Marker #2

i think current situations in the world probably inspired the thoughts about god. the song seems to be not only about god but about the behavior of man and about god's role, if any, in what happens here on earth. i think god has been mentioned in the past like in "faithfull" and probably others. i love tremor christ and have only briefly studied the lyrics. what do you think its about?

michaelcassio wrote:

i love tremor christ and have only briefly studied the lyrics. what do you think its about?

generally, guilt and redemption. it's a jab at the Sundayman. Or, to put it another way, think of Patty Smith's "jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine."

Derrick wrote:

PJ have plenty of songs that reference God or other biblical figures.

I'd like to see that list.

Offhand all I can think of is Pilate.

Most songs are critical of the right-wing, gun slinging americans...who (im sorry to say) are mostly christians. I am a christian myself, and I agree with a lot of what Eddie is saying. I don't see him as ever bashing God but bashing some of the people who believe in God. But what's in your heart makes you a christian, if it's hate, then you are not a christian, if it's Love then I believe you are heaven bound, just my opinion.

Well, if you don't know the lyrics there are many good sites out there including pearljam.com that have them. I don't really have time right now to outline every single reference but I think I listed about 9 songs in that link if you'd like to research them yourself.

Dustin51 wrote:

I've always figured that the reason PJ and so many other muscians use God and Jesus and other biblical figures is because of the strong reaction we all feel from it. When someone talks about God or things of that nature it is striking. Even if its just a subconscious reaction I think most of us are like...WAIT! What did he just say!

There's a certain shock value to it I think.

I don't believe artist's do it for shock value. When you think about it, all of our lives are based around questions about God. Does he exist? What is his plan for us people? These are the questions everyone is asking and thinking about...why not sing about it?

gue_barium wrote:

I've been listening to Pearl Jam since '92, so I know the songs well. I think your interpretation is your interpretation. That's all. I'd never presume to know what Ed, or any writer had in mind when writing a piece. I can only interpret, too.

Well, you can call it interpretation if you like, but a reference is a reference and there are many direct or indirect references to biblical figures, events or places in their lyrics.

gue_barium wrote:

Like Satan's Bed? Demonic figures pre-date the bible as do angels, and god.

Anyhoo, I don't want to start a debate here about it. If you're up to the task, the AMT forum might be a place for that kind of thing. I'd be interested to know what interpretation/reference you find in such songs as DTE, and Pilate.

Regardless of what predates what, those terms and figures are relevant to the bible.

DTE
- The first verse contains one direct reference to God: "I can kill cuz in God I trust"
- also, that line is juxtaposed next to "I'm the first mammal to wear pants" so in essence that verse pits Creationalists vs. Evolutionists ringing memories of the Scopes trial where the Bible and it's Genesis teachings are key.

Pilate
- On a direct level, there's the obvious references to angels and Pilate.
- On an interpretation level, there are a few different elements going on:
- Pilate was a leader that gave the decision of Christ's fate to the whim of the crowd, not unlike a dog, eager to please.
- the second verse, in my interpretation, reminds me of Jesus carrying his cross to be crucified, putting the angel into the ground
- the third verse, in my interpretation, reminds me of the story of Judas the Betrayer who, as a friend dragged Jesus down. Or even Peter, who denied knowledge of Jesus three times in the hours after his capture and was stunned with himself when the rooster. These are fairly loose interpretations, but in tandem with the aforementioned references to Pilate, fit quite nicely.

I'm not saying there is a lot of bulk to the biblical references, I'm just saying they _exist_ in a number of songs, either directly or indirectly. By directly I mean biblical name-dropping, such as God, Satan, Angels, etc. By indirectly, I mean interpretations that reflect things that have gone on in the bible or situations in history that have included the bible.

I don't personally care if knowledge of God and Satan, etc. came before the Bible. Our current knowledge, and one can assume the band's current knowledge of these figures was bestowed upon us using the Bible.

Derrick wrote:

Regardless of what predates what, those terms and figures are relevant to the bible.

DTE
- The first verse contains one direct reference to God: "I can kill cuz in God I trust"
- also, that line is juxtaposed next to "I'm the first mammal to wear pants" so in essence that verse pits Creationalists vs. Evolutionists ringing memories of the Scopes trial where the Bible and it's Genesis teachings are key.

Pilate
- On a direct level, there's the obvious references to angels and Pilate.
- On an interpretation level, there are a few different elements going on:
- Pilate was a leader that gave the decision of Christ's fate to the whim of the crowd, not unlike a dog, eager to please.
- the second verse, in my interpretation, reminds me of Jesus carrying his cross to be crucified, putting the angel into the ground
- the third verse, in my interpretation, reminds me of the story of Judas the Betrayer who, as a friend dragged Jesus down. Or even Peter, who denied knowledge of Jesus three times in the hours after his capture and was stunned with himself when the rooster. These are fairly loose interpretations, but in tandem with the aforementioned references to Pilate, fit quite nicely.

I'm not saying there is a lot of bulk to the biblical references, I'm just saying they _exist_ in a number of songs, either directly or indirectly. By directly I mean biblical name-dropping, such as God, Satan, Angels, etc. By indirectly, I mean interpretations that reflect things that have gone on in the bible or situations in history that have included the bible.

I don't personally care if knowledge of God and Satan, etc. came before the Bible. Our current knowledge, and one can assume the band's current knowledge of these figures was bestowed upon us using the Bible.

I guess if you want to drop names, ie, "satan", I supposed you can give the bible credit. "God" has had and does have many names. Biblical writings on "God" evolved from earlier versions of "God".