Indifference

fkrueger · January 2007

I was about 22 when i first heard this song. So about 1 year later after a long phone call with a recent ex whom i married 4 years later, this song made me drive a bit further than i had expected. I lived in San Diego and was driving home to PT. Loma and missed the turn and ended up in Oceanside before i realized what i had done. To this day though the song has evolved with my life and pulls me along. Sorry for the long winded comment. I could have written 10 pages or so.

lephty · January 2007

i will light the match this morning; so i won't be alone

could there have been a better opening line to this song? i think not!

Brez · January 2007

audiodave wrote:

I absolutely love this song, but is the L@TG version the one with Ben Harper? If so...he ruins it for me.

I will not fourth that... why does he ruin it for you? Granted Ed has a much more fitting voice for the song, but I mean, a good song is a good song. And Ben Harper doesn't have a BAD voice, so I guess I just don't get how he would ruin it... Care to explain?

BUFFALO · January 2007

threecrookedhearts6 wrote:

this song is amazing...the line "I will scream my lungs out til it fills this room" always makes me smile. the first time i heard this song was at a concert in 2005 and when Ed sang that line and it really did fill the huge room. the way Ed sings the studio version gives me chills, there is so much emotion pouring out of him. i cant begin to express how i feel about this song...i just dont know...

the line i will scream my lungs out ...was awesome at the hamilton show in 2005 ...the crowd was so electric when singing that part song ...i still get goooose bumps ....my all time fav song/show

Strutter · January 2007

this song is "my precious"!

it's so powerful and every line has it's place..not a word is an excess

someone here mentioned that he was the indifferent one...but i don't think that that is the context of this song

Pearl Jam and toast · January 2007

Strutter wrote:

this song is "my precious"!

it's so powerful and every line has it's place..not a word is an excess

someone here mentioned that he was the indifferent one...but i don't think that that is the context of this song

I think it's about unrequitted love.

And in the last 2 months I've played the part of both charecters in the song to the teeth.

*sigh*..

Strutter · January 2007

Pearl Jam and toast wrote:

I think it's about unrequitted love.

And in the last 2 months I've played the part of both charecters in the song to the teeth.

*sigh*..

I will light the match this morning, so I won't be alone
Watch as she lies silent, for soon light will be gone
Oh I will stand arms outstretched, pretend I'm free to roam
Oh I will make my way, through, one more day in...hell
(THESE LINES IMPLICATE THAT SHE'S GOING AWAY,NOW IS SHE DUMPING HIM OR DYING? EITHER WAY HE'S GONNA GO THROUGH HELL)
How much difference does it make
How much difference does it make...

I will hold the candle, till it burns up my arm
I'll keep takin' punches, until their will grows tired
Oh I will stare the sun down, until my eyes go blind
Hey I won't change direction, and I won't change my mind
(WHY IS HE PHYSICALLY HURTING HIMSELF? WHO WANTS TO BRING HIM DOWN...BECAUSE HE HAS SOME KIND OF INTENTION BECAUSE HE WON'T CHANGE HIS DIRECTION OR HIS MIND?)
how much difference does it make
how much difference does it make..
how much difference...

I'll swallow poison, until I grow immune
I will scream my lungs out till it fills this room

How much difference
How much difference
How much difference does it make
How much difference does it make...

I DON'T GET THE CONNECTION BETWEEN I will light the match this morning, so I won't be alone
Watch as she lies silent, for soon light will be gone AND THE REST OF THE SONG...EVERYTHING ELSE HAS SENSE...

I'M SO CONFUSED...PLEASE HELP!

p.s. sorry about my english :-)

Pearl Jam and toast · January 2007

You're right it's more about a loss than an unrequitted relationship. Still I've caught a really profound interpretation for the latter, even if it's not true.

That doesn't change my situation being exactly like it though, honestly.

The match line could be a drug reference,.. A killing the lonliness sort of ordeal.

Or even more likely a metaphor to his lover. A match burns brilliantly for a few seconds and disappears. You strike a match it's there and gone the next instant like he knows his love will or has done.

your english is great btw.

bookmuse · January 2007

Pearl Jam and toast wrote:

I've just realized that for the past couple months of my relationship that just ended (over a year and a half in high school) I think I may have been playing the role of the other half in Indifference.. the indifferent half. Like I didn't put enough effort into it because I felt the connection was drying up.

Jesus..

Just sharing.

It's a pretty powerful song.

Just curious if you eventually broke the relationship off or as the indifferent one, if you waited for her to?

Jamal · January 2007

I cried when they played it live in Antwerp

Fact is, that these lines can mean what you want them to mean...
if you want them to be about love, well, they are, but if you want them to be about friendship, business, life in general...they can be that too

Life can make you feel so alone, but hey, how much difference does it make?

Pearl Jam and toast · January 2007

bookmuse wrote:

Just curious if you eventually broke the relationship off or as the indifferent one, if you waited for her to?

It ran dry and I broke it off. Rough break up for both of us but a thousand times worse for her.

Strutter · January 2007

Pearl Jam and toast wrote:

You're right it's more about a loss than an unrequitted relationship. Still I've caught a really profound interpretation for the latter, even if it's not true.

That doesn't change my situation being exactly like it though, honestly.

The match line could be a drug reference,.. A killing the lonliness sort of ordeal.

Or even more likely a metaphor to his lover. A match burns brilliantly for a few seconds and disappears. You strike a match it's there and gone the next instant like he knows his love will or has done.

your english is great btw.

it could be a drug reference!...he's gonna light the match and gonna get high...because she left...and that's the main reason for him to get high so in the song she must be a wraith...and when the impact of the drug fades then the faces hell...

it's a dumb theory...i know...

Pearl Jam and toast · January 2007

Strutter wrote:

it could be a drug reference!...he's gonna light the match and gonna get high...because she left...and that's the main reason for him to get high so in the song she must be a wraith...and when the impact of the drug fades then the faces hell...

it's a dumb theory...i know...

Not really. It's a pretty good theory I'd say. I don't think it's quite right though.. I'd go for the second one about the match instead.

Strutter · January 2007

Pearl Jam and toast wrote:

Not really. It's a pretty good theory I'd say. I don't think it's quite right though.. I'd go for the second one about the match instead.

i got this idea...but i don't think that's it...but here it is:

"I will light the match this morning, so I won't be alone
Watch as she lies silent, for soon light will be gone"

-she's already dead...that's why he's alone and she's in the room and she lies silently
she was his light and he knows that with her his joy for life will fade...and lighting the match symbolises (the thing that you said) him watching it burning brilliantly for few seconds...that's how their relationship was...

what do you say?

pennylane67 · January 2007

It's the greatest PJ song for me. Maybe even the greatest song ever, it just has a lot of stuff attatched for me, but not in a negative way. I don't know how anyone coud hear this song live and not cry (that's what Dublin was for me.) It was just one of those experiences that stays with you...a lot of people I've told don;t get it, but it is. Only very few songs can do that to me, and this is definitely one of them. Especially "I will scream my lungs out...", that always gets me. I remember the security guard looking at me like I was insane...! And I'm in agreement with the Ben Harper ruining it thing - he's great, but singing this should be left to Eddie and only Eddie.

Jim Colyer · January 2007

Pearl Jam stands with the great rock bands of the 60s.

Pearl Jam and toast · January 2007

Strutter wrote:

i got this idea...but i don't think that's it...but here it is:

"I will light the match this morning, so I won't be alone
Watch as she lies silent, for soon light will be gone"

-she's already dead...that's why he's alone and she's in the room and she lies silently
she was his light and he knows that with her his joy for life will fade...and lighting the match symbolises (the thing that you said) him watching it burning brilliantly for few seconds...that's how their relationship was...

what do you say?

Do you mean physically dead or emotionally?

Probably a stupid question but just to be sure..

Emotionally speaking I agree 100%.

Jamal · January 2007

Pearl Jam and toast wrote:

Do you mean physically dead or emotionally?

Probably a stupid question but just to be sure..

Emotionally speaking I agree 100%.

Well, both cases are very acceptable

In both cases, he'd feel pretty much deserted.
Emotionally dead, it would've been her fault... which might explain the fact that he thinks it doesn't make a difference what he does.
If she were physically dead, I presume the indifference would be towards his faith in life. This is imho a better explanation for the reason he would take punches untill their will grows tired...where "they" would then be "god, life, any beings hiher than us"

Strutter · January 2007

Pearl Jam and toast wrote:

Do you mean physically dead or emotionally?

Probably a stupid question but just to be sure..

Emotionally speaking I agree 100%.

I agree with jamal...maybe both...first emotionally...then physically...but first when i've written that idea i thought physically!

"I'll keep takin' punches until their will grows tired"- are "they" the holy trinity?
probably not...maybe also as jamal said they are God and life

Pearl Jam and toast · January 2007

Strutter wrote:

I agree with jamal...maybe both...first emotionally...then physically...but first when i've written that idea i thought physically!

"I'll keep takin' punches until their will grows tired"- are "they" the holy trinity?
probably not...maybe also as jamal said they are God and life

I agree that both are possible, but I think Ed's writing style highhhhhhhhhhhly rejects the physical death scenario.

"Their will" could very well be life in general though. It doesn't need to be anything at all actually... just a turn of phrase meaning that he'll keep taking the pain as long as it takes.

Indifference

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