"I would rather starve than eat your bread"
webberf1
Posts: 160
Don't know if anyone else considered this, but i think i just realised what this lyric from Corduroy is referring to.
Refer to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin-eater
Basically, in medieval England and Scotland there was a practice whereby they got a beggar to eat a dying person's bread by their side so as to absolve the sins of the dying person and the beggar would take on those sins.
"They would be brought to the dying person's bedside, where a relative would place a crust of bread on the breast of the dying and pass a bowl of ale to him over the corpse. After praying or reciting the ritual, he would then drink and remove the from the breast and eat it, the act of which would remove the sin from the dying person and take it into himself.
I think this ties in even more closely when you consider there is also the line "I would rather starve than eat your breast" as the breast is mentioned in the previous passage.
Its all food for thought;)
Refer to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin-eater
Basically, in medieval England and Scotland there was a practice whereby they got a beggar to eat a dying person's bread by their side so as to absolve the sins of the dying person and the beggar would take on those sins.
"They would be brought to the dying person's bedside, where a relative would place a crust of bread on the breast of the dying and pass a bowl of ale to him over the corpse. After praying or reciting the ritual, he would then drink and remove the from the breast and eat it, the act of which would remove the sin from the dying person and take it into himself.
I think this ties in even more closely when you consider there is also the line "I would rather starve than eat your breast" as the breast is mentioned in the previous passage.
Its all food for thought;)
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
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I've always considered that line to be Eddie saying he doesn't need anything from the media, and would rather go unknown (Starve) than have their hype and attention (Bread)0
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i totally agree that thats what it is actually about, but he's discovered the history of the sin-eaters and used it as a metaphor here.0
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I have used that line many a times on peeps. It tends to get a good reaction out of people. But what it reminds me of is this chick in Hemet (CA) she used to live down the road from us.....she used to think Ed was singing "I'd rather starve than eat your breasts." It still makes me laugh to this day when I think of that. this chick also cried when Ed got married.. We gave her so much crap for that!! I will never forget that chick..she totally loved Pearl Jam as much as I do.. I wonder what ever happened to her.. wether or not she still listens to them..oh well Corderouy is an excellent song and I have to go listen to it now.. lol0
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Way to research! Man, I though he just wrote that line off the cuff, but he must have quite the eclectic store of information in his brain.There is no such thing as leftover pizza. There is now pizza and later pizza. - anonymous
The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math - The Mincing Mockingbird0 -
I've always known about the sin-eaters, being born and raised near the mountains in Kentucky. It's an old Appalachian mountain people practice. But I never actually thought that could be what Ed was referring to in that line. Its a very interesting thought there webberf1."Ideas are bulletproof." --V
Peace and Love
Deni
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webberf1 wrote:i totally agree that thats what it is actually about, but he's discovered the history of the sin-eaters and used it as a metaphor here.
I think it may just be a co-incidence. The only way i see it fitting would be if Eddie considered 'eating the bread' of the media IE taking their support would infect him with their 'sins' and therefore would rather 'starve'.0 -
Switch wrote:I think it may just be a co-incidence. The only way i see it fitting would be if Eddie considered 'eating the bread' of the media IE taking their support would infect him with their 'sins' and therefore would rather 'starve'.
I don't know. The line could just be referencing the immoral acts of the people who run the media. And that by eating the bread he would be corrupted by those same immoral acts."Ideas are bulletproof." --V
Peace and Love
Deni0 -
whispering hands wrote:I have used that line many a times on peeps. It tends to get a good reaction out of people. But what it reminds me of is this chick in Hemet (CA) she used to live down the road from us.....she used to think Ed was singing "I'd rather starve than eat your breasts." It still makes me laugh to this day when I think of that. this chick also cried when Ed got married.. We gave her so much crap for that!! I will never forget that chick..she totally loved Pearl Jam as much as I do.. I wonder what ever happened to her.. wether or not she still listens to them..oh well Corderouy is an excellent song and I have to go listen to it now.. lol
he does say breasts the second time0 -
what if it was about all the crazy shit we fans write about in letters.. like putting him on that infamous pedestal...you have to remember the era in which the song was written.. second album they'd just blown up surely they got lots of ( and probably still do to this day) crazy letters about what all the fans had been through in life as if expecting the band or even Ed as an individual to save their lives.. make all the shit go away.. just a theory.. but I've always wondered if he didn't mean us in that line..0
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and that chick, she seriously thought that was what he was singing the entirety of the song not just that one line..0
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whispering hands wrote:I have used that line many a times on peeps. It tends to get a good reaction out of people. But what it reminds me of is this chick in Hemet (CA) she used to live down the road from us.....she used to think Ed was singing "I'd rather starve than eat your breasts." It still makes me laugh to this day when I think of that. this chick also cried when Ed got married.. We gave her so much crap for that!! I will never forget that chick..she totally loved Pearl Jam as much as I do.. I wonder what ever happened to her.. wether or not she still listens to them..oh well Corderouy is an excellent song and I have to go listen to it now.. lol
so you were both right!Let's Go Red Sox!0 -
webberf1 wrote:Don't know if anyone else considered this, but i think i just realised what this lyric from Corduroy is referring to.
Refer to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin-eater
Basically, in medieval England and Scotland there was a practice whereby they got a beggar to eat a dying person's bread by their side so as to absolve the sins of the dying person and the beggar would take on those sins.
"They would be brought to the dying person's bedside, where a relative would place a crust of bread on the breast of the dying and pass a bowl of ale to him over the corpse. After praying or reciting the ritual, he would then drink and remove the from the breast and eat it, the act of which would remove the sin from the dying person and take it into himself.
I think this ties in even more closely when you consider there is also the line "I would rather starve than eat your breast" as the breast is mentioned in the previous passage.
Its all food for thought;)
No.The worst enemies of music? Money and Mathematics. Combined with music, they both do the exact opposite of what they're supposed to do. Money makes music cheap, mathematics makes it stupid and predictable.
____
Zagreb 2006/ Munich 2007/ Venice 2007/ Berlin 2009 / Venice 2010 / 2 x Berlin 2012 / Stockholm 2012 / Milan 2014 / Trieste 2014 / Vienna 2014 / Florence (EV) 2019 / Padova 2018 / Prague 2018 / Imola 2022 / Budapest 2022 / Vienna 2022 / Prague 20220 -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Vedder shows that EV had a tumultuous relationship with his stepfather; a relationsihp that soured once EV learned that the man knew to be his father was, in fact, not his father. This anger is also echoed in Alive:
What you thought was your daddy was nothin but a...
While you were sittin home alone at age thirteen
Your real daddy was dyin, sorry you didnt see him, but Im glad we talked...
Perhaps, in his anger, he would refuse "food" offered to him by his stepfather. Perhaps it's a metaphor for the anger he once felt for the man he thought to be his father.
just my .02
Mattwebberf1 wrote:Don't know if anyone else considered this, but i think i just realised what this lyric from Corduroy is referring to.
Refer to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin-eater
Basically, in medieval England and Scotland there was a practice whereby they got a beggar to eat a dying person's bread by their side so as to absolve the sins of the dying person and the beggar would take on those sins.
"They would be brought to the dying person's bedside, where a relative would place a crust of bread on the breast of the dying and pass a bowl of ale to him over the corpse. After praying or reciting the ritual, he would then drink and remove the from the breast and eat it, the act of which would remove the sin from the dying person and take it into himself.
I think this ties in even more closely when you consider there is also the line "I would rather starve than eat your breast" as the breast is mentioned in the previous passage.
Its all food for thought;)Dalai Lama—To say that humility is an essential ingredient in our pursuit of spiritual transformation may seem to be at odds with what I have said about the need for confidence. But there is clearly a distinction to be made between valid confidence or self-esteem, and conceit - which we can describe as an inflated sense of importance, grounded in a false image of self.0 -
Nooo...It's about his struggle with fame... That friggin' jacket of his that he got at a thrift store for $2 and then Armani or some other super designer made his own version and sold the replica for a few hundred. That is what ed was mad about...be philanthropic0
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Vedderfan10 wrote:Nooo...It's about his struggle with fame... That friggin' jacket of his that he got at a thrift store for $2 and then Armani or some other super designer made his own version and sold the replica for a few hundred. That is what ed was mad about...
"I'd rather starve than eat your bread" could be the philosophy that EV applies to living...the lens through which he views life.
At the very least, there is a tone of dramatic defiance to what he is saying.Dalai Lama—To say that humility is an essential ingredient in our pursuit of spiritual transformation may seem to be at odds with what I have said about the need for confidence. But there is clearly a distinction to be made between valid confidence or self-esteem, and conceit - which we can describe as an inflated sense of importance, grounded in a false image of self.0 -
Vedderfan10 wrote:Nooo...It's about his struggle with fame... That friggin' jacket of his that he got at a thrift store for $2 and then Armani or some other super designer made his own version and sold the replica for a few hundred. That is what ed was mad about...
That is referred to in the song, but not in this line.
"They can buy but can't put on my clothes" is what refers to his jacket.0 -
I would rather not know this stuff than know it.be philanthropic0
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I wonder if his struggle with fame has anything to do with the fact that he occasionally likes to sleep wearing an army helmet....did anyone else read that?
Odd....interesting, but odd.Dalai Lama—To say that humility is an essential ingredient in our pursuit of spiritual transformation may seem to be at odds with what I have said about the need for confidence. But there is clearly a distinction to be made between valid confidence or self-esteem, and conceit - which we can describe as an inflated sense of importance, grounded in a false image of self.0 -
MarylandTeacher wrote:I wonder if his struggle with fame has anything to do with the fact that he occasionally likes to sleep wearing an army helmet....did anyone else read that?
Odd....interesting, but odd.
Hey, teach.......
I wonder what the connection is between the two.......fame/helmet.........
you're a thoughtful person , what do you connect it as??????
And no, I didn't know that. That is weird.......does he wear boots as well????? and does his girlfriend like the helmet thing? (lol????)
It must be great to do obscure things and get considered it worthy of talk or print, when most of us might be thought of as strange......
Helmet or no helmet, he's still cool as ........I want to say "hell" but I am sure hell is not cool.................so you get my drift here...........Baby, You Wouldn't Last a Minute on The Creek......
Together we will float like angels.........
In the moment that you left the room, the album started skipping, goodbye to beauty shared with the ones that you love.........0 -
He only wore the helmet for like a year, right? Bizzare...but then he was going through some crazy shit then too.Nothing divine dies. All good is eternally reproductive. The beauty of nature reforms itself in the mind, and not for barren contemplation, but for new creation. ~ Nature, Emerson0
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