is GTF about jesus christ?

13

Comments

  • LikeaFisttotheJaw
    LikeaFisttotheJaw Posts: 332
    There are two things to relate:

    1. I think this song could be about almost anything you want it to be about. Clearly there is imagery in the song that could be taken literally to denote a simple surfing song. Alternatively, there is room for interpretation to make it into something more spiritual - Jesus centered or not. I think it is important for all of us (and the reason we particularly like this band) to be able to find something in each song that we can relate to personally. If it is Jesus, Nature, general Spirituality, or anything else...

    2. To me this song is about overcoming hurdles and coming out on top no matter how many times you fall or someone else says you won't do it. The relief at the end of the song is defiance but also abundant generosity. GTF will always be one of my favorites - a simply sensational song.
  • Derrick
    Derrick Posts: 475
    Ed will probably read this thread and smile. He'd probably be happiest if you all just took your own interpretation of the song and went on your way. He's said stuff like that before.
  • LikeaFisttotheJaw
    LikeaFisttotheJaw Posts: 332
    Derrick wrote:
    Ed will probably read this thread and smile. He'd probably be happiest if you all just took your own interpretation of the song and went on your way. He's said stuff like that before.


    I totally agree... maybe he wouldn't even smile.
  • vedderfan10
    vedderfan10 Posts: 2,497
    Well, I'll still maintain that to me it's about surfing...

    1. Mike says that he loves the way song builds and explodes like a big wave
    2. On the soundbooth at the Gorge, Ed pretended he was surfing
    3. Could also refer to the time he crowd surfed in Europe and got punched about by the security twits who didn't know who he was
    4. Having sat on a surfboard myself, recently, waiting for a nice wave to catch and then realizing too late that I couldn't handle it...and then finally getting a wave I could handle...yeah, I was given to fly..
    5. In Iconoclasts, when they first go surfing, GTF is playing....
    6. It's Oceans part deux

    End opinion...
    be philanthropic
  • Surf Life
    Surf Life Posts: 50
    walkthamile wrote:
    Only Eddie Vedder knows what this song is about, and only Eddie Vedder can tell us what Eddie Vedder believes in an does not believe in.

    Eddie Vedder has stated he does not believe in religion or jesus. So he has spoken about this. Make the song whatever you want or feel. But from Ed's point of view this would not be about jesus.
  • Kilgore_Trout
    Kilgore_Trout Posts: 7,334
    LikeaFisttotheJaw wrote:
    I totally agree... maybe he wouldn't even smile.
    maybe* he wouldnt even waste his time reading the message board :p

    this is the same kind of shit that pissed ed off in the past... remember the story of him posting something about the meaning of black in a thread like this and some a-hole told him he was all wrong, not knowing he was talking to the writer of the song... ha...





    *by maybe i mean definitely
    "Senza speme vivemo in disio"

    http://seanbriceart.com/
  • hiding
    hiding Posts: 290
    Surf Life wrote:
    Eddie Vedder has stated he does not believe in religion or jesus. So he has spoken about this. Make the song whatever you want or feel. But from Ed's point of view this would not be about jesus.


    but he has sang about hell and the devil, sin and also heaven. i haven't read anything on his thoughts of heaven or hell but somewhere in there music it is touched on. i always thought it odd that he touches on these topics? just a thought
    one love

    respect
  • emeraldkity
    emeraldkity Posts: 370
    I have always thought that it was- but I have also always believed that Jesus was a teacher and not a "God".

    I know that Eddie was born Jewish , but so many songs IMO, what is important is the meaning you get from them.

    We don't have to interpret it in the same way as the artist , as long as we don't completely distort it for our own uses.
    ( like when the GOP wanted to use Born in the USA :rolleyes: )
    You must be the change you want to see in the world
    -Gandhi
  • tie-dye lady
    tie-dye lady Posts: 305
    willtupper wrote:
    Dear The Porch,

    If any of you would like to make a million dollars, here is a free idea:

    JESUS WAS A SURFER

    You could put it on t-shirts, surfboards, coffee mugs, pretty much anything. Maybe with a nice drawing of his bearded funkiness riding some big waves or something (or if you want to be really gross, put a crucified Jesus on a surfboard... maybe not in agony, but just all blissed out and happy, riding the big waves).

    JESUS WAS A SURFER

    You're welcome.

    Love,

    The little voice in my head that makes me post stuff like this.


    JESUS BUILT MY HOT ROD
    Its a love affair...Mainly jesus and my hot rod
    So there was only one thing that I could do...ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RBKTo5K14M
    Nothing divine dies. All good is eternally reproductive. The beauty of nature reforms itself in the mind, and not for barren contemplation, but for new creation. ~ Nature, Emerson
  • Kilgore_Trout
    Kilgore_Trout Posts: 7,334
    hiding wrote:
    but he has sang about hell and the devil, sin and also heaven. i haven't read anything on his thoughts of heaven or hell but somewhere in there music it is touched on. i always thought it odd that he touches on these topics? just a thought
    as a painter and not a very religious person, i still work alot with religious imagery because that is what my idols (caravaggio, raphael, etc) worked with and because that kind of imagery is heavily loaded with symbolism and easily comprehended motifs of mortality, love, sin, etc... all this would appeal equally to a musician... like i said before, dont dismiss the possibility just because what you think you know about ed
    "Senza speme vivemo in disio"

    http://seanbriceart.com/
  • hiding
    hiding Posts: 290
    sgossard3 wrote:
    as a painter and not a very religious person, i still work alot with religious imagery because that is what my idols (caravaggio, raphael, etc) worked with and because that kind of imagery is heavily loaded with symbolism and easily comprehended motifs of mortality, love, sin, etc... all this would appeal equally to a musician... like i said before, dont dismiss the possibility just because what you think you know about ed


    as an artist myself i understand this, and i don't dismiss anything, just my thoughts. if i could ever ask ed a question it would most likely be about religion and his music. caravaggio was one of my favs when i was in college. they have some nice ones at the milwaukee art museum.
    one love

    respect
  • Mikkl
    Mikkl Posts: 20
    Oz Jammer wrote:
    Hmm.......not sure. Can't remember reading about Jesus having a "smoke in a tree" :)


    Would've been great tho :)
  • Surf Life
    Surf Life Posts: 50
    hiding wrote:
    but he has sang about hell and the devil, sin and also heaven. i haven't read anything on his thoughts of heaven or hell but somewhere in there music it is touched on. i always thought it odd that he touches on these topics? just a thought

    I must add. Heaven and Hell represent a vision in peoples minds, if I say 'I live in Hell" you would understand exactly what I mean. It doesn't mean it's actual purgatory, but a representation of what it means to be in purgatory. It doesn't mean that I actually believe in the afterlife and if I sin I'm headed there, it just means I understand a concept of "hell" and it doesn't have to aply to your concept of "hell".
  • LikeaFisttotheJaw
    LikeaFisttotheJaw Posts: 332
    Surf Life wrote:
    I must add. Heaven and Hell represent a vision in peoples minds, if I say 'I live in Hell" you would understand exactly what I mean. It doesn't mean it's actual purgatory, but a representation of what it means to be in purgatory. It doesn't mean that I actually believe in the afterlife and if I sin I'm headed there, it just means I understand a concept of "hell" and it doesn't have to aply to your concept of "hell".

    Purgatory not actually being hell, of course.
  • Surf Life
    Surf Life Posts: 50
    LikeaFisttotheJaw wrote:
    Purgatory not actually being hell, of course.

    It's all the way you look at it.

    Gehenna (or gehenom or gehinom (גהינום)) is the Jewish hell or purgatory. In Judaism hell is a place of purification[1] and fire for the wicked, most being punished there up to a year but some for eternity.[2]

    In English, Jews commonly use the term "hell" in place of "gehenna." The name derived from the burning garbage dump near Jerusalem (the Hinnom gulch), metaphorically identified with the entrance to the underworld of punishment in the afterlife.

    Gehenna also appears in the New Testament and in early Christian writing to represent the place where evil will be destroyed. It lends its name to Islam's hell, Jahannam.

    In both Rabbinical Jewish and Christian writing, Gehenna as a destination of the wicked is different from Sheol, the abode of all the dead
  • whoYOUare
    whoYOUare Posts: 274
    GTF, like a large percentage of eddie's lyrics is about love, finding ones ways and sticking to ones beliefs.
    all qualities that make Jesus who he is supposed to be, but i dont think Eddie sat down and was like "i'm gonna write a song about Jesus..."
    peace
  • LikeaFisttotheJaw
    LikeaFisttotheJaw Posts: 332
    Surf Life wrote:
    It's all the way you look at it.

    Gehenna (or gehenom or gehinom (גהינום)) is the Jewish hell or purgatory. In Judaism hell is a place of purification[1] and fire for the wicked, most being punished there up to a year but some for eternity.[2]

    In English, Jews commonly use the term "hell" in place of "gehenna." The name derived from the burning garbage dump near Jerusalem (the Hinnom gulch), metaphorically identified with the entrance to the underworld of punishment in the afterlife.

    Gehenna also appears in the New Testament and in early Christian writing to represent the place where evil will be destroyed. It lends its name to Islam's hell, Jahannam.

    In both Rabbinical Jewish and Christian writing, Gehenna as a destination of the wicked is different from Sheol, the abode of all the dead

    Thanks for the lesson! I certainly don't aspire to spend any time in purgatory so in I get your point about perspective. I guess I was using a more Catholic idea of a place to go between Heaven/Hell where your soul rides it out for awhile hoping that the living send enough prayers to tip the scales in its favor... maybe to simplistic but that's my frame of reference - I appreciate your depth of conversation though.
  • Alessiana
    Alessiana Posts: 329
    Surf Life wrote:
    I must add. Heaven and Hell represent a vision in peoples minds, if I say 'I live in Hell" you would understand exactly what I mean. It doesn't mean it's actual purgatory, but a representation of what it means to be in purgatory. It doesn't mean that I actually believe in the afterlife and if I sin I'm headed there, it just means I understand a concept of "hell" and it doesn't have to aply to your concept of "hell".

    Right. It applies to a concept which is commonly understood. It is a cultural metaphor and is not intended (in your example) to be understood as an actual place.

    The same thing with Given To Fly and thankfully, the poet's use of metaphor is flexible and interesting enough to pull most people in. I think we can all relate to it on different levels. I've never set foot on a surf board in my life, but I understand the message conveyed because he uses surfing as a metaphor for something else.

    At least that's my working assumption!

    For all I know he was ironing a shirt and arms stretched out was all about the way the shirt draped...

    Joking of course. LOL.

    Eh, forgive the humor. I just got very good news off board on something so it's all good. Funny how fast a person can go from feeling good, to horrified, to joy in a few minutes. Is that what we live for?

    .
    ****

    Aless

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

    Tell them.
  • Kilgore_Trout
    Kilgore_Trout Posts: 7,334
    LikeaFisttotheJaw wrote:
    Purgatory not actually being hell, of course.
    last i heard the vatican decided to do away with the purgatory idea... so we can just forget all that
    "Senza speme vivemo in disio"

    http://seanbriceart.com/
  • Surf Life
    Surf Life Posts: 50
    LikeaFisttotheJaw wrote:
    Thanks for the lesson! I certainly don't aspire to spend any time in purgatory so in I get your point about perspective. I guess I was using a more Catholic idea of a place to go between Heaven/Hell where your soul rides it out for awhile hoping that the living send enough prayers to tip the scales in its favor... maybe to simplistic but that's my frame of reference - I appreciate your depth of conversation though.

    Please take no offense in my response. I don't believe in any of it anyway. I am athiest.
    It's just that people often take one meaning and run with it, not understanding there are many meanings, if you look at it from another angle.

    peace.

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