Sirens

PJinIL · October 2013

Last-12-Exit wrote:

I don't hear grace in the line ....overwhelmed by the ?grace? by which we live......

has grace been confirmed anywhere?

I don't know that anyone could positively confirm it but Ed

however put in context with the surrounding lines it sure seems to be a solid fit. The way the phrase as a whole gets broken up makes it odd to hear. He says "over" and then there's a big pause, like a new line or thought is starting.

Over.......
whelmed by the grace by which we live our lives with death over our shoulders.

Don't know if that helps, and I'm not saying it's the absolute answer, but that is how I hear it.

Last-12-Exit · October 2013

PJinIL wrote:

Last-12-Exit wrote:

I don't hear grace in the line ....overwhelmed by the ?grace? by which we live......

has grace been confirmed anywhere?

I don't know that anyone could positively confirm it but Ed however put in context with the surrounding lines it sure seems to be a solid fit. The way the phrase as a whole gets broken up makes it odd to hear. He says "over" and then there's a big pause, like a new line or thought is starting.

Over.......
whelmed by the grace by which we live our lives with death over our shoulders.

Don't know if that helps, and I'm not saying it's the absolute answer, but that is how I hear it.

I think he says graves the first time, then grace the second. Graves makes sense to me as well.

slightofjeff · October 2013

I thought graves on first listen but after a couple weeks, I'm convinced it's grace, through and through. Graves doesn't really make all that much sense there, to be honest.

esgam · October 2013

This is what I imagine Eddie saying in an interview: "One night...couldn't sleep. Jill's sleeping next to me. I laid there, eyes open, for hours. There was a sound that kept piercing the night - sirens. After about the third or fourth time, I'm really contemplating the fragility of life. It's fascinating how things that you once took for granted or that didn't even register, say when you're in you're 20's, become so profound as you age. Especially if you're lucky enough to love and be loved. I mean the fragility of life REALLY hit me. I looked over at Jill and felt so content, complete, at peace...then suddenly I'm paralyzed with fear, imagining life without her. Knowing that one day for her or me, that would be the case. I almost woke her. I wanted to tell her how she's become my core. How thinking about her and our love makes me tear up--in a good way. But instead I just pulled her close and held on. Eventually falling asleep. Just hold on. Yeah. Hah. When I woke up, Jill was gone. Probably off with the girls. Another day closer to the end. I grabbed my notebook and a pencil. Sirens was born."

Life = A sexually transmitted terminal disease. (Read that recently and thought, "Oh how true.")

tennismom · October 2013

evsgjamm wrote:

To me, Sirens is very literal in the lyrics. Losing a loved one tragically while they are in your arms breathing their final breaths while an ambulance is heard coming closer and closer to take your loved one away. "Another man's arms" is referring to the big man upstairs. beautifully written, Ed.

I didn't get that from the lyrics at all. For me it was more about the love between a two people and the ups and downs that relationships naturally have.

tennismom · October 2013

esgam wrote:

This is what I imagine Eddie saying in an interview: "One night...couldn't sleep. Jill's sleeping next to me. I laid there, eyes open, for hours. There was a sound that kept piercing the night - sirens. After about the third or fourth time, I'm really contemplating the fragility of life. It's fascinating how things that you once took for granted or that didn't even register, say when you're in you're 20's, become so profound as you age. Especially if you're lucky enough to love and be loved. I mean the fragility of life REALLY hit me. I looked over at Jill and felt so content, complete, at peace...then suddenly I'm paralyzed with fear, imagining life without her. Knowing that one day for her or me, that would be the case. I almost woke her. I wanted to tell her how she's become my core. How thinking about her and our love makes me tear up--in a good way. But instead I just pulled her close and held on. Eventually falling asleep. Just hold on. Yeah. Hah. When I woke up, Jill was gone. Probably off with the girls. Another day closer to the end. I grabbed my notebook and a pencil. Sirens was born."

Life = A sexually transmitted terminal disease. (Read that recently and thought, "Oh how true.")

Yes! This is sorta what I was thinking but maybe not to the detail that you put into it LOL

dimitrispearljam · October 2013

vickisomoya wrote:

What a great thread to read for a song that needs to be talked about. Thank you all so much.

There is a saying in my teaching profession that goes "The place you come from will be felt."

I think this explains the impact of this song. Everything (words, music, voice) comes together in such a way that resonates with something very deeply that we all as humans feel (well maybe animals feel it too but without the self-perception of it) and experience. ALL of us regardless of gender, race, religion, etc. have to come to grips with the fact that we will die. And because we still aren't fully sure about what happens after that, its scary.

Eddie's line "The fear goes away" is about the power of love in the here and now, but also love in the eternal. Its so appropriate that the first time we hear this line in the song is the absolute moment that Mike picks up the electric!! That's the power of the whole song for me. We all feel and believe (or want to believe) that love never dies. Love is what we are and it will NEVER die... and when you feel this and know this, it's just amazingly mind-blowingly beautiful. And they were able to capture and convey this feeling in one song. Well that's PJ for you.

I think this is huge because we need to BE REMINDED of this more... and treat each other knowing that all the bullshit differences we have are nothing. We are bigger than all of that. We need to start acting that way.
This is why this band is so important to all of us, its fans, but to all humans. The world needs reminding. VS

lovely!!

Bardopus · October 2013

I just want to say thank you. This song has been perfectly timed for me. I have had quite a week and I love Sirens. On Sunday night, I called an ambulance for a friend of mine, she's only 50. She had a prolific nosebleed, I can't quite explain what this means until I say Quentin Tarantino movie set.. She went to hospital. I had known that she wasn't well but not as unwell as things transpired. I found out on Monday that the nosebleed was a symptom of internal bleeding. Her liver and kidneys had failed and she was bleeding internally. My actions meant that she didn't bleed out at home and her 8 year old son wasn't scarred by waking up to a dead mother in a pile of blood. She knew that she was loved enough for someone to step in. But unfortunately around 02:00 GMT she had three heat attacks and went to a better place. I did all that i could, but it was too late. But at least. As my friends have so very kindly pointed out today, I made a difference to two people's lives that may not have been what I would have hoped for. But Sirens has helped me through it, in a kind of upside down way. So cheers boys. You've helped me through a very tricky day and i love you for it. xx

PearlJamaholic · October 2013

Is this a sequel to Force of Nature?

lbythewl · October 2013

Pulling out of my driveway at 5:45 am, the moon was set directly in front of me. At that moment I thought wow my eyes have never taken in such a beautiful moment, it was so bright, and perfectly round. Everything around me just stopped for that moment, and through my speakers came, It's a fragile thing, this life we lead, if I think to much, I can't get over, when by the grace by which we live our lifes, with death over our shoulders, want you to know that should I go, I always loved you, held you high above too, I studied your face, fear goes away.

Such beautiful lyrics, as you get older, you become aware of time.

mariadac · October 2013

hello everybody!

i'm new here, and this is my first post. i read the guidelines, and hope to do us all proud.

"sirens"... sometimes i think it is a very literal song, others i just find little hints that make me wonder about other meanings. but i guess all pj songs do that for me. i learn something new everytime i hear them.
it's a very special song to me, and i feel very comforted when i hear the words. the street i live in is a fastlane for ambulances, medic cars, police cars, firefighters' trucks... i hear sirens all day long. and so, so often.
it has happened to me having someone special being in an ambulance, flying by this fastlane, without me even knowing it. i try to explain to people that everytime i hear a siren, i think about just how it can change my life - my friends' lives, anybodies' lives - in just a split second. so i wonder... "will it come for me next time"?
i tried to explain you can get used to the sound, still sleep and still live your life normaly, but you can never, ever get used to the meaning of the sirens.
i'm sorry if i wrote too much, and i hope you don't think i'm off the topic. that's "sirens". love, loss, and the feeling that someone on another part of the globe "said" what i felt. now, when i can't make myself clear, i can say "you know what? there's this song that says it better"...

have a great night/day everyone.
cheers

veddergirl29 · October 2013

prism, thank you for sharing your story. I am so very sorry for the loss of your friend. I will think of you both every time I hear this song.

actonplp · October 2013

I have been totally hooked by this song, it's like a musical drug and I can't stop listening to it. Here's the review I left on Amazon for this song :

Sirens is simply a work of art, speaking in terms of the combined lyrics, music and the overwhelming emotion that Eddie pours into singing this song. I've been a hard core Pearl Jam fan since 1992 & have followed them thru their ups and downs over the years, but this song took me completely by surprise. I've always been a sucker for a good power ballad, but I gave up years ago hoping that Pearl Jam would ever do anything comparable to Black... well, Sirens blows Black right out of the water and is easily now my favorite Pearl Jam song.

Oct. 15, 2013 Worcester, MA

sandpaperback · November 2013

First bunch of listens, I thought it was a good song. Then it started to grow on me. Then yesterday I saw someone elsewhere say they thought it was about Ed's daughter. On my way into work today, I was in tears listening to it. I can definitely see how you could just say it's about a loved one, but I think it's more than that.

I've got three kids now (enough thanks) and if there's a kid in my bed at night, I DO reach out, hold their hand, check their breath. I think about what will happen if I die, if they know how much I love them. I don't even know how to explain it to someone. My whole chest tightens when I look at them. I'm simultaneously filled with love, joy, pride and fear.

Maybe not. Maybe it's just a really touching song about being in love with another adult and the fragility of life. But from here on out, it's totally about my kids to me.

cort · December 2013

just wondering - with headphones on it sounds like 'a distant laughter with the ever-after'
i know the booklet indicates otherwise.
does anyone else hear it?

before you were here, a distant laughter with the ever-after

Versus13 · December 2013

Awesome tune! Can't stop listening to it. So powerful from the intro to the end. My favourite song from Lightning Bolt. I was priveleged enough to see it's libe debut in Pittsburgh

FieldsOfFire · January 2014

That song hits me at my core. The lyrics are extremely literal and powerful. When I listened to it the first time, thoughts of people I love flashed through my mind.

pjfansinceten · September 2014

so fragile indeed it is.

last Sunday night, our 45 year old neighbor across the street wasn't feeling well after dinner. he had been with his partner for 6 years, and married just under a year. i woke around midnight which was two hours after he arrived home from dinner to hear his partner yelling. the paramedics were already there trying to resuscitate him. the paramedics took him to the hospital, about a 4 minute drive from our house, and my wife and i took his 53 year old spouse. we arrived at the hospital emergency room and they were still trying to resuscitate him. it never happened, he passed. we stood with him as we were told that his husband didn't make it. it seemed so surreal, not like how television nor movies show it.

I too am 45. My wife and I have been married just 2 years, and together 6.

i haven't been able to stop thinking about this song over the last week. i haven't been able to listen to it yet, but tomorrow is the memorial. perhaps after that i will be able to. you never know when it's the last meal. treat every day as the last. tell people how you feel and hold them close, for you aren't sure when it might be the last time.

evsgjamm · September 2014

I empathize with your pain and experience. I truly hope the song comes back to you and I'm sure that when it does, you'll feel it stronger than ever. Thoughts with you, your wife and your neighbor.
And what you've said is bang on.

theebradness · September 2014

I bought Lightning Bolt the day it came out and loved it. Especially Sirens. I played it for everyone I know telling them, this is the new Black, the new Even Flow, the new song that will live forever.

It ALWAYS makes me think of my dad, who is still alive, healthy, more active now in his 70's then in years. But that threat of mortality lingers. I know when they play this in St Louis, I'll be crying. This song live will break me, and I can't WAIT!

Sirens

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