All the songs in BS with sickness/death ref, do you think

JF116983
JF116983 Posts: 176
edited September 2009 in The Porch
That someone close/in the band is sick/dying from an illness?

I felt sad after hearing this album as there are too many references (see my friend, got some, just breath, the end, etc)

I have never heard a PJ album centered around the same thing for almost every song.

They should have called the album death or something with all the lyrics being thus way.

Thoughts?
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • slightofjeff
    slightofjeff Posts: 7,762
    The only song I really see dealing with death is The End. The rest, I think you're reading too much into it. Just Breathe is a love song, for crying out loud.
    I have never heard a PJ album centered around the same thing for almost every song.

    Apparently, you never heard Self-Titled.
    everybody wants the most they can possibly get
    for the least they could possibly do
  • Flagg
    Flagg Posts: 5,856
    Here and on the other boards everyone thinks Just Breathe is a deathbed song. It is not. It is about taking time out from your busy lives to spend time with your loved ones and remind them that you still love them.

    And for anyone who doubts that find the Australian article where Ed goes over the songs one by one. Straight from his mouth. Sitting on the couch after putting the kids to bed.
    DAL-7/5/98,10/17/00,6/9/03,11/15/13
    BOS-9/28/04,9/29/04,6/28/08,6/30/08, 9/5/16, 9/7/16, 9/2/18
    MTL-9/15/05, OTT-9/16/05
    PHL-5/27/06,5/28/06,10/30/09,10/31/09
    CHI-8/2/07,8/5/07,8/23/09,8/24/09
    HTFD-6/27/08
    ATX-10/4/09, 10/12/14
    KC-5/3/2010,STL-5/4/2010
    Bridge School-10/23/2010,10/24/2010
    PJ20-9/3/2011,9/4/2011
    OKC-11/16/13
    SEA-12/6/13
    TUL-10/8/14
  • Backspacer_Backer
    Backspacer_Backer Posts: 1,023
    Just Breathe is both a love song, and about death.

    Yes, I understand that every life must end, uh-huh
    As we sit alone, I know someday we must go, uh-huh

    Nothing you would take
    Everything you gave
    Hold me til I die
    Meet you on the other side...
  • slightofjeff
    slightofjeff Posts: 7,762
    Flagg wrote:
    Here and on the other boards everyone thinks Just Breathe is a deathbed song. It is not. It is about taking time out from your busy lives to spend time with your loved ones and remind them that you still love them.

    And for anyone who doubts that find the Australian article where Ed goes over the songs one by one. Straight from his mouth. Sitting on the couch after putting the kids to bed.

    Exactly.

    I wonder if these people go to a wedding, and when the preacher gets to the "death do us part" bit, they go, "Oh my God, is the groom dying?"

    The last line of Just Breathe is saying, "til death do us part."

    Also, I believe that the same article you reference mentions that Ed says The End isn't about him.
    everybody wants the most they can possibly get
    for the least they could possibly do
  • LiteTheMatch
    LiteTheMatch Posts: 1,208
    It is dedicated to Dr. Michael Richter (i think his name) who was Jeff's friend.. I think he died earlier this year.
    A child's rhyme stuck in my head...
    It said "Life is nothing but a dream."
    I've spent so many years in question
    To find I'd known this all along.
  • Backspacer_Backer
    Backspacer_Backer Posts: 1,023
    Got some also refers to dying:

    Get it now, get it on before it's gone
    Let's everybody carry on, carry on
    Turn it up, set it off before we're gone
    Let's everybody get it on, get it on
  • Backspacer_Backer
    Backspacer_Backer Posts: 1,023
    as does the Fixer:

    I'll dig your grave
    We'll dance and sing
    What's saved could be one last lifetime
  • slightofjeff
    slightofjeff Posts: 7,762
    csickels wrote:
    Just Breathe is both a love song, and about death.

    Yes, I understand that every life must end, uh-huh
    As we sit alone, I know someday we must go, uh-huh

    Nothing you would take
    Everything you gave
    Hold me til I die
    Meet you on the other side...

    "Someday" could be 50 years from now. And, as I mentioned earlier, the final lines are saying "til death to us part."

    The song is saying "life is short, make sure you spend it right." And life IS short, even if you live to be 100.

    When Garth Brooks wrote "If Tomorrow Never Comes," did a bunch of people ask if HE were dying?
    everybody wants the most they can possibly get
    for the least they could possibly do
  • norm
    norm Posts: 31,146
    just breathe:

    “There's never a dull moment on the road – every day it's something. Maybe that's why my goal is the dull moment. That's what this song is: It's saying, ‘Just stop, and be together. Don't talk now, just breathe and feel each other's presence – now that the kids are in bed.' -- ev

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/art ... le1290301/
  • hollyster70
    hollyster70 Posts: 228
    I think that your own mortality is not something you focus on very much until you realize that you have more time behind you than ahead...or that could just be me.
    Be Kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle
  • Flagg
    Flagg Posts: 5,856
    csickels wrote:
    Just Breathe is both a love song, and about death.

    Yes, I understand that every life must end, uh-huh
    As we sit alone, I know someday we must go, uh-huh

    Nothing you would take
    Everything you gave
    Hold me til I die
    Meet you on the other side...

    Contemplating your mortality as you hit your 40s doesn't make it a death song.

    Nothing you would take, etc. refers to his lover's selflessness.
    DAL-7/5/98,10/17/00,6/9/03,11/15/13
    BOS-9/28/04,9/29/04,6/28/08,6/30/08, 9/5/16, 9/7/16, 9/2/18
    MTL-9/15/05, OTT-9/16/05
    PHL-5/27/06,5/28/06,10/30/09,10/31/09
    CHI-8/2/07,8/5/07,8/23/09,8/24/09
    HTFD-6/27/08
    ATX-10/4/09, 10/12/14
    KC-5/3/2010,STL-5/4/2010
    Bridge School-10/23/2010,10/24/2010
    PJ20-9/3/2011,9/4/2011
    OKC-11/16/13
    SEA-12/6/13
    TUL-10/8/14
  • slightofjeff
    slightofjeff Posts: 7,762
    csickels wrote:
    as does the Fixer:

    I'll dig your grave
    We'll dance and sing
    What's saved could be one last lifetime

    Again ... it's another way of saying "till death to us part. "

    I would hate to be Ed, writing all these songs that have nothing to do with actually death ... and everyone thinks you have cancer or something ...
    everybody wants the most they can possibly get
    for the least they could possibly do
  • slightofjeff
    slightofjeff Posts: 7,762
    norm wrote:
    just breathe:

    “There's never a dull moment on the road – every day it's something. Maybe that's why my goal is the dull moment. That's what this song is: It's saying, ‘Just stop, and be together. Don't talk now, just breathe and feel each other's presence – now that the kids are in bed.' -- ev

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/art ... le1290301/

    "Because I'm about to die," Vedder added. "Oh wait, don't print that."

    ;)
    everybody wants the most they can possibly get
    for the least they could possibly do
  • mookeywrench
    mookeywrench Posts: 6,085
    norm wrote:
    just breathe:

    “There's never a dull moment on the road – every day it's something. Maybe that's why my goal is the dull moment. That's what this song is: It's saying, ‘Just stop, and be together. Don't talk now, just breathe and feel each other's presence – now that the kids are in bed.' -- ev

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/art ... le1290301/

    Interesting....sounds along the lines of what another guy said; "life is what happens when you're busy making plans."
  • JF116983
    JF116983 Posts: 176
    I read Ed's take on the songs, however, as a songwriter, I can sense something is not right with all these lyrics pointing towards death. Ed has kids and should be more optimistic than this.

    Also, Ed has written personal songs before (blood, alive, corduroy, betterman, etc) so it is just odd that almost all his lyrics point to death.

    I hope he and anyone close to the band is ok and not sick/dying.

    It is just as a songwritter, my gut tells me otherwise.
  • Flagg
    Flagg Posts: 5,856
    norm wrote:
    just breathe:

    “There's never a dull moment on the road – every day it's something. Maybe that's why my goal is the dull moment. That's what this song is: It's saying, ‘Just stop, and be together. Don't talk now, just breathe and feel each other's presence – now that the kids are in bed.' -- ev

    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/art ... le1290301/

    That's it. Thanks!

    Anyone who has been married, with growing kids and spends every single day running to and from work, cooking dinner, cleaning up, running to and from shopping, school activities, baseball practice, soccer practice, the mall, birthday parties, etc. knows exactly what he means.

    The 30 minutes I get alone with my wife on the couch in front of the TV is the best part of the day.

    Ed knows that too.
    DAL-7/5/98,10/17/00,6/9/03,11/15/13
    BOS-9/28/04,9/29/04,6/28/08,6/30/08, 9/5/16, 9/7/16, 9/2/18
    MTL-9/15/05, OTT-9/16/05
    PHL-5/27/06,5/28/06,10/30/09,10/31/09
    CHI-8/2/07,8/5/07,8/23/09,8/24/09
    HTFD-6/27/08
    ATX-10/4/09, 10/12/14
    KC-5/3/2010,STL-5/4/2010
    Bridge School-10/23/2010,10/24/2010
    PJ20-9/3/2011,9/4/2011
    OKC-11/16/13
    SEA-12/6/13
    TUL-10/8/14
  • Backspacer_Backer
    Backspacer_Backer Posts: 1,023
    woa, i never said Ed was writing an announcement of his own pending death. jsut that there are death references in a large portion of this album's songs.
  • mookeywrench
    mookeywrench Posts: 6,085
    as you get older, i'm sure when you reflect on things you're always going to end up wishing you had more time in the world because you start to become aware of your own mortality.
  • Flagg
    Flagg Posts: 5,856
    mookeywrench wrote:
    as you get older, i'm sure when you reflect on things you're always going to end up wishing you had more time in the world because you start to become aware of your own mortality.

    Yeah, I think there is a certain happiness too, or a sense of satisfaction with life when you get older, if you are lucky enough to be with someone you love, etc.

    I think that accounts for the positivity this record shows along with the thoughts on death/mortality.

    I love the line, "I've put away my early grave"

    This album has made me all sappy. I would have never talked about this stuff with S/T or Riot Act.
    DAL-7/5/98,10/17/00,6/9/03,11/15/13
    BOS-9/28/04,9/29/04,6/28/08,6/30/08, 9/5/16, 9/7/16, 9/2/18
    MTL-9/15/05, OTT-9/16/05
    PHL-5/27/06,5/28/06,10/30/09,10/31/09
    CHI-8/2/07,8/5/07,8/23/09,8/24/09
    HTFD-6/27/08
    ATX-10/4/09, 10/12/14
    KC-5/3/2010,STL-5/4/2010
    Bridge School-10/23/2010,10/24/2010
    PJ20-9/3/2011,9/4/2011
    OKC-11/16/13
    SEA-12/6/13
    TUL-10/8/14
  • the wolf
    the wolf Posts: 7,027
    mookeywrench wrote:
    as you get older, i'm sure when you reflect on things you're always going to end up wishing you had more time in the world because you start to become aware of your own mortality.

    thats what i think it is. its a reflection on the life that has been led, and a look to the future, just knowing you dont have as much time left now that you are older.

    I just turned 37 back in august, and i'm very much aware of my mortality. i have been taking a long hard look at my life and the way i have lived, and trying to make sure i live the second half better than i did the first.
    Peace, Love.

    "To question your government is not unpatriotic --
    to not question your government is unpatriotic."
    -- Sen. Chuck Hagel

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