Song of the day(Rearviewmirror)

JDE-PJJDE-PJ Posts: 721
The eighth song off of VS, a get in your car drive down the highway, sing really loud tune this one is.

Rearviewmirror


RrVwMirror
1/16/01 09:01 AM
SOTD: ....REARVIEWMIRROR!!!!!!!!




El Conquistador
9/9/99 10:43 AM
Saw things so much clearer.....REARVIEWMIRROR


REARVIEWMIRROR

I took a drive today
Time to emancipate
I guess it was the beatings made me wise
But I'm not about to give thanks, or apologize
I couldn't breathe, holdin' me down
Hand on my face, pushed to the ground
Enmity gaged, united by fear
Forced to endure what I could not forgive...

I seem to look away
Wounds in the mirror waved
It wasn't my surface most defiled
Head at your feet, fool to your crown
Fist on my plate, swallowed it down
Enmity gaged, united by fear
Tried to endure what I could not forgive

Saw things (4x)
Clearer (2x)
Once you, were in my...Rearview mirror...

I gather speed from you fucking with me
Once and for all I'm far away
I hardly believe, finally the shades...are raised...hey...

Saw things so much clearer }
Once you, once you... } (3x)
Rearview mirror }

Saw things so much clearer
Once you...oh yeah...






JDE-PJ
9/9/99 1:34 PM
kick in my ass song


well this is my favorite song on Vs along with Indifference, but this song more than any other PJ song wakes me up when I need a slap in the face, it also gets me out of my bad moods and and it used to be one of my AC songs for my road trips to hell.

Going to let the more thoughtful Jamily members discuss the lyrics, lets make this song stay on top for a long time!

once you, once you



I know someday you will have a beautiful life

Jason




cheekywombat
9/9/99 2:03 PM
Re: REARVIEWMIRROR


well, same here JDE-PJ: this is an all time fave. I won't go into a lenghty disection/explanation of the song (leave that to CandleOfThought, he does it so well!) Instead, I'll just throw out some personal highs: The line "It wasn't my surface most defiled"...In some live recordings Ed adds "inside!" between "surface" & "most"...that's quite gripping...also, in many live versions from the last tour, I really dig the way he brings his voice up an octave (or two) toward the end of the second verse...around "fool to your crown" & he adds "swallowed the FUCKER down"...I dunno, the embelishments that Ed adds during live performances of this tune just rock me out of my seat...kinda dangerous when I'm behind the wheel, I guess...(heh, heh :)

Also, just as an aside, I once saw a car that had "I gathered speed from you fuckin' with me" on a license plate frame..thought that was a pretty cool idea...too bad it was a rust bucket cheesy-pimp-job jalopy...:oP







brokenarrow
9/9/99 3:02 PM
REARVIEWMIRROR KICKS GIANT ASS!!!!!...............


....WOOOOOOOOOOOOOffffff.....Wham, Bam.....
This song is so amazing....anything bad that has ever happened in one's life just gets spit right out and slammed down.
I love this tune....So much........!
The literal meaning (at least this is what I've always pictured) is Ed's life with his rotten step-father....
I agree Cheeky...my Canadian Wombat friend...the add-libs live are truly electric. My all time favorite add-lib on this tune is...
"And I'm not about to give thanks...FUCK OFF...or apologize....."

Last summer I flipped Eddie the bird on that "Fuck off" part....He was singing right to us, eye to eye.....I figured, "shit, everyone is going to flip the bird",
well guess what? Mine was the ONLY hand that flew up, we sang "Fuck off" at the same time, he saw it, broke into a BIG smile, and we both laughed...
The band just got FASTER, AND FASTER, AND FASTER, AND FASTER, AND FASTER, AND FASTER, AND FASTER...........
...............................until........................
Eddie collapsed onstage!.............HOT DANG!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was a KODAK moment in my memory.......The best....
I tune this song in, when I'm feeling in a giant "Fuck off" kind of mood...
It's not too often I'm in one of these moods, but it's so great to know it's there for me! Kind of like therapy!

I can't wait for my REARVIEWMIRRORED friend to tell us about this one...
'cause she's the best!

I also like The Frogs version of this one on the Immortality single..
It's kind of weird to hear it sung as a slow, strange ballad!

brokenarrow>






cheekywombat
9/9/99 3:23 PM
wow Brokenarrow!


The band just got FASTER, AND FASTER, AND FASTER, AND FASTER, AND FASTER, AND FASTER, AND FASTER...........
...............................until........................
Eddie collapsed onstage!.............HOT DANG!!!!!!!!!!!!

that just looks & sounds kinda...I dunno...errr.....ORGASMIC...whoaa...I think you've kinda made me feel a little frisky! well done!...






brokenarrow
9/9/99 3:56 PM
Heh, heh...Well ummm...


...It was now that you mention it!
After that, the band took a break 'cause I needed a cold shower and a cigarette!

heh, heh, heh.....!
brokenarrow>






pearlgirl
9/9/99 5:47 PM
what a song


dude, this is THE ultimate "fuck you!" song of all time. how could you not love it?? when i'm just pissed at the world, i put this on repeat, go driving and god does it clear my thoughts. i think the meaning of this is clear (the abuse scenario), but my personal interp deals more with just leaving things, especially people behind. people that you had no clue were damaging to you at a certain point in your life, until you leave them, that is.

when i was younger, when this first came out, i thought that the "i gather speed, from you fucking with me" was supposed to be taken literally. that was when i didn't really understand the meaning of the song. of course several years ago, as i matured, i realized that it was a reference to people messing with your head and so on. and god knows i've had more than my fair share of that in my life...and it's true...the anger and frustration that it creates often fuels me to become a better and stronger person.

-jen

"and so it goes"
-kurt vonnegut




RrVwMirror
9/9/99 7:32 PM
Why Thank You Brokenarrow..............


I just wish I had a great story to tell for this one but I don't!

First of all, I have to say that this is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE SONGS EVER!
and as some you you already know....I have NOT had the priviledge of seeing Pearl Jam perform RVM live....I was so close.....oh, nevermind, it is TOO PAINFUL!....(No snickering Elegant-Waste!) I am not ashamed to tell you Cheeky, Broken, Elegant, and everyone else who has experienced RVM live....I AM SOOOOO JEALOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(By the way Broken, that is a GREAT story! I can't believe you flipped EDDIE the bird!...you nut!)

The first thing that got me hooked on this song is the emotion that is expressed in both the lyrics AND the music!....I am such a "Fuck Off" person...I have zero tolerance for assholes! I do not tolerate ignorant, egocentric, or phony (plastic) people....I have no use for them, and am not afraid to tell them to Fuck Off! This song definately captures that emotion!

The second thing that got me hooked on this song was the use of the word REARVIEWMIRROR...just pure BRILLANCE!.....what better symbolizes looking back on something than a 'rearviewmirror'? I am sure everyone has experienced the pleasure of looking back at a bad situation or a bad relationship, whether it be thru a rearviewmirror or not....and has experienced that ultimate feeling of liberty...for me, I am one who has never found a greater sense of liberty than the one obtained by getting in the car and just taking off! I could relate to this song the second I heard it....and yes, I do have a copy of RVM in my car for those times when I am escaping!....God, I love this song!

I love the line "I'm not about to give thanks or apologize"....I am so much like that.....if someone does me wrong.....that's it, I am DONE with them!

Well, I am babbling here....so I better end it with one more of my favorite lines from this song....."Finally the shades are raised"....this has a personal meaning to me, that I don't care to bore you people with....but one day my family literally 'raised the shades' on a very dark, mean spirited relative who literally kept the shades down all the time.....It was such a cleansing period for some of my family members!........ God, I love that line!





It's funny when things change so much, it's all state of mind...
I know someday you will have a beautiful Life


Jason
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • JDE-PJJDE-PJ Posts: 721
    Layla
    9/10/99 00:39 AM
    time to emancipate


    i can't even begin to tell you how much anger this song
    has helped me work through. Take a not so neat and clean
    (when is it ever) divorce, bitterness, and produce a manipulitive,
    lying father who would take his Daughter down with the freaking ship if
    that's what it took to feel self satisfaction....and then you have what
    reveiwmirror helps me fight back against...
    hey, pity fest...i'll shut up now. :)


    "I wanna live, I wanna give." ~Neil Young




    wendi
    9/10/99 00:42 AM
    Re: Saw things so much clearer.....REARVIEWMIRROR


    The picture Ed paints with this song is so vivid, not to mention the music that propels the feeling of rage. It really is a terrible scene to visualize. The teenage boy being beaten viciously by his domineering father, dinner is nothing more than a fist. The boy can do no right in the father's eyes (fool to your crown). He just keeps enduring the constant violence (maybe to protect another?), hating the man, until he finally wises up and leaves. Forever. Finally.






    redmosquito
    9/10/99 02:06 AM
    This is so AMAZING!!


    GOD...I can't even express the amount of love and joy I have for this song...I have no doubt in my mind that it is the best song ever written.
    I think that I have always loved this song (but I was too young to totally understand it's meaning, all I knew was that it was so kick ass). Then one day, I probably had the worst situation with my supposed bestest friend in the world (long story, I just felt so weird, like if I couldn't trust her, then there was absolutley no one in the entire world I could trust, this really disgustingly empty feeling at the pit of my stomach) I was driving, listening to Vs., then I said, "that's it, I can't stand this anymore, I HAVE to listen to RVM."
    As I was driving, I started singing to the words very softly...it was so surreal...as I was singing with Eddie, the words started making complete sense, totally clicking in my mind...by the climax I was screaming to the word "CLEARER" and it was like someone just slapped me in the face...everything was sooooo clear...for days after that, everytime I thought of the title...I would have to sit down...it totally blew my mind away.
    I really think I am a stronger person just because of that song...and even now, as I was going through the words that El Conquistador posted...I don't know, right now I really think I needed to read those words to myself...but it helped...and I can't even tell you how much I love it!

    P.S. brokenarrow, that was probably the BEST Kodak moment I have ever heard of! How much I would give to have been there, I can't even imagine!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    -redmosquito

    "finally the shades are raised"
    (has anyone ever noticed that at the end of Daughter, eddie says, "the shades go down?" that is very much like eddie and so awesome, other than each person's amazing realizations with this song. I think this song is the best climax for the entire album that has been centered around conflict. OK, I'll stop babbling. RrVwMirror, I don't go anywhere without my copy of RVM too.







    RrVwMirror
    9/10/99 10:14 AM
    Just one more thing about RVM....


    ...I am running late for work this morning, yet I am compelled to add one more thought....I can't believe I forgot to comment on the musical genius of this band...if you were to listen to RVM without the lyrics, it would still convey all the emotions felt in this song....the tempo just accelerates...as one's car would, and by the end of the song the music reaches a climax that leaves you with such an exuberant feeling!....God, I love this song!

    It's funny when things change so much, it's all state of mind...




    weerallcrazy
    9/10/99 10:32 AM
    Re: Saw things so much clearer.....REARVIEWMIRROR


    This is such a conincidence, cause I turned this song on loud as I was driving in to work today and got so pumped up - I had goosebumps and my eyes were teering (sp?) up. This song is such an amazing song. I love to put it on when I get pissed of cause of my work (gets a little stressful at times) and it totally makes me pumped and ready to knock em on their fuckin asses.

    take my hand, not my picture - EV




    CandleOfThought
    9/10/99 11:31 AM
    Re: Saw things so much clearer.....REARVIEWMIRROR


    First of all, I regret not having been able to post on this earlier, but I've been dedicating all my energy and all my time outside of work (and a lot of time when I should have been working) to the East Timor cause, writing and signing petitions, demonstrating, putting up posters and signs, and all else I can think of. I go on numb, trying to forget how many people are dying by the hour, by each hour that the international community refuses to take action, and then the images come on, and it's another crowd of mothers crying over dead sons, another boy lying in a pool of blood, another mass of huddled people with blank terror intheir eyes, and praying, praying not in their native Tetum, but in Portuguese, the tongue of those who colonized them and then abandoned them to the hands of Indonesia for 24 years, my tongue, and I cry. I cry of rage for not being able to do more, for guilt for belonging to the nation they trusted in and who left them, for despair for seeing that the governments of the world value more the trade with Indonesia than the lives of the 250.000 Timorese that they killed over the last quarter of centuries, and that all the promises of safety that the United Nations made were vain. But let's talk about RearviewMirror, cause I really need to feel that music to let go of my frustration now. I may talk about East Timor again relating to "Rats", it's so appropriate...

    All the people here already expressed a lot of what I feel about the song, but I need to say it anyway. RVM is about letting it all out, about "rising above" (the words in "Daughter") all the pain. And it's all so cathartic, especially the music, like an accelerating car. It starts slowly, into the driveway; by the time of "Hand on my face" it shifts into second gear, then third. When you get to "saw things clearer" you actually feel the opposite, like a speed blur, flying on a motorcycle at 200 mph, tunnel vision narrowed to a tiny dot in the horizon, and then BANG! you're supersonic, all the negative images surfacing during the course of the song are left behind, you're free, lifted, weightless, your soul is clean and unburdened. Or, like Brokenarrow and Cheeky suggested, a slow love that evolves into a throbbing rhythm, erupts into orgasm and leaves you floating in the bliss of ecstasy...

    We already discussed the context of the song, the child abuse, in "Daughter", so I wont'go into detail with it again. I'll just single out a few brilliant lines to comment:

    "I guess it was the beatings made me wise / But I'm not about to give thanks, or apologize" - the pain she endured actually made her stronger, more prepared for life, but that doesn't excuse all the suffering in younger years. Like myself - my father contributed to a lot that I like in me, but that doesn't mean I can forget (however, I *did* eventually forgive him) the means he used to mold me and the scars that I bear, all the inner problems that it caused me, even if I realize he does love me - he just never knew how to convey it and to have a healthy relationship with me.

    "Tried to endure what I could not forgive" - this could well be a slogan for all those who suffer and resist stoically... my mind goes to the people of East Timor again... but then again, it's always with them these days...

    "Once and for all I'm far away / I hardly believe, finally the shades...are raised" - a hymn to the capacity of cleansing the soul and carrying on with your life, bearing the scars but not letting them hinder your right to happiness... And once again, I think of Timor and pray that the remnants of that people will one day have that capacity...

    I'm sorry, I just can't let go of it, I'm crying again and my colleagues are noticing, so I'm stopping here. I just beg you to take notice of East Timor, don't let it fall into oblivion, don't let them die in the hearts of the world as well as in th Indonesian killing fields...

    (By the way, did I mention this is a fabulous song, one of the best ever written by anyone? Well, it is.)



    *** CandleOfThought ***
    "Shower the people you love with love, show them the way you feel"
    I know someday you will have a beautiful Life


    Jason
  • JDE-PJJDE-PJ Posts: 721
    PJMom
    9/10/99 3:48 PM
    Re: Saw things so much clearer.....REARVIEWMIRROR


    Some songs are just great and I love them even though they have no personal meaning for me. This was my thought as I listened to this last November...I had just returned from a trip to visit my parents and have them spend some time with the grandkids. The whole thing was a disaster...me realizing that they have never really seen me as an adult, always having to play second fiddle to my overachieving brother, and seeing that they don't really accept who I am. They pain caused a lot of tears for about 800 miles of driving but soon I felt better and let it go. Saw a counselor later who pointed out some things about my dad that I never realized (you never see dysfunction when you are close) and that he was mentally ill. So a couple of weeks later, I have this on in the car and suddenly the meaning was personal. Dad was abusive--smacked me around a couple of times and caused at least one bloody nose; I rebelled in my teens--gathered speed from you fucking with me; tried to be the good Daughter; finally see that I will never be what they want--FINALLY THE SHADES ARE RAISED--I am free of them after all these years. Saw things so much clearer with the dysfunction far behind me. From out of nowhere, I started to cry again but damn it felt good!!






    glorifiedG
    9/10/99 10:58 PM
    Re: Saw things so much clearer.....REARVIEWMIRROR


    This song is such a release. It's just pure emotion on the last chorus.


    I let my music take me where my heart wants to go....
    ~C.S.




    RrVwMirror
    1/16/01 09:05 AM
    Re: SOTD: ....REARVIEWMIRROR!!!!!!!!


    I just want to add that almost one year after this post was made, I was fortunate enough to FINALLY experience REARVIEWMIRROR LIVE!!!! It was one of the BEST versions I have ever heard....Saratoga Springs, 8/27/00.....It was so worth the wait!!! I love this song even more today than I did a year ago, and yes,I still have that copy in my car!!!

    I let my music take me where my heart wants to go....
    ~C.S.




    Seany
    1/16/01 09:09 AM
    Re: SOTD: ....REARVIEWMIRROR!!!!!!!!


    My favourite PJ song...great song to rock out to!

    'Makes much more sense to live in the present tense.'
    Seany







    hedonist
    1/16/01 09:16 AM
    RrVw.......


    Me too...10/25/00...catharsis all over again...every time I hear it....

    RVM is one of the songs I use to exorcise my demons, at those times when they choose to reappear.........

    Bless this band, and the impetus so many of us, myself included, have been given from this song, to speed away from those who fucked with us.......

    It may not have been my surface most defiled, but the scars will always be there...thankfully, they're beginning to fading a bit, over time......

    (as for the stories shared here, THIS is one of the things that has, and will continue, to draw me to this place)








    share
    1/16/01 1:58 PM
    Re: SOTD: ....REARVIEWMIRROR!!!!!!!!


    it was wasn't it!! - thanks again - got one for you now too - :)

    this is my whiplash song - i went a little nuts in barrie to this one, dang near
    injured myself



    "i never knew you, you never knew me
    say hello, goodbye"




    RrVwMirror
    1/16/01 2:07 PM
    really share???


    :-)
    Don't it make me smile!!!!

    (and I another for you!)

    I let my music take me where my heart wants to go....
    ~C.S.




    PJMom
    1/16/01 2:13 PM
    Re: SOTD: ....REARVIEWMIRROR!!!!!!!!


    Wow!! Double chills right now...listening to Daughter on the London boot. "She will...what?
    RISE ABOVE!!!" and reading my own words.
    Still feel the same way too!

    _______

    Times spent wasted are not wasted times.





    rise above
    1/16/01 2:20 PM
    Re: SOTD: ....REARVIEWMIRROR!!!!!!!!


    Saw things so much clearer
    Once you...oh yeah...


    :)






    "I paid a price..I'll never hold you in this life"-Cardiff boot




    share
    1/17/01 7:19 PM
    Re: SOTD: ....REARVIEWMIRROR!!!!!!!!


    some lovely sweet lady replaced my Berlin B boot for me :):):):)

    THAT's AN AMAZING REARVIEW MIRROR

    (leg cramps from bopping in my kitchen - OUCH)

    "i never knew you, you never knew me
    say hello, goodbye"




    *slipping away*
    1/18/01 01:23 AM
    Re: SOTD: ....REARVIEWMIRROR!!!!!!!!


    first, i wanted to say thank you to rrvmmirror for posting these songs of the day. i love reading these!

    rearview mirror... wow... i have to agree with one of the comments made... this is definitely the ultimate fuck you song. i can still remember being 16 years old... sitting in my room after a huge fight with the rents and playing this song til the house rattled... screaming the lyrics to this song... "saw things so much clear once you were in my REARVIEWMIRROR!!!" and that was the highlight of my youth.

    i don't know where i would be today without songs like this... without pearl jam... i would probably be dead. i would be dead.

    i know this has been mentioned before, but i love how rvm ties in with daughter... so perfect... saying everything i ever wanted to say to my parents. "the shades go down" "finally the shades are raised."

    and since we were talking about hearing this song live... i had the pleasure of hearing this song as an opener... yup, pj opened with rvm on 4/17/94 at the paramount... if that wasn't pure craziness... the purest release of emotion... i get chills just thinking about it.

    god, i fucking love this song.
    *crystal*

    -she's lost in coma where it's beautiful-




    RrVwMirror
    1/18/01 08:59 AM
    Re: SOTD: ....REARVIEWMIRROR!!!!!!!!


    Hey crystal....just wanted to say how good it was to read your response....a lot of us feel the same way towards the music....it has helped so many of us...

    Can't imagine experiencing this as an opener.....lucky you!!!!

    I let my music take me where my heart wants to go....
    ~C.S.




    Given
    1/18/01 09:43 AM
    Re: SOTD: ....REARVIEWMIRROR!!!!!!!!


    great song, kend of saying got to get away from it all and not turning back.
    i love to play along w/ this on the guitar when i'm in an all out rockin' mood.


    ...ed roles.
    "who's got the brain of jfk whats it mean to us know".




    Mirror!
    1/18/01 10:04 AM
    Re: SOTD: ....REARVIEWMIRROR!!!!!!!!


    RVM is one of the best PJ songs, that's for sure.
    I think that it is (from PJ's point of view) a song that's about looking back on the over-popularity during the TEN period. (maybe wrong, but don't shoot me for it)

    "Don't trade magic for facts"
    I know someday you will have a beautiful Life


    Jason
  • KICK ASS..

    SOY BEANS..? LOL

    Does'nt anybody have a sense of humor anymore.!
    LiFE FLOWS, With Or Without You, LiFE MOVES on, LiKE I Do.....
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