By Angus McKay
Here's another familiar flashback for most of you: I recently became reacquainted with this one because I am currently in an ensemble project for school in which we are doing all Pearl Jam covers. I get to play the part of Eddie Vedder. It's a high school dream come true. But being in this position has given me new and greater respect for the man.
I consider myself a pretty good singer (4 years regional choir, 2 years All-State, etc.), but when handed the task of singing Jeremy I was blown away by just how physically taxing it is, and I still can't do it like Eddie. The man has a God-given gift of a voice and he uses it well.
Not only is this song an amazing vocal feat, but it is fascinating in so many ways. First off, it's the true story of a boy named Jeremy who shot himself in front of his classmates (Eddie Vedder being one of the classmates). "Try to forget this, Try to erase this, From the blackboard". That is such a cool line that gives the perfect sense of how strongly this event was impressed upon those who witnessed it. There's a lot of other metaphors, analogies and even straight-forward story telling that goes on in this song and it's beautifully woven together with that raw-90's-grunge energy that I grew to love back in the day.
Lyrics:
At home
Drawing pictures
Of mountain tops
With him on top
Lemon yellow sun
Arms raised in a V
The dead lay in pools of maroon below
Daddy didn't give attention
To the fact that mommy didn't care
King Jeremy the wicked
Ruled his world
Jeremy spoke in class today
Jeremy spoke in class today
Clearly I remember
Pickin' on the boy
Seemed a harmless little f***
Oh, but we unleashed a lion
Gnashed his teeth
And bit the recess lady's breast
How could I forget
He hit me with a surprise left
My jaw left hurtin
Oh, dropped wide open
Just like the day
Like the day I heard
Daddy didn't give affection
And the boy was something mommy wouldn't wear
King Jeremy the wicked
Ruled his world
Jeremy spoke in class today
Jeremy spoke in class today
Jeremy spoke in class today
Try to forget this... (try to forget this)
Try to erase this... (try to erase this)
From the blackboard
Jeremy spoke in class today
Jeremy spoke in class today
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Interesting. That's a different music video than I had seen. I think I like the original better.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, here's the link to my attempt at this song, with the little disclaimer that I had a cold on the day of the performance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzC9S7fc2qg
I'm a huge fan of PJ! It was fun to reminisce while listening to the song.
ReplyDeleteThe video Angus originally sent me was at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMRTOZExfJA
ReplyDeleteBut "Embedding disabled by request" so I had to find another one that we could embed into the blog.
As for the song, Jeremy was always one of the more challenging Pearl Jam songs for me. Not to say I didn't like it, I just never sought it out like I did other songs of theirs. It's a rough one, and not only in subject. But it does have a power and nostalgia that I can appreciate. Vedder is indeed a force to be reckoned with.
Great song Angus. You sang it way better than I could ever dream of doing. I couldn't quite hear on your recording, what'd you replace the F bomb with?
ReplyDeleteNothing. For a while I used "punk", but there's an edited version that Pearl Jam did where they just left the word out, so I went along with that.
ReplyDelete