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    Eddie Vedder: 'Orange Man Bad' Archived Message

    Posted by Ian M on August 29, 2020, 11:12 am

    Been listening to the recent Pearl Jam album, Gigaton. Some v catchy bits, some good rockers, some soulful stuff, some new experimental directions. I've listened to the band for a long time and will no doubt continue to do so. But maybe it's the curse of knowing an artist's politics in real life, I was just thinking of the times when Vedder shmoozed Obama (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/01/03/obama-hangs-out-with-eddie-vedder-in-hawaii/ ) and his habit of hitting out against republican presidents before endorsing democratic candidates at elections (even John Kerry ffs, though he did campaign for Ralph Nader at least) so I found the inevitable trump-bashing in the lyrics v. wearisome, hypocritical, liberal, depressing. This USAToday article covers most of it:

    *****

    https://eu.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2020/03/25/pearl-jam-eddie-vedder-new-album-gigaton-trump-lyrics/5076679002/

    Pearl Jam's 'Gigaton' is the angry but hopeful album we need right now
    Patrick Ryan USA TODAY
    Published 5:24 PM EDT Apr 24, 2020

    Music just hits different when you've been cooped up in your apartment for nearly two weeks straight.

    When Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder wrote and recorded "Gigaton," the Seattle rock band's 11th album and first since 2013's "Lightning Bolt," he never could've predicted it would come into the world during a global pandemic.

    But with its thrashing guitars, pummeling drums and anxiety-riddled lyrics, "Gigaton" (out Friday) is the sort of primal scream we could all use right now as many of us are sequestered at home filled with fear and frustration about our government's response to the outbreak.

    More: Zac Brown Band, Pearl Jam, Madonna and more cancel and postpone shows amid coronavirus fears
    Pearl Jam singer/guitarist Eddie Vedder performing in Brazil in 2011.
    Andre Penner, AP

    An outspoken critic of President Donald Trump (at times, controversially so), Vedder calls out the president directly in two songs: In the bruising "Quick Escape," he imagines trekking halfway across the world just "to find a place Trump hadn't f***ed up yet" and gets wistful about the past.

    "And we think about the old days

    Of green grass, sky and red wine,

    Should've known, so fragile

    And avoided this one-way flight."

    He elaborates further on the rousing "Seven O'Clock," which evokes Native American leaders Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.

    "Then there's Sitting Bull*** as our sitting president

    Talking to his mirror, what's he say? What's it say back?

    A tragedy of errors, who'll be last to have a laugh?"

    Aside from its sharply political message, "Seven O'Clock" also captures the powerlessness many of us feel to help the doctors, nurses and grocery store clerks who are fighting on the front lines of the pandemic, but with an ultimately hopeful message to leave your despondency "in the bed" because there's "much to be done."

    "For this is no time for depression or self-indulgent hesitance

    This f***ed-up situation calls for all hands, all hands on deck."

    For those of us who are fortunate enough to self-quarantine inside and work from home, Vedder reminds us that it's natural to feel overwhelmed by the state of the world and important to take the space you need for yourself. On the spacey, slowed-down "Alright," he sings about turning off and tuning out.

    "It's alright, to shut it down

    Disappear in thin air, it's your home

    I's alright, to be alone."

    Not giving up is a running theme throughout the album's 12 songs, whether it's regarding a rocky relationship ("Take the Long Way") or railing against a "government (that) thrives on discontent" ("River Cross"). That defiant spirit and resilience has long been a trademark of Pearl Jam's music but feels all the more reassuring in these uncertain times.
    Published 5:24 PM EDT Apr 24, 2020

    *****

    There's also a line about 'collusion hiding in plain sight' in 'Never Destination' - just a quick throwaway or a dog-whistle to indicate support for the russiagate conspiracy theorists? V lazy in any case. The one in 'Quick Escape' about trying to 'find a place Trump hadn't f*ed up yet' I actually misheard as 'we' the first couple of times. Would've been more honest, even if it conflates individuals with the acts of a profoundly undemocratic country. But to pin all the world's ills on just this latest president I find shockingly dishonest from someone I respect so much in other ways...

    Anyway there's more to music than just the words that go along with it. My favourite track is probably 'Retrograde', slow and dancy with a powerful buildup. They made a nice video of it. Not sure what I make of the inclusion of Greta at the end. Another signal to the tribal fanbase, or is that too cynical?





    Click around from there if you want to listen to any of the other tracks.

    cheers,
    I

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