I think that it's dealing with problems you can face with your own strenght. Like an alcoolic who's at a bar and sees everybody else drinking alcool around him. And then...should I drink or should I go? It's all an inside job! He can resist only if he admits that it's an inside job !
So that's the picture I have of the song.
Beavis : Is this Pearl Jam?
Butt-head: This guy makes faces like Eddie Vedder.
Beavis: No, Eddie Vedder makes faces like this guy.
Butt-head: I heard these guys, like, came first and Pearl Jam ripped them off.
Beavis: No, Pearl Jam came first.
Butt-head: Well, they both suck.
I remember when they played this in Cincinatti last year!! To me this song is about everything Pearl Jam has done for me and how my first concert ever was really special to me. I rocked out so hard that night, and it meant a lot when they played it!!
A straightforward and honest account of somebody overcoming or coming to terms with a personal struggle. It doesn't speak to me in layers, or on more than about three levels (the norm for my digestion of Pearl Jam ) but I think that is why I find it so listenable.
It means that McCready gets the chance to play a doubleneck Gibson SG on stage without playing Stairway to Heaven.
ha i agree!(p.s. i like your signature... riot act rocks) but i think its kind of just dealing with things that no one else can help with. or just trying to be yourself.
To me it is about waking up to the divine connection within yourself to your faith, strength and belief in love. The embracement of the human spirit with the divine that runs through us all. Waking up to love after a challenging situation, be it alcoholism, lack of self-esteem, separation from a loved one ... any experience that leaves one feeling separate from oneself and life.
It is also about taking responsibilty for this realization within, "How I choose to feel is how I am". What a wonderful, simple yet complex, beautiful lyric. If we all woke up to our choices in life ... wow ... well that is another song in and of itself.
I can relate to this song on lots of levels. For a long time I was blind and judgemental, and hungering for some deep answers. On my path to search out answers I made a naive choice and wound up having a pretty dark experience. Though from this experience I made it to the other side, a more positive side of life, filled with love and choices ... it really is an "inside job"! I fell in love instantly the first time I heard "Inside Job" ... it was the summation of my dark to light experience. I'm sure many have experienced this in some shape or form.
As I believe eddie said, "I wish I would have written this song" ... me too.
It is so beautiful.
i think most of it draws on Mike's experiences as a recovering alcoholic and the idea that happiness is truly an inside job
The North is to South what the clock is to time
There's east and there's west and there's everywhere life
I know I was born and I know that I'll die
The in between is mine
I am mine
I think of Mike McCready in concert, and especially those green lasers when I hear it. As with many if not all songs from Pearl Jam it is a great concert song. From the words it seems a personal song. On some level many can relate, but at the same time it is a particular story.
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 Mockingbird
Comments
So that's the picture I have of the song.
Butt-head: This guy makes faces like Eddie Vedder.
Beavis: No, Eddie Vedder makes faces like this guy.
Butt-head: I heard these guys, like, came first and Pearl Jam ripped them off.
Beavis: No, Pearl Jam came first.
Butt-head: Well, they both suck.
-Eddie Vedder
6/24/06 Cincinatti, Ohio
6/14/08 Manchester, Tennessee
7-6-2006 Las Vegas. 7-20-2006 Portland. 7-22-2006 Gorge. 9-21-2009 Seattle. 9-22-2009 Seattle. 9-26-2009 Ridgefield. 9-25-2011 Vancouver.
11-29-2013 Portland. 10-16-2014 Detroit. 8-8-2018 Seattle. 8-10-2018 Seattle. 8-13-2018 Missoula. 5-10-2024 Portland. 5-30-2024 Seattle.
To me it is about waking up to the divine connection within yourself to your faith, strength and belief in love. The embracement of the human spirit with the divine that runs through us all. Waking up to love after a challenging situation, be it alcoholism, lack of self-esteem, separation from a loved one ... any experience that leaves one feeling separate from oneself and life.
It is also about taking responsibilty for this realization within, "How I choose to feel is how I am". What a wonderful, simple yet complex, beautiful lyric. If we all woke up to our choices in life ... wow ... well that is another song in and of itself.
I can relate to this song on lots of levels. For a long time I was blind and judgemental, and hungering for some deep answers. On my path to search out answers I made a naive choice and wound up having a pretty dark experience. Though from this experience I made it to the other side, a more positive side of life, filled with love and choices ... it really is an "inside job"! I fell in love instantly the first time I heard "Inside Job" ... it was the summation of my dark to light experience. I'm sure many have experienced this in some shape or form.
As I believe eddie said, "I wish I would have written this song" ... me too.
It is so beautiful.
There's east and there's west and there's everywhere life
I know I was born and I know that I'll die
The in between is mine
I am mine
Hartford 5/13/06
Right, wrong or indifferent - a great song any way you look at it.
The risk I took was calculated, but man, am I bad at math - The Mincing Mockingbird
That is true. So when I hear the song I think about it from Mike's (or anyone in recovery) perspective. It's a wonderful song.