a beggar to eat a dying person's bread by their side so as to absolve the sins of the dying person and the beggar would take on those sins.

"They would be brought to the dying person's bedside, where a relative would place a crust of bread on the breast of the dying and pass a bowl of ale to him over the corpse. After praying or reciting the ritual, he would then drink and remove the from the breast and eat it, the act of which would remove the sin from the dying person and take it into himself.

I think this ties in even more closely when you consider there is also the line "I would rather starve than eat your breast" as the breast is mentioned in the previous passage.

Its all food for thought;)

vedderfan10

Nooo...It's about his struggle with fame... That friggin' jacket of his that he got at a thrift store for $2 and then Armani or some other super designer made his own version and sold the replica for a few hundred. That is what ed was mad about...

MarylandTeacher

Vedderfan10 wrote:

Nooo...It's about his struggle with fame... That friggin' jacket of his that he got at a thrift store for $2 and then Armani or some other super designer made his own version and sold the replica for a few hundred. That is what ed was mad about...

"I'd rather starve than eat your bread" could be the philosophy that EV applies to living...the lens through which he views life.

At the very least, there is a tone of dramatic defiance to what he is saying.

Switch

Vedderfan10 wrote:

Nooo...It's about his struggle with fame... That friggin' jacket of his that he got at a thrift store for $2 and then Armani or some other super designer made his own version and sold the replica for a few hundred. That is what ed was mad about...

That is referred to in the song, but not in this line.

"They can buy but can't put on my clothes" is what refers to his jacket.

vedderfan10

I would rather not know this stuff than know it.

MarylandTeacher

I wonder if his struggle with fame has anything to do with the fact that he occasionally likes to sleep wearing an army helmet....did anyone else read that?

Odd....interesting, but odd.

writersu

MarylandTeacher wrote:

I wonder if his struggle with fame has anything to do with the fact that he occasionally likes to sleep wearing an army helmet....did anyone else read that?

Odd....interesting, but odd.

Hey, teach.......

I wonder what the connection is between the two.......fame/helmet.........

you're a thoughtful person , what do you connect it as??????
And no, I didn't know that. That is weird.......does he wear boots as well????? and does his girlfriend like the helmet thing? (lol????)

It must be great to do obscure things and get considered it worthy of talk or print, when most of us might be thought of as strange......

Helmet or no helmet, he's still cool as ........I want to say "hell" but I am sure hell is not cool.................so you get my drift here...........

tie-dye lady

He only wore the helmet for like a year, right? Bizzare...but then he was going through some crazy shit then too.

marker_in_the_sand

Hmm... I just thought Eddie wasn't hungry at the time he wrote those lyrics:p

Flannel Shirt

this whole song is a very fucked up tune. i am a bad writer, and if we were to sit down and shoot the shit about it with you all, I think I could better explain what I mean, but here goes...

I think you have to include this line in discussing the context of the song as a whole...

to me, its all about the a tidal wave of fame and the narrator trying to deal with it in his head. the main character is the jacket, and we have all heard the story about how he bought it at a thrift store and then it was being sold to the rich for $500+ because it was "cool", and how that is very fucked up becaue this person was just being themselves, but there is a lot of shit going on around it. the narrator even appears angry at his own art "I thought you were a friend, but I guess I, I guess I hate you... ".

he wants nothing to do with fame and the bullshit surrounding it. even the "perks" piss him off. doesnt want to be treated any differently. if anything, it had ruined his past way of life. therefore, he would rather starve than eat its (fames) bread. it can go fuck itself, as he would rather go on as he was. he didnt ask for this.

This is why I love this band. They're all about the music and poetry.

Im high on Robutissen. Colds suck.

Peace.

writersu

yeah, but you have to remember that the song was written before Eddie became famous

halszka123

I don't think Eddie had mind it. I think is simplier. Meanwhile i enjoyed the movie "Sit eater" - a little metaphisical.

Corduroy for me is about some of us - the fans and a little bit about media. He's right - He was alone before nd He will die "without a noise". The fame can't fill up a life. It's only my interpretation...

Pearler

Im not totally sure what that line refers to but I will bet my left gonad its nothing to do with medievil England or Scotland.

Infact, considering Mr Vedder is such an angry critter, Id say its just a general smack in the face to a large percentage of society by him saying I wouldnt want, nor even accept your charity or arse kissing if we were the last two people on earth.

Pearler

Flannel Shirt wrote:

main character is the jacket, and we have all heard the story about how he bought it at a thrift store and then it was being sold to the rich for $500+ because it was "cool", and how that is very fucked up becaue this person was just being themselves, but there is a lot of shit going on around it. the narrator even appears angry at his own art "I thought you were a friend, but I guess I, I guess I hate you... ".

he wants nothing to do with fame and the bullshit surrounding it. even the "perks" piss him off. doesnt want to be treated any differently. if anything, it had ruined his past way of life. .

well, if this is the case, Ed is a trend setter with this jacket issue.... he should be proud, not pissed.

And when you start belting out tunes to a sea of people as far as the eye can see, day after day, and you know you own them and have them in the palm of your hand, selling gazillions of records and generally taking over the music world... then expect the world to treat you as a mere nobody, just another dot on the mountain of mediocre, AND resent the world for putting you on a pedestal in the first place, then you are a wanker , and dreaming, and should be breeding goats for a living instead.


But then, and ironically fortunately for us, I suppose if Ed wasnt such a head case, he wouldnt have had the same inner demons blasting out through the end of his favorite pencil in lyrical form.


Cheers goat loving queers,

Pearler.

Stone Irons

writersu wrote:

yeah, but you have to remember that the song was written before Eddie became famous

No, Corduroy was written in late 93/early 94. It was written by Ed as a reaction to the co-option of his image at the time as well as his relationship with millions of fans.

Yoyoyo

I once asked my mother that if she had only but one sewing kit(I don't know why but sewing was the factor) what in the end of days would she sew...? She told me that she would sew me whatever in life that I choose because my benefit and welfare was paramount to her and in the same breathe she pledged for me to never go hungry before her or for whatever reason in life have herself be better off than me. At that time I understood sacrifice and its true meaning in life. She didn't say it, but paraphrased "I would rather starve than eat your bread."

Pearjamfanno1

I thought it refered to the '40 days 40 nights' that jesus spent in the desert. The devil told him he could make stones into bread but he refused. Thus 'i would rather starve than eat your bread'