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Merkin Ball. Why?

restlesssoulrestlesssoul Posts: 6,951
edited May 2009 in The Porch
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkin

Why did they choose that name?
Van '98, Sea I+II '00, Sea '01, Sea II '02, Van '03, Gorge, Van, Cal, Edm '05, Bos I+II, Phi I+II, DC, SF II+III, Port, Gorge I+II '06, DC, NY I+II '08, Sea I+II, Van, Ridge , LA III+IV' 09, Indy '10, Cal, Van '11, Lond, Van, Sea '13, Memphis '14, RRHOF '17, Sea I+II '18, Van I+II, Vegas I+II '24
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Comments

  • Vedd HeddVedd Hedd Posts: 4,614
    Well, Pearl...Jam.....
    Turn this anger into
    Nuclear fission
  • mindimindi Posts: 1,862
    You know I used to have the username MerkinPearl at a sewing board I went to LOL!!!!
    Luckily I changed it to afurrything, which really doesn't sound much better now that I know what Merkin means.
    To 10c; "Your PJ tshirt should be tight enough to show you're a woman and loose enough to show you're a lady." - bionicamy
  • MasterFramerMasterFramer Posts: 2,268
    Well those songs were done at the same time as the Mirror Ball sessions with Neil.
    10.31.93 / 10.1.94 / 6.24.95 / 11.4.95 / 10.19-20.96 / 7.16.98 / 7.21.98 / 10.31.00 /8.4.01 Nader Rally/ 10.21.01 / 12.8-9.02 / 6.01.03 / 9.1.05 / 7.15-16,18.06 / 7.20.06 / 7.22-23.06 / Lolla 07
  • SteverthebelieverSteverthebeliever Posts: 159
    because it is funny
  • jwillmojwillmo Posts: 471
    Just be glad that, unlike Mirror Ball, it didn't have a picture of one on the cover.

    Just sayin is all
  • Vedd HeddVedd Hedd Posts: 4,614
    jwillmo wrote:
    Just be glad that, unlike Mirror Ball, it didn't have a picture of one on the cover.

    Just sayin is all


    It does. Look close.
    Turn this anger into
    Nuclear fission
  • pjtaperpjtaper Posts: 3,020
    who cares, the two songs on it are AMAZING! I still remember, I was in Toledo, OH, when I found out about this... I RUSHED to best buy, picked it up, then was like "I got id", I've heard that before! Sho nuff, they played it 7/8/95 in Milwaukee!
  • inmyrvminmyrvm Posts: 933
    cause they're hilarious.
    "Fuck the talkin' let's start rockin" - Eddie Vedder 9-5-00 Pittsburgh
    4/26/03 Pittsburgh 5/3/03 State College 7/12/03 Hershey 10/1/04 Reading 9/28/05 Pittsburgh 5/20/06 Cleveland 6/23/06 Pittsburgh 6/22/08 DC

    friends don't let friends listen to good charlotte
  • brolocobroloco Posts: 1,237
    restlesssoul wrote:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkin

    Why did they choose that name?

    Yeah, I'm curious about that too. I don't think they'd name it that without there being something behind it...
    we know that the title "Merkin Ball" is a play off Neil Young's "Mirror Ball", and the cover shows a wrecking ball image. Like Merkin Ball vs. wrecking ball? but does anyone know if the term Merkin means anything to either PJ or Neil Young? Like is it a nickname or reference of some sort other than what wikidpedia says?
  • AlessianaAlessiana Posts: 329
    broloco wrote:
    Yeah, I'm curious about that too. I don't think they'd name it that without there being something behind it...
    we know that the title "Merkin Ball" is a play off Neil Young's "Mirror Ball", and the cover shows a wrecking ball image. Like Merkin Ball vs. wrecking ball? but does anyone know if the term Merkin means anything to either PJ or Neil Young? Like is it a nickname or reference of some sort other than what wikidpedia says?

    Eddie knows EXACTLY what it means. If there's another intimate meaning then it's one of his famous double entendres. This one is funny, but maybe you have to be more than a little off center to appreciate it. I do. I think it's hilarious.

    .
    ****

    Aless

    Tell them you love them. Never let the mundane, the unimportant, or worse, the misunderstood, be the final words of parting.

    Tell them.
  • BlkFlg1BlkFlg1 Posts: 156
    Merkin Ball is great. I think I got Id is one of their best ever.
    YIELD Fan Club Sergeant-At-Arms
  • failedpersephonefailedpersephone Posts: 3,424
    other than the funny implied in what a merkin IS, there is also the idea that Merkin was Murkier than Mirror Ball...

    a play on the sounds of the words...

    maybe.
    IF YOU WANT A PLATE OF MY BEEF SWELLINGTON, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO PAY THE COVERCHARGE.
  • itsevobabyitsevobaby Posts: 1,809
    long road
    Look Alive,
    See These Bones
  • AlessianaAlessiana Posts: 329
    BlkFlg wrote:
    Merkin Ball is great. I think I got Id is one of their best ever.

    Long Road is, but I Got Shit is CRAP.

    .
    ****

    Aless

    Tell them you love them. Never let the mundane, the unimportant, or worse, the misunderstood, be the final words of parting.

    Tell them.
  • Vedd HeddVedd Hedd Posts: 4,614
    Merkin Ball=female=wrecking ball=now I got shit
    Turn this anger into
    Nuclear fission
  • itsevobabyitsevobaby Posts: 1,809
    Vedd Hedd wrote:
    Merkin Ball=female=wrecking ball=now I got shit
    hang on, just let me grab my math textbook
    Look Alive,
    See These Bones
  • AlessianaAlessiana Posts: 329
    Vedd Hedd wrote:
    Merkin Ball=female=wrecking ball=now I got shit

    oooh me likes that one

    .
    ****

    Aless

    Tell them you love them. Never let the mundane, the unimportant, or worse, the misunderstood, be the final words of parting.

    Tell them.
  • AlessianaAlessiana Posts: 329
    failedpersephone wrote:
    other than the funny implied in what a merkin IS, there is also the idea that Merkin was Murkier than Mirror Ball...

    a play on the sounds of the words...

    maybe.

    is the merkin made murkier than the mirror ball, or may the merkin be both more mighty and merry and its mastery merely mute the male mind?

    .
    ****

    Aless

    Tell them you love them. Never let the mundane, the unimportant, or worse, the misunderstood, be the final words of parting.

    Tell them.
  • onebadbootlegonebadbootleg Posts: 118
    Hey - it also says :

    In gay slang, "merkin" is often used to refer to a man who dates (or occasionally one who marries) a lesbian, usually for the purpose of making her appear heterosexual for various social reasons.

    Chew on that.
    Poetry and powertools
  • N2DeepN2Deep Posts: 16
    1. merkinball

    an old term that means a stand or holder for a pubic hair wig, also a pearl jam single

    http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=merkinball
    2003: OKC, San Antonio, Nawlins, B'ingham, LV, Holmdel
    2005: Vancouver
    2006: LV, The Gorge x2
    2007: Lolla
    2008: WPB, Tampa
    2009: Chicago x2, Seattle x2, ACL Taping, ACL, Philly 1
    2011: PJ20 Destination Weekend x2
    2013: Wrigley, and more?
  • encompassing tripencompassing trip Columbia SC Posts: 160
    Alessiana wrote:
    I Got Shit is CRAP.

    .
    I can't comprehend that. You're joking right? Probably the most poetic emotional song written. And the guitar....I love the whammy bend.
  • merkinballmerkinball Posts: 2,262
    Alessiana wrote:
    Eddie knows EXACTLY what it means. If there's another intimate meaning then it's one of his famous double entendres. This one is funny, but maybe you have to be more than a little off center to appreciate it. I do. I think it's hilarious.

    .

    I agree 100%. Great title. Great disc.
    "You're no help," he told the lime. This was unfair. It was only a lime; there was nothing special about it at all. It was doing the best it could.

    http://www.last.fm/user/merkinball/
    spotify:user:merkinball
  • restlesssoulrestlesssoul Posts: 6,951
    twilighthummer wrote:
    Hey - it also says :

    In gay slang, "merkin" is often used to refer to a man who dates (or occasionally one who marries) a lesbian, usually for the purpose of making her appear heterosexual for various social reasons.

    Chew on that.


    now thats messed up.
    Van '98, Sea I+II '00, Sea '01, Sea II '02, Van '03, Gorge, Van, Cal, Edm '05, Bos I+II, Phi I+II, DC, SF II+III, Port, Gorge I+II '06, DC, NY I+II '08, Sea I+II, Van, Ridge , LA III+IV' 09, Indy '10, Cal, Van '11, Lond, Van, Sea '13, Memphis '14, RRHOF '17, Sea I+II '18, Van I+II, Vegas I+II '24
  • SoonForgotten2SoonForgotten2 Posts: 2,245
    Alessiana wrote:
    Long Road is, but I Got Shit is CRAP.

    .


    Come on, you can't really mean that. I could understand if you were referring to the live versions against the studio (I wouldn't totally agree, but could understand)... but I Got Shit is a perfect studio track. It really doesn't get much better than that.
    <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmgphotos/sets/72157600802942672/">My Pearl Jam Photos</a>

    <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmgphotos/4731512142/&quot; title="PJ Banner2 by Mister J Photography, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1135/4731512142_258f2d6ab4_b.jpg&quot; width="630" height="112" alt="PJ Banner2" /></a>
  • LONGRDLONGRD Posts: 6,036
    N2Deep wrote:
    1. merkinball

    an old term that means a stand or holder for a pubic hair wig, also a pearl jam single

    http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=merkinball

    LOL..they got it wrong...it's actually an EP, not a song.
    PJ- 04/29/2003.06/24,25,27,28,30/2008.10/27,28,30,31/2009
    EV- 08/09,10/2008.06/08,09/2009
  • AlessianaAlessiana Posts: 329
    SoonForgotten2 wrote:
    Come on, you can't really mean that. I could understand if you were referring to the live versions against the studio (I wouldn't totally agree, but could understand)... but I Got Shit is a perfect studio track. It really doesn't get much better than that.

    ROFL

    Of course it's crap.


    ps. This is a long running thread in RM. It's the board's #1 song as in, "the best". So we insult it as a joke. People list ridiculous reasons why it's crap. Man, you should have seen me arguing this one before someone clued me in. I felt stupid. lol

    I miss it there for the humor and a lot of reasons.

    .
    ****

    Aless

    Tell them you love them. Never let the mundane, the unimportant, or worse, the misunderstood, be the final words of parting.

    Tell them.
  • SoonForgotten2SoonForgotten2 Posts: 2,245
    Alessiana wrote:
    ROFL

    Of course it's crap.


    ps. This is a long running thread in RM. It's the board's #1 song as in, "the best". So we insult it as a joke. People list ridiculous reasons why it's crap. Man, you should have seen me arguing this one before someone clued me in. I felt stupid. lol

    I miss it there for the humor and a lot of reasons.

    .

    Oh. Phew! That's a relief then. I mean there are some blazingly mad people around here, but some things just cross the line ;)
    <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmgphotos/sets/72157600802942672/">My Pearl Jam Photos</a>

    <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmgphotos/4731512142/&quot; title="PJ Banner2 by Mister J Photography, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1135/4731512142_258f2d6ab4_b.jpg&quot; width="630" height="112" alt="PJ Banner2" /></a>
  • Jeremy1012Jeremy1012 Posts: 7,170
    because the band are nowhere near as humourless as the press would have us believe and they were making a point.
    "I remember one night at Muzdalifa with nothing but the sky overhead, I lay awake amid sleeping Muslim brothers and I learned that pilgrims from every land — every colour, and class, and rank; high officials and the beggar alike — all snored in the same language"
  • AlessianaAlessiana Posts: 329
    Jeremy1012 wrote:
    because the band are nowhere near as humourless as the press would have us believe and they were making a point.

    Making a point to the press. We were never confused.

    .
    ****

    Aless

    Tell them you love them. Never let the mundane, the unimportant, or worse, the misunderstood, be the final words of parting.

    Tell them.
  • AlessianaAlessiana Posts: 329
    SoonForgotten2 wrote:
    Oh. Phew! That's a relief then. I mean there are some blazingly mad people around here, but some things just cross the line ;)

    Oh I agree. I went nuts. It went on for so long with multiple people saying stuff, I thought something seriously wrong had happened to PJ fans in the past year and I hated the whole lot of you.

    Then I was clued in.

    If I could I'd get our list of why it's a bad song but it's down so I can't. I think we had 30 reasons or something, all ridiculous.

    Here are examples.

    He should have titled the song I Got Shit instead Of I Got ID. I Got ID reveals them to be a pussy band, afraid to say what they really mean.

    I "got" Shit is bad grammar. He should have said, I have shit, I had shit, or I shat.

    .
    ****

    Aless

    Tell them you love them. Never let the mundane, the unimportant, or worse, the misunderstood, be the final words of parting.

    Tell them.
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