Garden for Jazzfest this weekend
SandyRavage
Posts: 1,125
hey guys, i'm fairly new here in the community and still getting to figure everything out on the forums and what-not but i notice you guys do song requests! I figure it is probably way to late for the band, but i think thats totally awesome and figured it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. I actually have a reasoning on why i would like this particular song played and i figured id share it with you guys! Im sure long timers around here are completely sick of these kinds of things popping up and with recent events and PJ's actions this is probably the last thing they care about but i figured why the hell not, haha!
This story for me starts a couple of years ago transitioning from freshman to sophomore year in high school, or the summer of 2013. (yes i realize i'm a little younger than most of you diehards around here!) I'll spare you guys the crazy details, but back then life for me wasn't going so well and i decided that for myself i needed a counselor, or just someone that i could talk to that could be a middle man that wasn't my family or friends. I decided to get away from my school administration and counselors that are hand picked for you, and went to a third-party type of place. The first time i got to know my new counselor Billy, i was a very shy and awkward person and he really brought out the best in me. I know some of you who have never been to a counselor or any sort of emotional therapy session probably have the preconceived notion that its just you venting about your problems for a couple hours and having your counselor or therapist blindly listen to you so he can get paid the big bucks. These meeting were far from it. Billy and i shared a love of music from the eras he grew up in that i unfortunately missed out on being that i was born towards the end of the 90s. Multiple times we became stuck on the topic of rock and 90s rock more importantly. That summer it was announced that Pearl Jam would be playing our local Voodoo Festival in New Orleans later in the year. Billy and I were equally as happy. Unfortunately life got in the way for both of us, and neither of us could attend. Around these times, Billy and I talked A LOT of Pearl Jam. At that time i had been listening to some of Ten, not the whole album, but bits and pieces. The hits i guess you could say. (even though every song on that album should be classified a hit!! haha). Both Billy and i agreed that if we got stranded on an island, Ten would be one of the 3 albums we would bring. I even recall Billy telling me that during his senior year of high school, he went to one of the two UNO Lakefront Arena shows in 1993, where after one of them Eddie got infamously arrested! Anyway, these sessions lasted 1 hour once or twice a week and really brought me out of my slump. Billy really helped to show me that life gets better and things don't stay bad for nearly as long as you thought they might. About a year into these meetings, unexpectedly, Billy passed away. After this i became very sad again and couldn't understand the loss. A divorced father of 1, who was due to marry his Fiancee not but a month later unexpectedly died. I actually got a call a couple of hours before i was supposed to go meet with him again. Not only was he a loving father and counselor, but he was also assigned by the school he worked at to teach at-risk youths. A great man lost too soon.
Every time i listen to Ten these days i automatically think of him and the times we shared. Garden is one of those songs that just gets me every time i have my Ipod on shuffle and it pops up. It automatically reminds me of Billy and are short, yet amazing experiences together. Whether the lyrics are meant to represent this sort of thing is beside me. I believe music is subjective, and the way i see it, i hope Billy is out there, and maybe one day ill be able to walk into his Garden again. The 2 verses also remind me of how i felt after it all happened. It's coming up on the 2 year anniversary of his death and i think it would just be amazing if the guys could play this. To me at least, this would be an amazing tribute to an amazing man who just wanted to help people and make everyone who stepped into his life happy. Thanks for taking yalls time out of the day to read about this! Just thought i would give it a shot! Cheers
This story for me starts a couple of years ago transitioning from freshman to sophomore year in high school, or the summer of 2013. (yes i realize i'm a little younger than most of you diehards around here!) I'll spare you guys the crazy details, but back then life for me wasn't going so well and i decided that for myself i needed a counselor, or just someone that i could talk to that could be a middle man that wasn't my family or friends. I decided to get away from my school administration and counselors that are hand picked for you, and went to a third-party type of place. The first time i got to know my new counselor Billy, i was a very shy and awkward person and he really brought out the best in me. I know some of you who have never been to a counselor or any sort of emotional therapy session probably have the preconceived notion that its just you venting about your problems for a couple hours and having your counselor or therapist blindly listen to you so he can get paid the big bucks. These meeting were far from it. Billy and i shared a love of music from the eras he grew up in that i unfortunately missed out on being that i was born towards the end of the 90s. Multiple times we became stuck on the topic of rock and 90s rock more importantly. That summer it was announced that Pearl Jam would be playing our local Voodoo Festival in New Orleans later in the year. Billy and I were equally as happy. Unfortunately life got in the way for both of us, and neither of us could attend. Around these times, Billy and I talked A LOT of Pearl Jam. At that time i had been listening to some of Ten, not the whole album, but bits and pieces. The hits i guess you could say. (even though every song on that album should be classified a hit!! haha). Both Billy and i agreed that if we got stranded on an island, Ten would be one of the 3 albums we would bring. I even recall Billy telling me that during his senior year of high school, he went to one of the two UNO Lakefront Arena shows in 1993, where after one of them Eddie got infamously arrested! Anyway, these sessions lasted 1 hour once or twice a week and really brought me out of my slump. Billy really helped to show me that life gets better and things don't stay bad for nearly as long as you thought they might. About a year into these meetings, unexpectedly, Billy passed away. After this i became very sad again and couldn't understand the loss. A divorced father of 1, who was due to marry his Fiancee not but a month later unexpectedly died. I actually got a call a couple of hours before i was supposed to go meet with him again. Not only was he a loving father and counselor, but he was also assigned by the school he worked at to teach at-risk youths. A great man lost too soon.
Every time i listen to Ten these days i automatically think of him and the times we shared. Garden is one of those songs that just gets me every time i have my Ipod on shuffle and it pops up. It automatically reminds me of Billy and are short, yet amazing experiences together. Whether the lyrics are meant to represent this sort of thing is beside me. I believe music is subjective, and the way i see it, i hope Billy is out there, and maybe one day ill be able to walk into his Garden again. The 2 verses also remind me of how i felt after it all happened. It's coming up on the 2 year anniversary of his death and i think it would just be amazing if the guys could play this. To me at least, this would be an amazing tribute to an amazing man who just wanted to help people and make everyone who stepped into his life happy. Thanks for taking yalls time out of the day to read about this! Just thought i would give it a shot! Cheers
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