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Does anybody agree with me and Ed on this?
ladydocNYC
Posts: 635
in The Porch
I just watched the full interview with Steve Gleason (a must-see, if you haven't). Ed says here what he has often expressed in one way or another -- that he's embarrassed about his behavior in the early years. He says something like this in the Gleason interview: "I wish I had known more in the first couple years... maintained a little more dignity in the early period."
Now I don't judge anyone based on their youthful attitudes and lord knows I have regrets too. But I *am* a bit pissed that these guys were indeed so "testosterone driven" (also Ed's phrase) in the early years, because testosterone overflow has never been something I admired, least of all aesthetically, and as a result I didn't like the band then. I thought they were (way) overrated, I more or less wrote them off except as a casual listener, and it took a long time for me to pay attention again. Then when I did, whoa! This rather monodimensional and crude band with their leader who had seemed to me, frankly, like an asshole, had become intelligent, versatile, profound, with beautiful songs; and their singer somehow had morphed into one of the most impressively present, insightful, loving, and even wise people I'd ever come across. Not only that, but he is one of those rare individuals who, through his ability to make an arena feel intimate, can transmit these qualities to thousands of us at a time, often bringing out the best in us too.
So in one way, Ed, I wish you hadn't been such a shithead too, because then I would have started seeing PJ live about 8 years sooner. But then again, without that early period, we would have missed out on the most remarkable part: your astonishing metamorphosis. As a psychotherapist I help people come to terms with the darkest parts of themselves and navigate their hardest times, for a living. (I specialize in work with victims of prolonged childhood sexual abuse, one of whom told me just yesterday it was a curse that her perpetrator got to be dead while she has to go on living, "it's not fair that I'm still alive." No one has transformed the lyric for her yet. I'm trying to help her get there.) In any case, I know first- (and second-) hand the tremendous courage it takes to engage fully in that process of self-exploration and healing, and to come out so much better on the other side. You somehow did that publicly. You are an extraordinary human being.
So the part I'm asking if anyone agrees with, is that this band is astronomically better now than they were in 1992. I can't say when they fully matured, but like a fine red wine, they now have the layers and nuances that develop only over long years, and they are now headed by a musician who is exemplary not just for his intensity, but for maintaining intensity while developing breadth, modulation, self-awareness, and an extraordinary generosity of spirit.
I find it hard to believe when people say Ten is their favorite album. Boring. Very happy I was at the No Code show. If the universe is feeling kind to me I'll be at Vitalogy whenever that happens. That was the beginning, and the growth has never stopped, all the way through Lightning Bolt. So many people say "Pearl Jam got me through my youth." Nirvana got me through my youth, but that's not so impressive. It's not hard to do adolescent rage. Pearl Jam has gotten me through my 30s and 40s, and there is much less intelligently written material in any medium that resonates with those years. They are an inspiration to me to continue to cultivate my talents, while not trying to remain what none of us can any longer be.
As Andy Rooney say to the 20-something in PJ20: "Stop, you're breaking my heart. I would gladly relieve you of some of your burden by exchanging my age for yours." Even with real agony, it's much less complicated to be 20. As you go on, you have more agony, more disappointments, inevitable and tremendous losses. What's hardest of all is to figure out how to go from youth to something even better. Thank you, Eddie.
Now I don't judge anyone based on their youthful attitudes and lord knows I have regrets too. But I *am* a bit pissed that these guys were indeed so "testosterone driven" (also Ed's phrase) in the early years, because testosterone overflow has never been something I admired, least of all aesthetically, and as a result I didn't like the band then. I thought they were (way) overrated, I more or less wrote them off except as a casual listener, and it took a long time for me to pay attention again. Then when I did, whoa! This rather monodimensional and crude band with their leader who had seemed to me, frankly, like an asshole, had become intelligent, versatile, profound, with beautiful songs; and their singer somehow had morphed into one of the most impressively present, insightful, loving, and even wise people I'd ever come across. Not only that, but he is one of those rare individuals who, through his ability to make an arena feel intimate, can transmit these qualities to thousands of us at a time, often bringing out the best in us too.
So in one way, Ed, I wish you hadn't been such a shithead too, because then I would have started seeing PJ live about 8 years sooner. But then again, without that early period, we would have missed out on the most remarkable part: your astonishing metamorphosis. As a psychotherapist I help people come to terms with the darkest parts of themselves and navigate their hardest times, for a living. (I specialize in work with victims of prolonged childhood sexual abuse, one of whom told me just yesterday it was a curse that her perpetrator got to be dead while she has to go on living, "it's not fair that I'm still alive." No one has transformed the lyric for her yet. I'm trying to help her get there.) In any case, I know first- (and second-) hand the tremendous courage it takes to engage fully in that process of self-exploration and healing, and to come out so much better on the other side. You somehow did that publicly. You are an extraordinary human being.
So the part I'm asking if anyone agrees with, is that this band is astronomically better now than they were in 1992. I can't say when they fully matured, but like a fine red wine, they now have the layers and nuances that develop only over long years, and they are now headed by a musician who is exemplary not just for his intensity, but for maintaining intensity while developing breadth, modulation, self-awareness, and an extraordinary generosity of spirit.
I find it hard to believe when people say Ten is their favorite album. Boring. Very happy I was at the No Code show. If the universe is feeling kind to me I'll be at Vitalogy whenever that happens. That was the beginning, and the growth has never stopped, all the way through Lightning Bolt. So many people say "Pearl Jam got me through my youth." Nirvana got me through my youth, but that's not so impressive. It's not hard to do adolescent rage. Pearl Jam has gotten me through my 30s and 40s, and there is much less intelligently written material in any medium that resonates with those years. They are an inspiration to me to continue to cultivate my talents, while not trying to remain what none of us can any longer be.
As Andy Rooney say to the 20-something in PJ20: "Stop, you're breaking my heart. I would gladly relieve you of some of your burden by exchanging my age for yours." Even with real agony, it's much less complicated to be 20. As you go on, you have more agony, more disappointments, inevitable and tremendous losses. What's hardest of all is to figure out how to go from youth to something even better. Thank you, Eddie.
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Comments
Looking back as young rock stars they seem like angels to me..but yes they had that fire like you mentioned that was so intense.
as for Ten itself. To me this album has changed a lot in my eyes as i've gotten older. When it came out i was in my early 20s and i loved the aggression of the songs. loved the hard charging emotion and spirit those songs were performed with. Today, while the songs are the same, I get different emotions from songs like Alive, Black and Release. to me those songs connect AGAIN but differently than they did in the early 1990s. I mean hearing Ed's talk before Release in Philly during the Ten show then playing the song was just chilling. Probably one of my favorite Ed's talks "you can't go over it, under it, or around it, you have to get through it" - just typing that out here gave me chills. So while Ten was awesome in 1991-1993 to me it is still awesome, just in a new and different way. And isn't that what something classic should be able do. grow and mature along with you?
1994-1998 better concert experience
Music, to me, is intensely personal in meaning - both by notes and lyrics, and how each are presented (and accepted). Also depends on where one is in life.
It can be so intimate.
pjhawks, your mention of Ed's words reminds me much of Puscifer's Simultaneous - maybe he got it from Maynard?
"Find a way through, around, or over"
I would hope people mature over time and in their own way, maybe still have enough oomph to rally against the shit in this world, but knowing which battles are worth the energy and time to fight.
I do love Ten, but found the path of No Code to Yield more...me. Then again, I didn't know of them till 1999.
I cracked up at msg when Ed said to the guy in the audience who was turning 26, "shit's about to get real." Damn straight.
It never ends!
That's what drew me to the band from the first note. You could tell this was a person that felt the whole world outside of himself.
for the least they could possibly do
STL 2014
I'm a lucky man to count on both hands the ones I love.
Never met a qualified human
OP a good read
The way Ed describes the early days, it was a like a wild animal being let out of its cage after a lifetime of captivity.
Though Ed might be sheepish of those days -- as most of us are sheepish of our early 20s in retrospect -- I certainly don't hold it against him.
for the least they could possibly do
for the least they could possibly do
And none of this is meant to dismiss any of their work. I don't believe in putting down any artistic work. Whatever doesn't work for me I ignore and am fine with it working for others.
People out here acting like Ed was frickin Glenn Danzig or something.
for the least they could possibly do
If the road you followed brought you to here, of what use was the road?
9/26/96, 9/28/96, 10/2/96
6/14/98, 9/13/98, 9/15/98, 9/16/98
8/3/00, 8/29/00, 8/30/00
7/2/03, 7/3/03, 7/9/03, 7/11/03
9/28/04, 9/29/04
5/24/06, 5/25/06
6/28/08, 6/30/08, 8/1/08, 8/2/08
5/17/10
10/15/13, 10/16/13
8/5/16, 8/7/16
9/4/18, 9/4/18
I think walking that road is the destination, at least for me. Learn to get through, maybe even triumph over, the stormy days.
Then revel in those with sunshine.
9/26/96, 9/28/96, 10/2/96
6/14/98, 9/13/98, 9/15/98, 9/16/98
8/3/00, 8/29/00, 8/30/00
7/2/03, 7/3/03, 7/9/03, 7/11/03
9/28/04, 9/29/04
5/24/06, 5/25/06
6/28/08, 6/30/08, 8/1/08, 8/2/08
5/17/10
10/15/13, 10/16/13
8/5/16, 8/7/16
9/4/18, 9/4/18