sheep on the cover of Vs. is ironic?

broloco
broloco Posts: 1,237
edited December 2009 in The Porch
Feel free to say "duh, no shit" but it just hit me today that the sheep on the cover of Vs. could be slightly ironic. Since day one I always just saw the sheep as simply a cool agressive image, with it's teeth snarling(agressive = versus). But now I'm wondering if this type of animal was specifically used on purpose.. of course, right? Because sheep = followers. And PJ is against following. They are "vs." that follower mentality. (amongst other things). such a great cover~
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  • 12345AGNST1
    12345AGNST1 Posts: 4,906
    TBH, I never noticed that. Good find.
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  • Cosmo
    Cosmo Posts: 12,225
    I always thought it was the singular sheep trying to break through the fence... to avoid being a 'follower'.
    ...
    The title... I took it to be a play on words... 'vs.' being the abbreviation for Versus, as in opposed to... and Verses, as in poetry and song. Or songs (verses) of opposition.
    ...
    Or it could just be a photo that they liked... I don't know.
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  • Isaac
    Isaac Posts: 137
    broloco wrote:
    Feel free to say "duh, no shit" but it just hit me today that the sheep on the cover of Vs. could be slightly ironic. Since day one I always just saw the sheep as simply a cool agressive image, with it's teeth snarling(agressive = versus). But now I'm wondering if this type of animal was specifically used on purpose.. of course, right? Because sheep = followers. And PJ is against following. They are "vs." that follower mentality. (amongst other things). such a great cover~

    Yeah maybe so... good thought.

    If I am not mistaken Vs. was originally titled "5 Against 1". Perhaps the sheep photo has something to do with the original title. Jeff was intrigued with taking photos of animals at the time... think "Who Killed Rudolph", the cover for the X-mas single that year.

    I remember pining over the art for that album cause there was so little insight (*no new press or videos) into the band's mentality at the time.

    (*there was the Time cover story but it really didn't talk about or have interviews with PJ.)
  • LikeAnOpeningBandForTheSun
    LikeAnOpeningBandForTheSun Posts: 6,097
    probably thought it was a cool picture. and it is.
  • U R A Crazy Breed
    U R A Crazy Breed Posts: 8,370
    and all this time i thought it was because Stone liked to molest farm animals.


    (what...you thought it was just the cow guy??.......................i've said too much!) *runs away*
  • broloco
    broloco Posts: 1,237
    Isaac wrote:
    broloco wrote:
    Jeff was intrigued with taking photos of animals at the time... think "Who Killed Rudolph", the cover for the X-mas single that year.

    oh yeah. and seeing he's from montana, and I believe that this is where the shot was taken, montana does have lots of sheep i believe? like the bighorns in the mountains, as well as domesticated ones in the farmlands.. so could be a nice coincidence.....or an inside thing, too with jeff. u never know.
  • broloco
    broloco Posts: 1,237
    Cosmo wrote:
    I always thought it was the singular sheep trying to break through the fence... to avoid being a 'follower'..

    nice
    Cosmo wrote:
    ...
    Or it could just be a photo that they liked... I don't know.


    true
  • demetrios
    demetrios Posts: 98,327
    U R A Crazy Breed wrote:
    and all this time i thought it was because Stone liked to molest farm animals.

    blink.gif
  • CantKeepMeHere
    CantKeepMeHere Posts: 2,177
    My vinyl cover is different than my cd cover - teeth pressed up against the "bent" squares of fencing trying to get out - biting its way out -

    I believe that the inside of the jewel cd case, behind the cd when you take it out, was supposed to be the "cover" of 5 against 1 or a prototype thereof, but the sheep is bad ass, especially with the legs on the back cover just jumping up in the shit
    Fuckit, if we have to be here and we can't break out, well we are still gonna rage on our way
    I'd rather be with an animal - isn't that a stone quote??

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  • TunnelThroughDenial
    TunnelThroughDenial Posts: 769
    From Wikipedia for what it's worth. This is how I always saw it:

    The album's cover art, photographed by Ames, features a black and white picture of a sheep from a farm in Hamilton, Montana. According to Ament, the cover was a representation of how the band felt at the time, with Ament stating "we were slaves."[16] The album booklet contains additional drawings and writings by Vedder, including one page apparently doodled at a business meeting that says "I will never trust anybody again."[6] The lyric page for "W.M.A." features a portion of a news story concerning Malice Green, allegedly a victim of police brutality.
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  • pickupyourwill
    pickupyourwill Posts: 3,135
    broloco wrote:
    Feel free to say "duh, no shit" but it just hit me today that the sheep on the cover of Vs. could be slightly ironic. Since day one I always just saw the sheep as simply a cool agressive image, with it's teeth snarling(agressive = versus). But now I'm wondering if this type of animal was specifically used on purpose.. of course, right? Because sheep = followers. And PJ is against following. They are "vs." that follower mentality. (amongst other things). such a great cover~



    that is a really cool, in-depth theory.
  • Lone Wolf
    Lone Wolf Posts: 1,023
    broloco wrote:
    Feel free to say "duh, no shit" but it just hit me today that the sheep on the cover of Vs. could be slightly ironic. Since day one I always just saw the sheep as simply a cool agressive image, with it's teeth snarling(agressive = versus). But now I'm wondering if this type of animal was specifically used on purpose.. of course, right? Because sheep = followers. And PJ is against following. They are "vs." that follower mentality. (amongst other things). such a great cover~


    Interesting!
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  • dimitrispearljam
    dimitrispearljam Posts: 139,747
    U R A Crazy Breed wrote:
    and all this time i thought it was because Stone liked to molest farm animals.


    (what...you thought it was just the cow guy??.......................i've said too much!) *runs away*
    :lol::lol:
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  • U R A Crazy Breed
    U R A Crazy Breed Posts: 8,370
    dimitrispearljam wrote:
    U R A Crazy Breed wrote:
    and all this time i thought it was because Stone liked to molest farm animals.


    (what...you thought it was just the cow guy??.......................i've said too much!) *runs away*
    :lol::lol:


    that's why i like you D....you're twisted like me! :mrgreen: :twisted: :mrgreen: :twisted: 8-) :lol:
  • dimitrispearljam
    dimitrispearljam Posts: 139,747
    U R A Crazy Breed wrote:
    dimitrispearljam wrote:
    U R A Crazy Breed wrote:
    and all this time i thought it was because Stone liked to molest farm animals.


    (what...you thought it was just the cow guy??.......................i've said too much!) *runs away*
    :lol::lol:


    that's why i like you D....you're twisted like me! :mrgreen: :twisted: :mrgreen: :twisted: 8-) :lol:
    :thumbup: :wave: :lol:
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    "..That's One Happy Fuckin Ghost.."
    “..That came up on the Pillow Case...This is for the Greek, With Our Apologies.....”
  • JimMacLeod
    JimMacLeod Posts: 107
    This is great. Pages and pages were spent breaking down the meaning behind the Backspacer cover. And now, there's some discussion over a CD cover that we've been looking at for 16 years. Initially it's a simple cover (a photograph of a sheep) but there can be so many additional layers to it. I haven't really put that much thought towards it, but it is interesting to see the different interpretations of it.
  • PJ Fan est. 1990
    PJ Fan est. 1990 Posts: 1,788
    i always thought it was just because of the song Animal, and i always thought it was a llama...6 of 1 half a dozen of another i suppose.

    seeing these other theories and explanations does make a lot of sense though, i think i like your explanations
  • eeriepadave
    eeriepadave West Chester, PA Posts: 43,804
    PJ Fan est. 1990 wrote:
    i always thought it was just because of the song Animal, and i always thought it was a llama...6 of 1 half a dozen of another i suppose.

    I always thought it was a llama too for a long time. :lol:
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  • satansbed
    satansbed Posts: 2,139
    yeah i thought it was a lama till just now
  • Drop The Leash 10
    Drop The Leash 10 Posts: 7,011
    U R A Crazy Breed wrote:
    and all this time i thought it was because Stone liked to molest farm animals.


    (what...you thought it was just the cow guy??.......................i've said too much!) *runs away*
    ill never forget stone doing that... never will leave my head
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