Meaning of the Stickman

2»

Comments

  • CJMST3K
    CJMST3K Posts: 9,722
    Biggest Wave wrote:
    pandora wrote:
    Biggest Wave wrote:
    The good drummer had a tattoo of the stickman on his arm.
    Thats just wrong there couldn't be a better drummer than Matt- I witnessed it up close- he is awesomely wonderfully talented and also does a great accompaniment to an accordian- hes really cute too :D

    Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
    My opinion just happens to be different than yours.

    Differing opinions are healthy and good. :D
    ADD 5,200 to the post count you see, thank you. :)
    *NYC 9/28/96 *NYC 9/29/96 *NJ 9/8/98 (front row "may i play drums with you")
    *MSG 9/10/98 (backstage) *MSG 9/11/98 (backstage)
    *Jones Beach 8/23/00 *Jones Beach 8/24/00 *Jones Beach 8/25/00
    *Mansfield 8/29/00 *Mansfield 8/30/00 *Nassau 4/30/03 *Nissan VA 7/1/03
    *Borgata 10/1/05 *Camden 5/27/06 *Camden 5/28/06 *DC 5/30/06
    *VA Beach 6/17/08 *DC 6/22/08 *MSG 6/24/08 (backstage) *MSG 6/25/08
    *EV DC 8/17/08 *EV Baltimore 6/15/09 *Philly 10/31/09
    *Bristow VA 5/13/10 *MSG 5/20/10 *MSG 5/21/10
  • Up Here In My Tree
    Up Here In My Tree Posts: 541
    Just as important as ground zero for our beloved stick man is Roger's obsession with REALLY tight jeans. Even worn while climbing a mountain. Awesome.
  • CJMST3K
    CJMST3K Posts: 9,722
    Up Here In My Tree wrote:
    Just as important as ground zero for our beloved stick man is Roger's obsession with REALLY tight jeans. Even worn while climbing a mountain. Awesome.


    that's how he hit the high notes.
    ADD 5,200 to the post count you see, thank you. :)
    *NYC 9/28/96 *NYC 9/29/96 *NJ 9/8/98 (front row "may i play drums with you")
    *MSG 9/10/98 (backstage) *MSG 9/11/98 (backstage)
    *Jones Beach 8/23/00 *Jones Beach 8/24/00 *Jones Beach 8/25/00
    *Mansfield 8/29/00 *Mansfield 8/30/00 *Nassau 4/30/03 *Nissan VA 7/1/03
    *Borgata 10/1/05 *Camden 5/27/06 *Camden 5/28/06 *DC 5/30/06
    *VA Beach 6/17/08 *DC 6/22/08 *MSG 6/24/08 (backstage) *MSG 6/25/08
    *EV DC 8/17/08 *EV Baltimore 6/15/09 *Philly 10/31/09
    *Bristow VA 5/13/10 *MSG 5/20/10 *MSG 5/21/10
  • Up Here In My Tree
    Up Here In My Tree Posts: 541
    CJMST3K wrote:
    Up Here In My Tree wrote:
    Just as important as ground zero for our beloved stick man is Roger's obsession with REALLY tight jeans. Even worn while climbing a mountain. Awesome.


    that's how he hit the high notes.

    They always seemed to keep a smile on his face
  • Vedderhead1
    Vedderhead1 Posts: 189
    Matt is the best PJ drummer ever....So jazzy, and unpredictable....I just listening to how he and Jeff feed off each other...and then it just expands...In my opinion, PJ just took off on a whole new direction when he joined...they are having FUN...kicking ass...and taking names...Off topic...but I gotta represent Matt.... ;)

    Dave wanted to be a rockstar...not a musician... :shock:

    Just my 2-cents...

    I like 'Riot Act' too...so.... :lol:
  • Ok
    Ok Posts: 2,146
    On a related note - I noticed there is a discussion in Howard Zinn's "A People's History...." about the "Riot Act"...and wondered hey - is this why Ed suggested the album name to the band. I know they had some difficulty finding a name for that album, but found the correlation interesting....
  • dol10
    dol10 Posts: 1
    edited April 2021
    Why is the greatest album ever made, one which just oozes meaning called ten?

    The Mookie Blaylock line pumped out just never sat right with me. 

    Vs offered insight.  Originally called 5 against 1 at a time when Ed was fighting with his family, a very late change during printing of the album cover meant not all had Vs on the spine.  I think, A shark in blood water was the other name said to be on the table for the album's Title.

    Consider it confirmation that early on the album name incompassed the theme of the album.

    Many Many Years later whilst reading a Japanese Martial Arts Text,  I had a PJ revelation.  When I read that a mountain was climbed to pay 'ten.'  Read reference (In Shinto the original religion in Japan 'ten' meaning homage to heaven).

    Is that stick figure brushed with Japanese calligraphy?

    We all know alive's meaning.  Add I will walk into your garden.  Garden of stone. And Oh dear dad can you see me now. 

    In the shape of a romanised symbol for ten X.  The Japanese brush strokes of the stick man were our clue all along.  Stick mans arms are both out symbolising here I am alive, as they are reaching out towards heaven above.  

    It's Just Brilliant. 
    Post edited by dol10 on
  • FR181798
    FR181798 Posts: 2,166
    Not quite a teenager when Alive came out and I always thought the stickmans hands were cannabis leaves.
  • GoinHungry94
    GoinHungry94 Albuquerque, NM Posts: 238
    I figured this is worth mentioning here since we’re getting into the meaning of he Stickman. Like many others, I have the Stickman as a tattoo. It was my first tat and I got it as a reminder. I was going through depression as many teenagers do and snuck out one night. Roaming my small Wisconsin town I came across the train tracks figuring I would end it all right there. I waited about an hour and nothing but the wind n silence came through. Within that time frame I figured trains must not come through after 1am, so I figured it wasn’t my time yet. As I begin to walk away, not even 5ft off the tracks, I hear a train horn blasting. If I had waited a couple more minutes I’d been gone for good. Around this time I was in the start of heavily listening to Pearl Jam. Come to the first time I listened to “Alive” after that, it took on a whole other meaning. In short, that simple Ament drawing stands for “I’m still alive” as much as it possibly can to me. It cancels out any self conscious thoughts of “but all the other Pearl Jam obsessors have one” or “it’s been done so many times before”. 
    Hey nanana
    ain't that somethin
    PJ Chi 2--08-24-2009
    SG Chi 1--01-23-2013
    PJ Wrigley--07-19-2013
    CCornell Chi--10-06-2015
    PJ Wrigley--08-20 & 22 2016
    PJ Wrigley--08-18 & 20 2018
    Denver— 09-22-2022
  • a5pj
    a5pj Hershey PA Posts: 3,976
    GoinHungry94 said:
    I figured this is worth mentioning here since we’re getting into the meaning of he Stickman. Like many others, I have the Stickman as a tattoo. It was my first tat and I got it as a reminder. I was going through depression as many teenagers do and snuck out one night. Roaming my small Wisconsin town I came across the train tracks figuring I would end it all right there. I waited about an hour and nothing but the wind n silence came through. Within that time frame I figured trains must not come through after 1am, so I figured it wasn’t my time yet. As I begin to walk away, not even 5ft off the tracks, I hear a train horn blasting. If I had waited a couple more minutes I’d been gone for good. Around this time I was in the start of heavily listening to Pearl Jam. Come to the first time I listened to “Alive” after that, it took on a whole other meaning. In short, that simple Ament drawing stands for “I’m still alive” as much as it possibly can to me. It cancels out any self conscious thoughts of “but all the other Pearl Jam obsessors have one” or “it’s been done so many times before”. 

    Glad you're still here, depression sucks
    Wouldn't it be funny if the world ended in 2010, with lots of fire?



  • PJammer4life
    PJammer4life Los Angeles Posts: 2,669
    Thanks for sharing. Powerful stuff.
    Bridge Benefit 1994, San Francisco 1995, San Diego 1995 1 & 2, Missoula 1998, Los Angeles 2000, San Diego 2000, Eddie Vedder/Beck 2/26/2002, Santa Barbara 2003, Irvine 2003, San Diego 2003, Vancouver 2005, Gorge 2005, San Diego 2006, Los Angeles 2006 1 & 2, Santa Barbara 2006, Eddie Vedder 4/10/08, Eddie Vedder 4/12/08, Eddie Vedder 4/15/08, 7/12/2008, SF 8/28/09, LA 9/30/09, LA 10/1/09, LA 10/06/09, LA 10/07/09, San Diego 10/09/09, Eddie Vedder 7/6/2011, Eddie Vedder 7/8/2011, PJ20 9/3/2011, PJ20 9/4/2011, Vancouver 9/25/2011, San Diego 11/21/13, LA 11/24/13, Ohana 9/25/21, Ohana 9/26/21, Ohana 10/1/21, EV 2/17/22, LA Forum 5/6/22, LA Forum 5/7/22, EV 10/1/22, EV 9/30/23
  • GoinHungry94
    GoinHungry94 Albuquerque, NM Posts: 238
    a5pj said:
    GoinHungry94 said:
    I figured this is worth mentioning here since we’re getting into the meaning of he Stickman. Like many others, I have the Stickman as a tattoo. It was my first tat and I got it as a reminder. I was going through depression as many teenagers do and snuck out one night. Roaming my small Wisconsin town I came across the train tracks figuring I would end it all right there. I waited about an hour and nothing but the wind n silence came through. Within that time frame I figured trains must not come through after 1am, so I figured it wasn’t my time yet. As I begin to walk away, not even 5ft off the tracks, I hear a train horn blasting. If I had waited a couple more minutes I’d been gone for good. Around this time I was in the start of heavily listening to Pearl Jam. Come to the first time I listened to “Alive” after that, it took on a whole other meaning. In short, that simple Ament drawing stands for “I’m still alive” as much as it possibly can to me. It cancels out any self conscious thoughts of “but all the other Pearl Jam obsessors have one” or “it’s been done so many times before”. 

    Glad you're still here, depression sucks
    Thank you kindly, dude, and yup! But there’s a balance in life I suppose. With pain comes beauty and yada yada, but for real it can do some good.
    Hey nanana
    ain't that somethin
    PJ Chi 2--08-24-2009
    SG Chi 1--01-23-2013
    PJ Wrigley--07-19-2013
    CCornell Chi--10-06-2015
    PJ Wrigley--08-20 & 22 2016
    PJ Wrigley--08-18 & 20 2018
    Denver— 09-22-2022
  • EMC77
    EMC77 Almería, Spain Posts: 131
    Don't know If someone posted it here before but there's a post about it in Jeff Ament's Army page in Facebook:

    "I drew the #Stickman the night after Kelly Curtis told me that we needed artwork for the giveaway cassette for 'Alive.' The 'art' really just represents how I was feeling at the time, playing in the best band I'd ever been in, and all of us were in such a creative zone. It didn't really have anything to do with the song."
    #JeffAment

Categories