It Was 20 Years Ago....

Eddie Vedder, grunge's poster boy, in 1992.
Girls loved him, guys wanted to be him. 

When I heard that Pearl Jam was celebrating their 20th anniversary this month, one of the first things that popped into my head was, "It was 20 years ago today, when Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play." Which really shows you how old I am.

I remember back in 1987, all the music critics were frothing at the mouth over the 20th anniversary of The Beatles' classic album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The DJs, VJs, and various talking heads played that snippet of the song--"It was 20 years ago today, when Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play."--over and over (and over again).

In 1987, I remember thinking that 1967 seemed like a million, billion years ago--a time of flower people, free love, and chicks with hairy legs (versus my 80's world of Wall Street, neon, and big hair).

Not surprisingly, 1991 doesn't seem like THAT long ago. After all, I was already an adult twenty years ago. Going from being a young adult to an older one isn't nearly so monumental as going from being not born yet to a teenager. Youth warps one's sense of time--while you are growing up, it seems to be taking so damned long that even five years feels like an eternity, let alone twenty.

Yet my adulthood is speeding by--imagine that.

So I was blown away when I realized an entire two decades has passed since Pearl Jam and Nirvana (not to mention Soundgarden, Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction, and Alice in Chains) broke out and changed the landscape of rock 'n' roll forever. These awesome bands also convinced us to replace our boxy, Stop Making Sense-ian, shoulder-padded blazers and high-waisted designer jeans with plaid flannel shirts and ripped Levi's.

And for that, I am eternally grateful.

Awesome Song Lyrics: Pearl Jam Edition

Ever since I can remember, I've been a sucker for good song lyrics. When I saw Annie as a kid back in the 70's, "It's a Hard-Knock Life" became by favorite song--I liked it way more than the famous "Tomorrow," mainly because it's lyrics are so great ("Instead of treated, we get tricked. Instead of kisses, we get kicked"). The words horrified and enthralled me.

The first "grown-up" song lyrics I obsessed over were the ones to "Jessie's Girl" (Rick Springfield), which came out in 1981, when I was the impressionable age of 12. I remember actually having trouble understanding what was going on in this song. Jessie is a boy? Isn't that a girl's name? Rick Springfield and Jessie are friends but Rick loves Jessie's girlfriend? Is that even possible?

I learned a lot from "Jesse's Girl." It actually got me to look up the definition of "moot" in the dictionary. And people say rock 'n' roll rots your mind--ha!

Because song lyrics have affected me so deeply over the years, I've decided to occasionally post lyrics that I find particularly interesting, thought-provoking, meaningful, sad, or funny.

I'm starting with "Wishlist" by Pearl Jam because, 1.) I heard it on the radio yesterday and remembered how much I love it, 2.) Pearl Jam are awesome, and 3.) every time I hear it, I want to cry and laugh at the same time.

"WISHLIST"
I wish I was a neutron bomb, for once I could go off.
I wish I was a sacrifice but somehow still lived on.
I wish I was a sentimental ornament you hung on
The Christmas tree, I wish I was the star that went on top.
I wish I was the evidence, I wish I was the grounds
For 50 million hands upraised and open toward the sky.

I wish I was a sailor with someone who waited for me.
I wish I was as fortunate, as fortunate as me.
I wish I was a messenger and all the news was good.
I wish I was the full moon shining off a Camaro's hood.

I wish I was an alien at home behind the sun.
I wish I was the souvenir you kept your house key on.
I wish I was the pedal brake that you depended on.
I wish I was the verb 'to trust' and never let you down.

I wish I was a radio song, the one that you turned up.
I wish, I wish, I wish, I wish,
I guess it never stops.


(Here is the video, for any of you who don't know the song.)

Mariah Carey Is Trying to Ruin Your Christmas (Again)...and Other News

-- Mariah Carey has another Christmas album coming out (pictured left). Great photoshopping: she hasn't been that skinny since 1991!

-- Tom Cruise's favorite lesbian gets hitched. 

-- Pearl Jam frontman finally marries his baby-momma (and millions of women say, "Awww...")

-- Why you'll never catch me buying any L.A.M.B. clothing. My eyes are now bleeding.

-- As if Mondays don't suck enough, it turns out I'm older than The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Happy 40th!

-- Cousin Eddie is at it again! Sharing his gene pool with this whack-job can't be helping Dennis's career.

I'm Still Alive...Just Breathe

One day last week I was in my car listening to our excellent local, independent radio station (shout out to 107.1 The Peak!) when Pearl Jam’s newish song, “Just Breathe” came on. Listening to this pretty song got me thinking about Pearl Jam’s impressive catalogue of songs and their longevity--I (and my fellow Gen Xers) practically grew up on them. 

Despite this, the rock band that has come to define Gen X is Nirvana; along with a handful of other Seattle bands (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and Mudhoney to name a few), they ushered in the Grunge era and gave voice to the alienation and insecurity of their generation. Nirvana’s music and lyrics certainly did capture the “what the hell am I doing with my life” feeling most of us had in the early 90s, but I have to argue that, because Kurt Cobain killed himself in 1994 (when he was only 27), thus ending Nirvana’s reign as the voice of Gen X, they shouldn’t be our defining rock band. Because, unlike the rest of us, Nirvana never had to grow up. Sure, Dave G. and Krist N. have aged, moved on, and even started families, but that doesn't count, because we didn't get to see how Nirvana would’ve handled the death of Grunge, Napster, ITunes, or the rise of the horrendous boy band era. Kurt Cobain never had to cope with turning forty. I wonder, if he was still alive, if his daughter Frances Bean would hate him, too.

To me, the band that best defines Gen X is Pearl Jam. Though Eddie Vedder wasn’t as tortured as Kurt Cobain, both bands were Grunge, both came out of Seattle, both wore plaid shirts. Pearl Jam even had a cameo in the classic slacker film, Singles; that’s about as Gen X as you get. The difference is that the members of Pearl Jam have grown older together, have had to change with the times, and are still putting out decent, relevant music. In the 90's, they even challenged the increased corporatization of rock-n-roll by boycotting Ticketmaster and selling tickets to their live shows themselves. 

As I listened to the words of “Just Breathe” it became clear just how “mature” Pearl Jam has become. I’m not a schmaltzy person by nature but I found myself almost getting choked up: Yes, I understand that every life must end, aw-huh. As we sit alone, I know someday we must go, aw-huh. Oh, I'm a lucky man to count on both hands the ones I love. Some folks just have one, others, they've got none, uh-huh.  In his twenties, Eddie Vedder was singing about being alive; now, like the rest of us Gen Xers, he's coming to terms with the fact that his life is probably more than half over. His voice is deeper and more gravelly than it was twenty years ago. He sounds like a man who has been through hard times and has learned from his mistakes...a man who realizes one's worth is best measured by the amount of love--not money--in one's life.