Question about Black

TravisTheSky wrote:

StillHere wrote:

"This is the saddest song I know...all that's left is the pain"

"Its personal, a relationship thing...I don't think I can ever explain what its all about"

"...hope none of you can relate"

he often tags black with "we belong together" which makes the whole thing just so much sadder

I do know he doesn't like other people to sing it...that's quite telling

I have written of this several times, but I'm happy to discuss it again: Other fans often insist that the song is about the breakup of a man and a woman, but the lyrics just don't fit. I clearly see Black as a heartbroken, tormented Lovesong to the aborted foetus from Vedder's teenage years.

"Empty canvas" and "Untouched clay" are metaphors for the potential of life that did not happen. The narrator "cradles" broken glass. Not holds, not caresses, but cradles.

He sings, "I'm surrounded by some kids at play. I can feel their laughter, so why do I sear?" Again, he is specifically referencing children- not happy loving couples, not the laughter of women, etc.

And the final line is a wish for reincarnation. "I know some day you'll have a beautiful life. I know/hope you will be a star/sun in somebody else's sky. But why can't it be mine? We belong together."
The narrator is insisting that the hypothetical child WILL have a life. He can't admit otherwise. "Star" and "Sun" (depending on the version of the song) are celestial and heavenly, like Western myths of afterlife.

I think that the "She" character in the song is the ex-girlfriend. But Black is in no way a simple breakup song. I hear a man whose heart, mind, and soul were shattered.

---Edit: Oops, I forgot the "Five Horizons" bit. The first or second post I ever made on this forum was in the several-years-long thread about Five Horizons in the lyrics section. "Five horizons revolved around the soul" could mean a pregnancy of five weeks or months.