Like Pilate, I have a dog...

RhinoJam
RhinoJam Raleighwood Posts: 596
edited March 2010 in Words and Music...Communication
Can anyone translate the meaning of this song for me?

... like Pontius Pilate, the only person who loves him, is his dog?
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Comments

  • CantKeepMeHere
    CantKeepMeHere Posts: 2,177
    for me it has always ment skip to next track
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  • kasiabi
    kasiabi Posts: 7
    do they refer to the Bulkhakov's Pilate?

    you think to love someone like only dogs can do is a kind of slavery?
    and a kind of loneliness for the loved one?
    Feel like a right piece in a wrong place.
  • Lizard
    Lizard So Cal Posts: 12,091
    I read this a long time ago--I think Kat cited it:

    Jeff Ament discussed the song in an interview:

    I think "Pilate" was the question I was asking myself, and "Low Light" was the answer, the realization. Have you ever read The Master and Margarita [by Mikhail Bulgakov]? I just read that book, and at the end they talk about Pontius Pilate being all alone on a mountain with his dog. He couldn't sleep and he couldn't function. It really struck me hard, because at that point I was feeling very alone. I've always had this recurring dream about being old and just me and my dog sitting on the porch. It wasn't necessarily a sad dream or a premonition, but it did get me to thinking about why Pilate was so alone and freaked out. Then I realized he didn't get to finish his conversation with Jesus—that's why he can't function, because he didn't tie up the loose ends in his life. Later, I was playing the guitar, and I was hit so hard by this amazing, emotion. In that moment the words "low light" came out, and somehow those were the only words to explain what I was feeling. It was a kind of gratefulness at finding that place of calm and peace at my center and getting a glimpse of the person I could choose to be. It was the purest happiness that I've experienced in a long time, that particular emotion. God, I thought I was going to explode. I feel very lucky to have been able to put it down on tape that morning and work through it until it became a song.[1]


    Found it here but it is a lot of other places too: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Pearl-Jam-549/f/song-meaning.htm
    So I'll just lie down and wait for the dream
    Where I'm not ugly and you're lookin' at me
  • BALLBOY
    BALLBOY Australia Posts: 1,035
    I have a dog & his name is Pilate, Obeys, Listens, Kisses, Loves!
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  • tinkerbell
    tinkerbell New Zealand Posts: 2,161
    I have had this song stuck in my head all weekend! It took me a while to warm up to it but it has definitely grown on me.

    like pilate I have a dog (well actually I don't I have 2 cats but this line is on loop in my head!)
    all you need is love, love is all you need
  • 409
    409 Posts: 4
    Great song!
  • little_wish
    little_wish England, The North Posts: 532
    I've never read that interview, thanks for posting. Nice to see band members explain their side of things :-)
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  • guypjfreak
    guypjfreak Posts: 2,281
    ive got a dog ..hes called Eddie vedder ;)
  • BALLBOY
    BALLBOY Australia Posts: 1,035
    guypjfreak wrote:
    ive got a dog ..hes called Eddie vedder ;)
    That is cool, maybe Pilate & Eddie can met one day. What breed is he?
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