"I would rather starve than eat your bread"

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'