Elderly Woman...

wallera

Anyone have any idea about the meaning or context of the lyrics to 'elderly woman?'

Born2Jam

"Caller: I just had one question. I wanted to know on your new album there is a track called 'Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town.' Who's the elderly woman and where is the small town?

Jeff: Deep in Montana, at least that's what I thought.

Eddie: Oh, no, it could be any small town. It could be any old woman, and, umm, basically the title comes from being fed-up with one word titles.

Host: You certainly solved that problem with this one.

Eddie: No. I was just warmin' up.........one day when I start singing............Just think if you were losin' your memory and you're kinda being senile and you saw your old boyfriend from long, long ago and he was all hot, driving a nice car and having a real family and you were stuck working in this small town.........Small towns are fascinating, like do you try to get out? Do you stay there and be a big fish in a small town? You know.........I think you should get out."



Hope that helps.

Omarama

in a lot of ways hes right.small towns aren't right for young people who have the potential to go far or people who love change.having said that i have met and still are friends with some very amazing people while living in a small town.
but then what would an american consider a small town?

to me its less than 1000 people.my town had 400!

vedderfan10

Small towns are fine if you leave them for awhile and then come back...you appreciate them more that way. The place where I come from, you can tell who left to pursue their dreams and those who stayed and wished they could pursue their dreams. The people who stayed are all excited to see you again, but really, they seem dead inside...

Coming back to life

Any town's alright if it has a pub

kernow

I think this song exudes warmth from a guy who had to kill a few demons to really embrace what was under his nose all along... A community becomes more colourful when you go away,live a little and come back with your stories to tell.He wants to tell folks , he's grown up.maybe !

Omarama

people in small towns are not dead inside.
on the contrair to popular belief some people are quite content living in a small town without a shit load of crime and traffic and having really good friends

thelowlightargentina

Born2Jam wrote:

Eddie: No. I was just warmin' up.........one day when I start singing............Just think if you were losin' your memory and you're kinda being senile and you saw your old boyfriend from long, long ago and he was all hot, driving a nice car and having a real family and you were stuck working in this small town.........Small towns are fascinating, like do you try to get out? Do you stay there and be a big fish in a small town? You know.........I think you should get out."

Hope that helps.

Thanks for this man...

PearlJamHoosierfan

Omarama wrote:

people in small towns are not dead inside.
on the contrair to popular belief some people are quite content living in a small town without a shit load of crime and traffic and having really good friends

I don't think this song is bashing small towns. It just represents the effect that small towns can have. Some people feel that they must "escape" the small town atmosphere before they explode while others are perfectly content staying and being the big fish. To me, being from a small town, theres so much world out there and to keep your mind locked up in one place is an injustice to yourself. You have to experience life or in the end your only going to experience regret.

Omarama

PearlJamHoosierfan wrote:

I don't think this song is bashing small towns. It just represents the effect that small towns can have. Some people feel that they must "escape" the small town atmosphere before they explode while others are perfectly content staying and being the big fish. To me, being from a small town, theres so much world out there and to keep your mind locked up in one place is an injustice to yourself. You have to experience life or in the end your only going to experience regret.

yeah i totally agree with that its just that i didn't appreciate LedZepfan saying that people from small towns seem dead inside because my good friends from the small town i live in are not like that and are amazing people.should have thought that one through it's just that i'd defend the merits of living and growing up in small towns to my grave.

restlesssoul

lived in a small town and had to get out


a lot to be said for anonymity

Ms. Haiku

I just listened to this song. I always had a more romantic look at this song. Sure someone stayed in her town (she'll know the smell of snow before it falls on the river, how certain trees make certain patterns depending on the weather, the quilts people her grandparents age are still being used by great-grandkids) and she'll have the stories to support them. She'll know what the crosses on the side of the roads mean, and what has happened on those roads.

I thought that sometimes no matter how different the lives of two former lovers ended up, there may always be a spark if seen again. Not necessarily a spark to replace any love that has occured within the past x years, but rather *it's good to be alive, and see you once more* spark. On the first sight of each other do they instantly notice what each other has gained or lost, or do they instantly remember that face?

xavier mcdaniel

i'll agree with your romantic look at it, i've always viewed the song in the context of two people that were lovers and that they see each other after either a few years, where there still might be a spark or many years after where there might not be because of various factors. whatever the song is about, always one of my favorites, especially live.