Unthought Known

In my opinion, this very well could be Pearl Jam's best song ever.

Unthought Known kind of reminds me of Wishlist a bit, but where Wishlist wasn't exactly deep in thought, Unthought Known is masterfully written and beautifully insightful, giving us a list of things that we all should consider, we all can appreciate, and even things we should do to be responsible humans.

This is my interpretation of the song, please feel free to disagree!

• All the thoughts you never see, You are always thinking
• Brain is wide, brain is deep, Oh are you sinking?
• Feel the path of everyday, Which road you taking?"

These 3 lines set up the problem. Our brains never stop, always making decisions whether we're aware or not. Are we letting these choices consume us? Stress us out? Overwhelm us? Keep us down? Or are we using our brains to make us happy? For the betterment of life?

• Breathing hard. Making hay. Yeah, this is living.

Eddie provides us his answer, breathing hard and making hay. That's what is living to him. "Making Hay" is an expression that means "To be highly productive for a limited period of time when the opportunity is present." And if you're not breathing hard, you're not doing much, are you?

• Look for love and evidence that you're worth keeping
• Swallowed whole in negatives It's so sad and sickening

These lines give us examples of common pitfalls we should try to avoid. Such as appealing to others to determine our own self-worth, and allowing the bad things in life to define us, swallow us whole.

• Feel the air up above, Full of blue sky
• Fill the air up with love, Black with starlight
• Feel the sky blanket you, With with gems and rhinestones
• Feel the path cut by the moon, For you to walk on

Here we are asked to go out and actually do these things. I think even the most hardened of us can look up on a beautiful night, bathed in moonlight, and feel something good. Many of us feel overwhelmingly inspired when doing this. This feeling of awe is something we all share, it unites us, and must be protected.

• Nothing left. Nothing left. Nothing there. Nothing left.

Now Eddie snaps us out of our euphoric state, reminding us that these things are in danger. Hate, war, intolerance, environmental destruction, all threatens this feeling for future generations.

• See the path cut by the moon for you to walk on
• See the waves on distant shores waiting your arrival

But there is a path we can take to protect it all. On distant shores, to me, means that other people, different people, those we fear out of ignorance, ideological differences and simply geography, those people are waiting for us to come to them to be understood. Everyone wants to be understood, and when we understand each other, we'll finally realize that we're not so different after all.

• Dream the dreams of other men you'll be no one's rival

I wasn't sure at first if "dreaming dreams of other men" was meant to be taken as a good thing or a bad thing. But now I'm convinced that it's a good thing. We all have common dreams, to be happy, protect the ones we love, and make the future better for our children. When we all acknowledge this commonality, we won't have rivals.

• Distant time, distant space, That's where we're living
• A distant time, a distant place, So what are you giving?

A challenge. What are you doing to protect our future?