Hard to Imagine: Meaning or Inspiration

bamaogle14 said:

Pap said:

I always thought it's about growing up, trying at the same time to hold on to your innocence ("In My Tree" pops into my mind). I could even see those two as a sequel: People stop (psychologically) supporting you as you grow old - it seems really hard to even offer you a good wish and be truly happy for you (a tell a story no one listens that long), lose their moral principles, become totally alienated, mean and hard-hearted, and forget all about what honest friendship or love means. To put it simply, people like giving fellow human beings really hard times. And that's just because we're living in a corrupted - all about money and power - society resembling more to jungle - even though nature (as its own religion) has managed to "function" properly ("Animal" and the line I'd rather be with an animal comes to mind). So finally, what remains is you trying to explain the whole thing (reality / life and the principles that govern it (it's an Inside Job today), and wishing that by offering an explanation (either to yourself or all the persons involved in a shitty situation like the one described in "Hard To Imagine") it's somehow going to ease your pain and even lead to reconciliation. But because I wave to all my friends and they don't seem to notice me, I'm going to tell them that I still got it (my inner sense and innocence and so I'm going to live the rest of my life in harmony and peace with myself). The overall message - as in most songs of the PJ catalogue (I know it sounds oxymoron but it's true) - is the positive attitude (how to turn a bad time ("Given To Fly") into something productive (after all one could say that Pearl Jam songs are most pessimistic or sad tunes - why let the sad songs play? - but the truth is that at the end they leave you with the positive feeling of hope) of forgiving (I will forgive but won't forget - "Rearviewmirror") and moving on ("Do The Evolution" in a more political and sarcastic way), allowing yourself to evolve and make it to the Other Side.

That was an amazing interpretation

slightofjeff said:

Even after all these years, I'm still working out what I think this song is about. But I'd like to point out those first three lines are things that are literally hard to imagine: * Painting a picture using only gray * Lighting a pillow, then laying back to watch the flames * "I tell a story, but no one listens that long" -- this one is a little bit of a stretch, but this song was written during an era where seemingly everyone on earth wanted to know what Eddie Vedder wanted to say about absolutely everything (and he wasn't doing many interviews). A day to come in which nobody cared what he had to say, at that time, was "hard to imagine." I feel like this line is a little tongue-in-cheek, self-deprecating. Anyway ... I don't know how that idea plays into the second verse. Still working on that one.