| Pearl Jam – Marker in the Sand Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Big n tall--Cool perspective on your part as well. Believe me, Im not saying that PJ IS Christian, I've just picked up on a lot of undertones throughout their Music since Yield. Im not as convinced, however, that the band is as "disgusted" by organized religion as you conveyed. I DO agree that the band is revolted by hypocrisy and tampering with pure ideations......such as those found in religion AND (especially in this song) in politics. To put it clearer, I think this song again refers to PJ's frustration with how people ruin such beautiful ideas such as democracy and God. We have the right idea, then we blow it. The truth is still out there, but its blind to so many and hidden by the wicked that are in power. |
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| Pearl Jam – Low Light Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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BEAUTIFUL song. I've personally always thought that this song could be Vedder lamenting over the breakup with his first wife. Here's my other all-purpose 2-cents: This song would be an EXCELLENT pre-cursor to "Last Kiss". Heart-felt tragedy about a man who lost his love in a car-crash. He was sidetracked. Light was low. They were possibly even arguing when it happened. This song paints an eerily beautiful, nostalgic mood of a man who is daydreaming / recalling his one true love of the past---before losing her in an accident. Being sentimental is just his way, even when it involves recalling such painful memories. (I see the "Reeling" part as a verb in which he is mentally fishing and bringing his thoughts / memories of this girl and experience back to the surface. Time is continuosly drifts by, out of his control--just like the accident was. Like anyone thinking of a past love, you FIRST Think of only the good times that existed. Eventually, your mind will montage it all and you will come to the parts that ultimately catalyzed the demise. In this case, the painful accident that occurred and ultimately resulted in him losing his loved one. Time is now dragging by, with no meaning other than it being a greater abundance of time spent without this loved one. Living out their "dream" of being together, happy, maybe even with kids, as most people want. I love the "books and jealousy tell me wrong. I will feel calm" part. Here, a contradiction is set up, suggesting weakness on the part of the main character. I get the idea that he is reading self-help books about dealing with the loss, telling him what he can do. He most likely is observing others who are married and seeing what their lives are like and feels jealously, as any of us would. He states that this all steers him wrong and he will find a way to be calm. But then this assumed poise of his blows away...wears down. And he is left remembering, longing, in mental / emotional pain. Its like anyone who loses a loved one. Some days are easier to deal with it, other days are next to impossible. We all have to put on "masks" once in a while to hide how we're really feeling. To show others that we're ok, even when we are not. Lastly, this song depicts a semblance of hope at the end. Perhaps on the other side they will one day be reunited. Other side = the light. He needs it to get by. It fuels him to get thru life without her as her memory in his heart and mind can only fill the void so much. Two birds gettin' lost upon their way is the most beautiful part of this song, and thats what the dream was / is. The loving couple going about life doing worldly things just as we all do. The man will be rejoined with the woman again to experience this dream, this love.... but he'll hafta be good so he can see his baby when he leaves this world ;) :) :) !!! |
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| Pearl Jam – Severed Hand Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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So you got my suicide theory, but there may be one other explanation: The guy MAY have murdered and / or dismembered his wife / girl (etc) after either tripping himself on drugs or after doing drugs with her. It feels to me like he was drugged up on his own and in that state killed his wife. BUT...."recognized it from the wedding band"....don't MEN usually just wear the band?? I know women wear both, but that kinda got me thinkin' that it was HIS hand. Either way, clear message: DONT DO DRUGS OR YOU WILL DO STUPID SHIZZNIT WHILE TRYING TO REACH SUPPOSED ENLIGHTENMENT. Instead, grab a Bible and you'll so enough learn what is human and what is more. |
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| Pearl Jam – Marker in the Sand Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| *note, i meant to type "I think a tremendous RESPECT for Jesus has developed over time on the part of PJ. I'd even put money on the statement that Eddie has read most of the Bible. | |
| Pearl Jam – Marker in the Sand Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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I Love this song. It's everything I feel inside. I've been a jammer for years now, and as i learn / study their music more, I feel that I grow better as a person. I've often wondered if Eddie and the boys are Christian. From what I gather, eddie is an open-mind, pondering all facets of religion, be it Eastern or Western. As the band has matured, however, I think a tremendous has developed for Jesus. That may seem like a bold statement, but read the lyrics to Given to Fly "First he was stripped, then he was stabbed by Faceless men well f*ckers, HE STILL STANDS". To me, this song is a lamentation--and almost an extension--of ideations / feeling generated in Given to Fly. From the first time i heard this song, the "marker in the sand" was from the Gospel (i believe John 8:6). Here, a bunch of people wanted to stone a woman (in accordance with Moses' law) for being caught as an adulterer. They told Jesus what she had done. Jesus reacted FIRST by bending and writing something the sand. To this day, NO one knows what he had wrote. He then makes the PROFOUND statement of "He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her". No one knows the message of this marker cuz its been covered over. But again, like the profound statement made, Jesus had orginal, plain and SIMPLE truth. It made sense. Right from wrong. Easy. But its not like that now. Us humans and our free will / sinful nature has made everything more complicated than it needs to be. The real truth has become distorted / lost by many. What went wrong? ---a great rhetorical. We ALL are sinners and ALL need to get our feet back on MORAL ground (although i think this song is more political in its references to who's walking the tightrope). No more killing, no more poverty, no more hatred. We are SO advanced as people yet STILL so immature. Let LOVE conquer all, dammit, is how this song makes me feel---impossible as it seems. And then the Question "God what do you say" and statement "Im calling you out" is almost like that made by an overly frustrated person that just wants truth and love already. God can fix this, the narrator knows this and he/she doesn't want to have to wait for it any longer. And rightly so. ...And He WILL do this someday, in the second coming. Till then, we all have to learn how to love one another will a corrupt government and in an all too often injust society. Love will find a way. |
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| Pearl Jam – Unemployable Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| What i like about this song is how PJ is not just how PJ is able to relate to the common working man---but more how the sympathy / angst, etc by the band is BELIEVABLE by us, the fans. I mean, PJ is rich beyond anything they ever wanted---Eddie mentions that a lot (and as a result, the band plays longer than many venues allow at concerts and they pay BIG fines so that us fans can have a better concert experience :), yet somehow we feel that they can relate to the commonfolk. It speaks volumes for this band. Humble, righteous, and just plain kick-ass. This band is up there with the likes of U2 for changing the world and urges us all to get motivated and DO THE SAME with the time were allowed here. | |
| Pearl Jam – Severed Hand Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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Of course, as Eddie himself has mentioned, this song is about hard-core drug use (and sorry, its not exploring the high you get from weed in my opinion). I think this much is obvious. As in most PJ songs, you hafta consider the IMPLICATIONS. To me, its all summed up in "Oh please understand I just need my friend--a way home"... The drug user in this song longs for enlightenment; for his mind to be free. Drug use is one way to pursue this, however, its affects are misleading. It provides false-truth (although for a while it was pretty damn convincing). The man is left confused, depressed, and on-the-verge of loosing control. He's no longer getting comfort from the drugs... In my opinion, HE SLIT HIS OWN WRIST. He's commiting suicide--i think half-willingly and half secondary to insanity from drug use. He takes comfort, however, in finally obtaining his answers---HIS TRUTH---when he gets HOME: the other side, that is. There, he will learn the difference between what is HUMAN and what is more. An eerie yet AWESOME song and an overall formidable album that easily is in the top 3 best. I like how eddie stated it: "If Pearl Jam were an old muscle car, THIS album is the newly rebuilt engine". Kick ass riffs, thoughtful / REAL lyrics, longing for love to conquer all....well done, PJ. Well done. |
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| Pearl Jam – Light Years Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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First off---how cool is this? THIS is in MY opinion what PJ is all about----us all interpretting the lyrics and music as we see fit. In the case of Light Years, however, I couldn't agree with Moody1 more. To me, its simply about dealing with the grief / loss of a loved one. Its a hard process to learn and actively perform. It seems as PJ has matured in their music and writing, grief / loss of loved ones is a topic that the band has explored A LOT! (aka Light Years, Other side, Love Boat Captain, Man of the Hour etc.) I love it. We all go thru it and I feel that these songs help because they ALL provide a semblance of hope. To me, in light years, the hope comes from the line "your light made US stars". I like the US because the person lamenting in the song isn't dead yet. It seems to foreshadow how we will all (Godwilling) be united again sometime, somehow, in an even BETTER place than what we have here----even though we SEEM TO LIKE IT HERE :) . Well done again, PJ on a truly classic song. One more thing.....i feel a great sister song to this one is Other side.....THAT song is written from the point of view of the person IN heaven longing for the person left behind on earth! Another great one! Down with all the haters! Binaural, Riot Act, Self-title = PJ gettin' better, better and better, man! ;) Pun intended :) |
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