Who is 'Light Years' about?

Posts: 592
edited December 2007 in The Porch
I've recently re-discovered Light Years. I've always been a fan, but I never paid attention to the lyrics/message. It's an amazing song. I was wondering if Eddie ever said who it was about or what?
Abraham Lincoln once said, "If you are a racist, I will attack you with the North."
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  • Posts: 19,646
    At the Pinkpop Festival in 2000 Eddie Vedder dedicated the song to Diane Muus from Sony Music, a friend of the band who passed away at the age of 33 in 1997.[2] He said there are "times you have got friends that don't fuck up at all and are great people. And then you just lose them for some reason. They are off the planet and you never had a chance to say goodbye. I only mention this because there was a person we used to know here and that was Diane and ah, we never got a chance to say goodbye. This is goodbye. And if you've got good friends, love them while they're here."
    oh scary... 40000 morbidly obese christians wearing fanny packs invading europe is probably the least scariest thing since I watched an edited version of The Care Bears movie in an extremely brightly lit cinema.
  • Posts: 1,656
    http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=5cdLSYjKpzA
    i'm not happy yet.....
  • Posts: 592
    Yea, I looked into it further and saw that video, however I read an interview with Eddie where he basically blew off the question by asking the interviewer what it meant to him. Then Eddie said something like "that's who it's about". Sort of like he had someone in mind but didn't want anyone to know.. Anyway thanks, back to Binaural.
    Abraham Lincoln once said, "If you are a racist, I will attack you with the North."
  • Chicago Posts: 7,775
    i recently rediscovered light years myself... beautiful tune. love the video from pinkpop 2000.
  • Posts: 302
    how did she die?
    "This guy back here is giving me the ole one more....one more back to you buddy."

    - Mr. Edward Vedder 7/11/03


  • Posts: 3,131
    for some reason i always thought it was about his mother.
    2006: Hartford
    2008: MSG 1, Hartford, Mansfield 2, Ed Solo NYC 1
    2009: London (O2), Philly 1, 2, 3, & 4
    2010: Hartford, Boston, MSG 1 & 2
    2011: Ed Solo Hartford
    2012: Philly (MIA Fest)
    2013: Worcester 2, Brooklyn 1 & 2, Hartford
  • Posts: 563
    In the "Light years" single there is a picture of two people I don't recognize...maybe that's a hint... ...but why is it supposed to be about a person that died? I don't know when exactly they got seperated, but I had the theory that the song is about Beth, his ex-wife and the sorrow about a distance AS IF there is no vital connection anymore like it used to be...
    2000: Hamburg
    2006: Berlin
    2007: Munich * Düsseldorf
    2009: Berlin * Manchester * London
    2010: Dublin * Belfast * Berlin
    2012: Amsterdam I & II * Berlin I & II * Stockholm * Oslo * Copenhagen
    EV 2012: Amsterdam I & II
    2014: Amsterdam I & II * Milan * Trieste * Vienna * Berlin
    EV 2017: Berlin
    2018: Amsterdam I & II * Prague * Krakow * Berlin
    2022: Berlin- Vienna - Prague - Amsterdam I - Amsterdam II #
    2024: Berlin I & II

    ~~~

    “It is curious that while good people go to great lengths to spare their children from suffering, few of them seem to notice that the one (and only) guaranteed way to prevent all the suffering of their children is not to bring those children into existence in the first place.”
    ― David Benatar - Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence


  • Niagara region, Ontario, Canada Posts: 12,158
    GetALife wrote:
    In the "Light years" single there is a picture of two people I don't recognize...maybe that's a hint... ...but why is it supposed to be about a person that died? I don't know when exactly they got seperated, but I had the theory that the song is about Beth, his ex-wife and the sorrow about a distance AS IF there is no vital connection anymore like it used to be...

    the song is obviously about death. I could be way off, but I always thought the song was originally written about kurt cobain. "your light made us stars".
    Another habit says it's in love with you
    Another habit says its long overdue
    Another habit like an unwanted friend
    I'm so happy with my righteous self
  • Posts: 795
    Eddie Better wrote:
    the song is obviously about death. I could be way off, but I always thought the song was originally written about kurt cobain. "your light made us stars".

    I always thought the same thing...
  • Posts: 253
    the inventor of the lava lamp i heard Ed say it on a live CD
  • Posts: 600
    I've always heard this song was inspired by the loss of the fans at Roskilde, Denmark.
    I was alone and far away when I heard the band start playing!

    ...I was always a DeadHead, but when I first heard Winston Rodney, aka the Burning Spear, sing, I became a SpearHead too!
  • Posts: 6,036
    spearhead wrote:
    I've always heard this song was inspired by the loss of the fans at Roskilde, Denmark.
    Can't be because that tragedy happened during the Binaural tour.
    the song was written and recorded before the accident.
    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
  • Posts: 131
    Ledbetterus wrote:
    I've recently re-discovered Light Years. I've always been a fan, but I never paid attention to the lyrics/message. It's an amazing song. I was wondering if Eddie ever said who it was about or what?

    bb
    Hail, hail the lucky ones, I refer to those in love.
  • Posts: 6,036
    scpjfan wrote:
    bb


    sneaky bastard! LOL :)
    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
  • Niagara region, Ontario, Canada Posts: 12,158
    LongRd. wrote:
    Can't be because that tragedy happened during the Binaural tour.
    the song was written and recorded before the accident.

    It was really eerie though, because the single came out right after that. It just happened to be the next single. The song sounded like it was written about them. Sort of like I Am Mine(which actually was written about them). It was released a year after 9/11, and it sounded like a tribute to those people who died that day. And some of the lyrics, like "We're safe tonight", "There's no need to hide". But the song wasn't about 9/11 at all. It was written a month after Roskilde, on the eve of their U.S. tour, and the year before 9/11 happened.
    Another habit says it's in love with you
    Another habit says its long overdue
    Another habit like an unwanted friend
    I'm so happy with my righteous self
  • Posts: 1,079
    Linda wrote:
    http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=5cdLSYjKpzA

    Amazing video! Man...look how young he looked at 35...the beard has really aged him.

    BTW...I think we all know who that song is about.

    Edit: there is an interviw with Ed on KROCK from 2000 on http://pearljamlive.com/ that pretty much sums it up.

    Hint: He wrote it while going through his divorce. He say's something along the lines of "I think you could probably figure out what it's about'
    "Had my eyes peeled both wide open, and I got a glimpse...of my innocense, got back my inner sence, baby got it...still got it"
  • Posts: 73
    pkh43 wrote:
    the inventor of the lava lamp i heard Ed say it on a live CD

    you knuckle chuck...that was the saratoga 2000 show, and it was dedicated to the inventor of the lava lamp because he had died.
    No time to be void and save up on life, you gotta spend it all.

    10/4/96, 9/11/98, 8/25/00, 8/27/00, 8/30/00, 10/4/00, 4/29/03, 7/3/03, 7/9/03, 7/11/03, 9/28/04, 9/29/04, 5/12/06, 5/13/06, 5/24/06, 5/25/06, 6/3/06, 10/22/06, 8/5/07, 6/24/08, 6/25/08, 6/27/08, 6/28/08, 6/30/08, 8/2/08 (EV)
  • Posts: 563
    CitizenRick wrote:
    Amazing video! Man...look how young he looked at 35...the beard has really aged him.

    BTW...I think we all know who that song is about.

    Edit: there is an interviw with Ed on KROCK from 2000 on http://pearljamlive.com/ that pretty much sums it up.

    Hint: He wrote it while going through his divorce. He say's something along the lines of "I think you could probably figure out what it's about'

    Well, then my guess on page 1 was right---hooray, hooray! ;)
    2000: Hamburg
    2006: Berlin
    2007: Munich * Düsseldorf
    2009: Berlin * Manchester * London
    2010: Dublin * Belfast * Berlin
    2012: Amsterdam I & II * Berlin I & II * Stockholm * Oslo * Copenhagen
    EV 2012: Amsterdam I & II
    2014: Amsterdam I & II * Milan * Trieste * Vienna * Berlin
    EV 2017: Berlin
    2018: Amsterdam I & II * Prague * Krakow * Berlin
    2022: Berlin- Vienna - Prague - Amsterdam I - Amsterdam II #
    2024: Berlin I & II

    ~~~

    “It is curious that while good people go to great lengths to spare their children from suffering, few of them seem to notice that the one (and only) guaranteed way to prevent all the suffering of their children is not to bring those children into existence in the first place.”
    ― David Benatar - Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence


  • Posts: 27
    Is it me or is Eddie "rolling" at the Pink Pop show 2000, he mentioned in interviews he used to do this pre-daughter. Just curious still awesome show
  • Posts: 1,867
    GetALife wrote:
    Well, then my guess on page 1 was right---hooray, hooray! ;)


    I always thought that it was about his marriage.......it just seemed a lot like a relationship that went sour that if you listened to it in that context you could think of it that way.

    And I think anyone who writes could say that when something was written it was written with one person in mind but then afterward, it could really be read or sang for many, you know?

    But just in response to the pinkpop clip, I also was thinking that the past 7 years must have been rough because he does look a lot different. I do think the red hair looks good; I never saw that look from him. (I personally did not like the mohawk look or the dad look).
    But hell, here I am, commenting on the current "look" and whether or not I (like who the hell am I???????) think it's a good look. Shit, life would be hard for me if people commented on my current "look".........and we wonder why Eddie isn't interested in exposing himself to the public.......

    look at poor Britney..........

    just kidding.............
    Baby, You Wouldn't Last a Minute on The Creek......


    Together we will float like angels.........

    In the moment that you left the room, the album started skipping, goodbye to beauty shared with the ones that you love.........

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