1. Black (Ten, 1991) - I have visited and re-visited a link on YouTube in which a man named Martin Yedej, or "soymartino," plays an astonishing instrumental version of "Black" on an acoustic guitar. I have watched it on countless occasions and have never tired of it. He labeled it, "the song of my youth." I could not agree more.
"Black" is the ultimate Pearl Jam song. It encapsulates everything that makes this band great into five and a half minutes of musical bliss. When I hear it, I am filled with so many memories and so many emotions that it is just as overwhelming as it was when first hearing it as a much younger soul. Evoking feeling from the listener is arguably Pearl Jam's greatest strength, and no song in their catalogue is as full of feeling as "Black." Stone Gossard wrote the music, Eddie Vedder wrote the vocal melody and lyrics and Mike McCready has somehow instilled it with even more character than it first carried upon each solo he performs after its climax at live shows. Any description I offer from this moment onward could never do this masterwork its full justice. Anything I write will be imperfect in summing up what the song is, how it sounds, etc., because "Black" is perfect. The ambience of the track, the contrast of McCready and Gossard's guitar tones, the simple drumming, the soft, subtle instrumental touches throughout, the luminous piano melodies, the stooping bass fills, the background vocals (especially during the coda), the poetic genius of the lyrics and Vedder's vocals all provide the structure for the only song whose placement I was sure of when I began making my 160-song list. As many of you confessed when submitting your own Top 25 lists, I struggled to cram 80 to 100 of my favorite songs into my top 25, then especially to know where they all belonged once they made the final cut. Not once did I question my decision to place "Black" above them all. There was no question because "Black" is the greatest piece of music Pearl Jam has ever written, recorded and performed.
The greatest compliment I can pay to this song is that it has never once gotten old to me and furthermore, every time I listen to it, "Black" hypnotizes me, sending me into an altered state of existence. Its steadiness, rise and gentle intensity during its live codas (following McCready's masterful solos) are, as commentator Holyjammer worded it, "transcendental." Everything about this classic rock symphony speaks to anyone who listens to it, even some of the so-called "hardest" people I have known in my life. Even those who cannot understand English feel the passion within the music, a horrible, wonderful, jerking and concentrated magic that lives within each note and each word. It would likely be appropriate and accurate to label "Black" as melodramatic and perhaps even histrionic, but such presentations are the only kinds that make sense when one is attempting to work through the uniquely awful experience of unrequited and/or lost love. An unoriginal topic, of course, but leave it to Pearl Jam to turn the humdrum into their very own gift for their listeners.
"Black" is another one of those Pearl Jam songs that was a huge hit without ever being released as a single. It earned slots at number 20 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart and number three on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The band fiercely declined the idea of releasing the song as a single for a number of reasons, likely its pop accessibility being the most important one. Eddie Vedder was obviously against the idea of music videos during this time, and stated that he believed "Black" would be watered down and lose its potential power in that format. He said, "fragile songs get crushed by the business. I don't want to be a part of it. I don't think the band wants to be a part of it." Supposedly, Ed even ensured that Epic had not released the song as a single by phoning radio stations and asking. As previously mentioned, the song circulated regardless of its official status as a non-single and radio stations such as my own (Indianapolis's X-103) played the living daylights out of it, and many still do to this day. So the "transcendental" nature of the song rests not only in the ears of the listener, but in the song's ability to be deep and vitally important to someone while also remaining hugely successful as a commercial product, a fact much to the chagrin of a stubborn, resentful band like Ten-era, young Pearl Jam. Focusing specifically on down and out, sad, lonely songs, try to find a catchier hook than the "doo-doo-doo-doo-do-do-do" falsetto vocal part in the outro. It is brooding, dark and depressing and yet still works as a "pop" hit. How dreadful, huh?
Stone Gossard's lone guitar plays a simple chord progression as "Black" opens, serving as the song's primary riff. His play sounds muffled, as if being heard through a phone line. Eddie Vedder's voice breaks out over it in one of his most famous wordless vocal melodies: "Uh-uh-uh-ay-ay-ayy-ay-aaayyy-uh-uhh!" Gossard's guitar sounds off one last time and silences for a fleeting moment, before Jeff Ament drip-drops his bass in a defining moment of his career, a timeless transition from the introduction to the first verse. The drums fall in and Vedder begins his greatest vocal delivery. Behind his roller coaster singing, Stone's guitar changes tones and becomes much cleaner than during the introduction. McCready makes his way into the mix, playing bluesy fills and frills while Ament and Krusen (on the studio version) play a simple, slow rhythm and an electric piano creates an inviting but broken atmosphere. When Vedder sings, "All five horizons," McCready sounds as good as he ever has, sounding, as he readily admitted, just like Stevie Ray Vaughan: "That's more of a Stevie rip-off, with me playing little flowing things. I was way into that trip—I still am, actually, but it was probably more obvious back then." It may have been obvious, but that Stevie Ray style sounded wholly unique and certainly fitting in the midst of everything his band was doing around him.
Vedder's last phrase of the first verse is, "has taken a turn," and here comes a pure, early example of the greatness of Ed and Pearl Jam. Just as his lyrics literally signal a turning point, the music immediately shifts as the band enters the first chorus. The guitars thicken and grow heavier into dark territory, the drums crash, and Vedder's voice becomes a harsh, growling moan of pain. A piano accompanies the guitars' beautiful melody, really popping out on the remixed version from this year's Ten reissue. This melody is the first appearance of what will come later, during the aforementioned "doo-doo-doo-doo-do-do" refrain, sung here in the phrase, "of what was everything."
The formula is repeated in the second verse, but Ed's singing becomes more desperate and sorrowful, particularly his fantastic phrasing of "I'm spinning, oh-oh-oh, I'm spinning." This might be a break-up song lyric, but a severe level of sophistication is present in lines such as, "I'm surrounded by some kids at play/I can feel their laughter, so why do I sear?" Nothing I have ever heard in a song has come close to this line in its ability to translate the way an aching heart seems to take over everything else, preventing one from enjoying anything positive in life. Nothing can create happiness or gratitude and it feels as though life has turned dark, "the pictures have all been washed in black," the loss of someone so important has "tattooed everything."
The chorus re-appears, fuller and meatier this time around, led in by Vedder's final line from the second verse, "How quick the sun can drop away-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay," a seamless transition. The chorus grows this time, no longer ending on the "tattooed everything" line, but instead rising and growing as Vedder reaches his entire purpose for singing this song, a direct statement of, "All the love gone bad turned my world to black/Tattooed all I see, all that I am, all I'll be." Words cannot aptly explain the high this moment creates in the listener for these few moments, the piano and guitar working together in beautiful, mournful agony. Vedder then spills his entire soul on the record, creating the most emotional and greatest single moment in the band's entire run when he sings, "I know some day you'll have a beautiful life, I know you'll be a star/in somebody's else's sky, but why, why, why can't it be, can't it be mine?"
The instruments meld together in musical ecstasy as Vedder yells and screams wildly in hopeless despair, the song reaching a drawn-out climax. The "doo-doo-doo-doo-do-do" theme begins instrumentally first, then the falsetto, layered vocals join in, McCready's guitar rocking and crying simultaneously, Vedder overlapping it all with another vocal layer, wailing his tremendous, awful self-pity. The song fades out and eventually dies.
The lyrics speak for themselves, and to explain them any further than I already have would risk stealing some of their power. Instead, I will print them in full:
"Sheets of empty canvas, untouched sheets of clay
Were laid spread out before me as her body once did
All five horizons revolved around her soul
As the earth to the sun
Now the air I tasted and breathed has taken a turn
Ooh, and all I taught her was everything
Ooh, I know she gave me all that she wore
And now my bitter hands chafe beneath the clouds
Of what was everything
Oh, the pictures have all been washed in black, tattooed everything...
I take a walk outside
I'm surrounded by some kids at play
I can feel their laughter, so why do I sear?
Oh, and twisted thoughts that spin round my head
I'm spinning, oh, I'm spinning
How quick the sun can, drop away
And now my bitter hands cradle broken glass
Of what was everything
All the pictures have all been washed in black, tattooed everything
All the love gone bad turned my world to black
Tattooed all I see, all that I am, all I will be, yeah
I know someday you'll have a beautiful life, I know you'll be a star
In somebody else's sky, but why, why, why
Can't it be, can't it be mine?"
Live, the song rests near the head of the pack in terms of total times played, but nevertheless many of us feel almost cheated if the band fails to play it during a given show. When I went to New York for last year's two Madison Square Garden shows, I was sorely disappointed I did not get a "Black," even though the concerts were two of the greatest events I had ever witnessed or attended in my life (there's a good ol' ungrateful fan for ya). The song is an undeniable showstopper and one of Mike McCready's shining moments, his licks from the studio outing transferring into a new, improvisational solo with each performance. Vedder often gives audiences the, "I'm spinning, oh, I'm spinning," line, and rarely, offers up the last three lines (see Benaroya for stunning proof). But Ed's finest live contribution to the song is most evident in his ever-changing vocal performance ("I'm surrounded by some kids at play" from the MTV Unplugged show) and his ad-libbed outro lyrics, in particular, "We belong together," a phrase that is almost like a separate tag, a song unto itself.
As "soymartino" states, "Black" is, "the song of my youth," an inescapable truth of adolescence that carries on to adulthood. Nothing hurts in quite the same way as unrequited love, especially unrequited, lost love. "It's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all," the saying goes, but this song proves otherwise. "Black" reminds me how delicate love is as a raw emotion, and how we take it for granted until it is gone, only to realize how difficult it is to attain it again. I have risen from dark times to be the man I am today, and as performances of "Black" alter and grow over the years, I see my own reflection in their varied deliveries. "We belong together" has become "We didn't belong together" during many concerts over the past few years, a necessary evolution that reminds me that what I believed when I was 5, 10, 15 years younger is no longer my truth. Leave it to Pearl Jam to be a guide through life, in their words, music and message. Leave it to "Black" to be the greatest message of them all, the music always overpowering the hopelessness of the lyrics to create beauty where all one can often see is misery.
"Black" sits at the top of many of your own lists, an incomparable classic that provokes so much during each listen, as witnessed in your comments below:
"'Black' - 4, April 1994, Atlanta. At the end of the song, before the famous lines "we belong together," Ed sings something like, "Don't come back, I'll do it." It has been my #1 since...I have no words to describe that song...I can't wait for tomorrow's description." - Daniel/Brazil (I hope my description did it justice, Daniel)
"Black is definitely my number one, too. It's impressive how I always react when I listen to this song...it's just impossible for me to hear it without paying attention to the lyrics and in the feelings its music brings to me. And the last sentence in this song is something that I can't really explain, but I used to say that it is the sentence (more) full (of) feelings (than anything) ever sung...I just love this song..." - May
"'Black' is musically and vocally a masterpiece..and it deserves its spot very well...I mean 'Black' is the greatest song ever to be played on this planet." - Dipesh
"It has to be 'Black.' That's like the "white whale" in concert. If you get a setlist that has Black in it...then you caught a special night. McCready's solo at the end, after the final chorus...a$$ whipping at its finest." - Iowa Fan
"BLACK is ABSOLUTELY the GREATEST PJ SONG OF ALL TIME!" "'Black' should be #1" (Two separate comments on different days) - Dee Dee
"Aside from the fact that they did everything right on this track, there just aren't many lines in the history of music that can stand up to the power and raw, hard emotion of, 'I know someday you'll have a beautiful life, I know you'll be a star...In somebody else's sky, but why, why, WHHYYYYYY Can't it be, can't it beeeeeee miiiiiiiiine.'" - Ray
"'Black' deserves all the #1 it can possibly get. This song made me a fan of PJ. When I first clearly understood the words and the meaning they held for me...and when the words fell like salt on old unhealed wounds...I cried. 'I know someday you'll have a beautiful life, I know you'll be a star In somebody else's sky, but why, why, why' " - DD36
"Can't wait to see "Black" take the top spot (I know it will, it has to!)" - Joseph V Alfano
"The emotion during 'I hope you'll be a star, in somebody else's sky, but why, why, why! Can't it be, can't it be mine' is incomparable." - Rob S.
"I’m a metal head, so I’m more partial to the the heavier and/or faster songs." - Derek ...ranked "Black" 5th
"Going into this I knew Black would top the list..." - Tom
"...an obvious choice. Couldn't leave it out of top ten." - Paul
"The ultimate break up song for a desperate guy." - Craig C.
"Whether or not it's their best song (I can't really look at it objectively), it's here for sentimental personal reasons. I had been a Pearl Jam fan and already had the Ten cassette, but seeing Black on MTV Unplugged is what sent me over the top. It was the moment I knew that this band was going to play a special role in my life for years to come. I played my vhs tape of Unplugged so much that any live version I heard without the "we belong together..." part at the end sounded sadly lacking." - Ezra
"Pearl Jam could record for another twenty years but I can't see any other song replacing this as number one for me. I find this song incredibly beautiful. The music and lyrics blend perfectly. The imagery in the lyrics is exquisite-so evocative! I can't really even put it into words. It's hard for me to even imagine people not being moved by this song. I'm hoping it makes your top five." - Carla
"Melodramatic? Sure. Ever been in that emotional state over a lost or unrequited love? Absolutely." - Michael D.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey. I have appreciated every single comment, message board post, e-mail (including some awesome essays...those of you who haven't, you will see your words in a posting sooner or later!), and page visit. You have made this a larger than life experience and have even occasionally brought tears to my eyes with your words. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Stay tuned next week as the 60 Days of Pearl Jam continue with a countdown summary, a review of Chicago 2 (if only I could attend both nights!), the fan-voted Top Pearl Jam song compilation list and more. Later I will also be ranking the studio albums, examining the band's history and members and taking an intense look at the spiritual experience that is Live Pearl Jam. I hope you will continue with me on this wild ride, as we grow ever closer to the release of Backspacer. Thank you all one more time.
Review the entire countdown here: www.examiner.com/x-3940-Indianapolis-Pop-Culture-Examiner
Read my review of Backspacer's first single, "The Fixer," here: www.examiner.com/x-3940-Indianapolis-Pop-Culture-Examiner~y2009m7d27-Pearl-Jams-latest-gift
Comments
Great final writeup for a great song! Although personally not my number one but hey.. does it make any difference?
The first think I did each morning when arriving at work was checking 'the list'. Of course each of us has a different ranking and prefers different songs. However I did enjoy this list very much. Thank you for making such an effort! Looking forward to the album list! Cheers! Yves (From the Netherlands)
Charles, it´s our turn to say...thank you so much!
Great job you did with this countdown. I´m sure you remembered to so many peaple how fantastic it´s Pearl Jam, their music, their lyrics, and not less important, their way to see the life and help us to getting through the bad days!
"Black" is fantastic, like fantastic are the big part of the musics you´ve posted during this weeks.
Hope to see you soon, enjoy Chicago concert!
Hugs from Portugal, Madeira.
I don't know how you did it but this list actually made me feel even more love for this band then I already have. I can't think of something more risky then decididng to rank over 150 PJ songs, then publish the rankings and analysis to the throngs of diehards to enjoy and critique. This is a fanbase I am so honored to be a part of because of the passion we all feel for such an immensely important band.
I started listeing to PJ when I was 11 years old, right before Vs. was released. I would sit on my bus to school everyday blasting Ten, Vs., and Vitalogy on my walkman and dissect every word and sound from those albums. From there I have evolved with the band's sound and maturation and feel just as passionate for the next album release as I did as a hyper 13 year old when Vitalogy came out.
No critique here. Tremendous job on exploring this amazing catalogue and coming up with a list that all may not agree with but still love to listen just for the sheer emotions it provokes.
Good work Charles. You did a great job describing Black. When I was younger, I had a cassette tape that was only live versions of Black. Side A and Side B, completely Black. I would listen over and over and over. I still never get tired of it. It is one of the only, if not only, song I have ever cried listening to. Years ago it helped me get over a devastating break-up. To know that someone else had felt my pain before was very comforting to me. Thanks for bringing it all back.
Very well done and I can't wait for 60 more days of the like. Pearl Jam's fans are the most discerning, intelligent, passionate music fans out there. PJ repertoire is so unique that no wonder why everyone has their own top 25, top 100, top 200. Most bands, including many of the greatest, have a top 25 that you could almost set in stone. But PJs music is so layered and their live shows are each so different that your favorite song or your top 25 could change at O2 arena, or the United Center or after the release of Backspacer. Cheers to PJ - although heralded - will never get the true respect they deserve, except from the true fans that sing every word, live every show as if it was their last, and evolve as Mookie Blaylock has - into the never-ending phenomenon that IS PEARL JAM!
Wow. I have been slowly going through this entire countdown at work, and on more than one occasion have fought back tears here in my office. Thank you for your countdown, this has been a journey through my youth, hell my life, of loving this band and what their music has meant to me and to my fellow fans. Blessed are we all that Pearl Jam still lives to provide us more joy in our lives. And again, thank you very much for holding our hands through your own personal journey through the music.
Your list deserves a true respect, cause it is about how the entire song is, not how much you like to listen to it.
I totally agree with Black on the top. Thanks for all your descriptions... it made me see/listen/realize how good 'Presente Tense' is, cause I've never given it the proper attention. I hope to see you commenting about Backspacer, coz I loved what they did with 'The Fixer', and I hear a lot of die-hard PJ fans, calling it a crap full of s.... But that's the mighty PJ!
Cheers from Brazil.
I find myself ever so often going through a phase which i like to call a Pearl Jam 'Kick'. I will listen to whatever PJ i'm feeling, sometimes i will get addicted to a single album, sometimes i will listen to live, compare live to studio, chronological, reverse chronoloical, attempt to make greatest hits (this never works), or whatever my mind feels like doing. I will say that this list doused my current kick in anticipation for Chi-town with gasoline. through all the disagreements i had following this list i found myself playing every song as it appeared on the list and comparing my thoughts and interpretation to that of others. all that said this list provided me yet another avenue through my current kick. to all the followers being lead in part by this band.... thank you. it feels good to know that so many people i've met and will never meet share a common love that ressonates through hearts and minds.
THE COUNTDOWN WAS AWESOME. MY MUSICAL YOUTH IS THIS COUNTDOWN. A review of some of the greatest liver performances should definetly be added. They've played some unreal shows like Soliders Field, Randall's Island, Madison Square Garden, Milan, Italy the list can go on and on. Anyways, thanks for this awesome countdown. Seattle in 31 days.
I hope that Pearl Jam is around long enough to give you more things to write about... i'm excited about the coming lists, countdowns & write-ups. Thanks for giving each and every song justice.
@John (August 21, 8:48 AM): I think you've just described my experience... I was 10 when I begged my mom to buy me Ten, and I would obsess over that tape... listening to every song and memorizing every line and sound. This was a mere 6 months before Vs (which incidentally is my favorite album) came out, and I don't think Ten left my Sony Walkman once while I anticipated it.
There were a few years (between Yield and Binaural) that I listened to PJ more casually (rather than obsessively). When I returned to my beloved band I rediscovered that beautiful obsessive loneliness that empowered my tortured (but strong) youth. I will forever love this band.
Vedders golden baritone voice and words are the monologue of my youth, and by extension defines who I am today.
Yes, "Black" is an awesome song. I did not include "Black" in my top twenty-five because the radio station I had in Madison, WI in the mid-ninties also played the sh!t out of it. The song just somehow does not give me a meaning like the other twenty-seven songs I wrote about. "Black" would definitely be in my top fifty though. In conclusion, long live "Corduroy"! Still the greatest song in all the land!
Just back from the Berlin show.
Great job Charles, it's been a good countdown but from a guitarist side I'd pay more homage to "Alive" (the song that put me on stage and let me play that beautiful riff in A still today) with at least number 2 because if it's true that we all can relate to a break (love,friend,whatever) it's also true that "you, me, we're still Alive".
See you on the studio albums ranking (1. Yield :-))
YAY! It was a blessing and a privlege to hear "Black" sung by and to us all at the O2 Arena in London last Tuesday at my first ever Pearl Jam concert! The atmosphere was electrifying and I saw many grown men well up. I'm 29 and have been a fan since I first heard "Ten" in 1991 growing up in New Zealand. I had to wait until I moved to London to get a chance to fufil my dream of seeing them live. I can die happy now!
"Black" meant so much to me in my youth but I somewhat let the music slip away from em in recent years. However, it was automatically the first song I turned to when my sister died in December 2007. The lyrics took on a whole new deeper meaning for me in the very darkest moments of my life. All the pictures were washed in black but she is now a star in MY sky.
I cannot imagine my life without this band and their amazing music.
Oh, and this countdown has been fascinating - it's testament to the band that there are even 160 brilliant songs worth ranking.
Great Work Charles, Black is my #1 too. I dont agree with all of your picks, noone can, its impossible. Everyone has there own feelings about PJ and thier songs are soo great that no matter where you place what, you can never do it justice.
Thanks A LOT! I hope you have more in store. Attending my First concert October 7th in LA. Gonna listen to Pearl Jam everyday till OCT 7.
Charles, excellent countdown and analysis of the songs. I've loved reading them. I wouldn't have picked Black but you did a helluva job.
Not sure how this table will display in comments section, but this is how the albums rank based on the average of the song rankings for each album. Wonder if that is how you would actually rank the albums too...? I included Merkinball but not the holiday, soundtrack or other misc songs...
Album Ranking Avg of Song Rankings
Merkinball* 1 11.5
Ten 2 32.45
Vs. 3 47.16
No Code 4 61.46
Yield 5 65.6
Vitalogy 6 79.64
Pearl Jam 7 82.58
Lost Dogs 8 95.92
Binaural 9 97.5
Riot Act 10 99.4
Thanks for these last weeks. I sincerely hope you get to hear Black at Chicago, maybe the boys have caught this countdown somehow and will play it for you. I think you deserve it for your hard work and empathy towards 'our' band that you have shown. Cheers, Tim.
You should be proud of yourself of doing what many of us find impossible in comprising this list. This has been more than a fascinating read and I'm sure we all are appreciative towards it. Thanks for the read!
First off, I don't agree with #1. But that matters not, as opinions are opinions. And I'd be out of my freakin' mind to think that this song doesn't deserve to be somewhere on the top. Personally, my #1 woulda been (is) 'Long Road'. It's the first PJ tune I've hear live and I was present for a badass acoustic version at Boston #3 in 2003 (12 song acoustic set pre-opening band).
Great countdown though. As I said earlier in this countdown... All of PJ's material has at some point entered my top 20 at one point or another.
Go PJ! Can't wait to see you again when you come back to the northeast US!!!!
Backspacer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
when this started I wasn't sure what to think.
I was hooked by your writing immediately.
reading today's column has me completely miserable.
with appreciation for an amazing ending.
to an amazing journey.
thank you for this.
thank you pearl jam for inspiring each of us with what they do so well.
Thanks for all the work you've put into this series; I've thoroughly enjoyed reading all your posts and you've enabled me to appreciate so many songs in different ways. You've also helped to provide me with the perfect build-up to the two shows shows I went to this week in Manchester & London; every day I checked your wonderful list and entered into a dreamy state of admiration and playful excitement of trying to guess which of these marvelous songs I'd soon be hearing live! Thanks again, and looking forward to whatever is coming next!
Charles, you must watch the crowd response to this song in Buenos Aires, back in 2005. I mean, Ed and the band were astounded by it. Since I can't post any links, search in youtube the words Pearl jam live Argentina Black, the 9:27 version. Please, don't miss the last three minutes, the crowd is absolutely amazing.
Thanks again Charles, you sure did a great job, and the best part is that...this isn't over yet!!! We've got more Days of Pearl Jam ahead of us.
Awesome job with this list! What a great way to countdown to the days till backspacer and till I get to see Pearl Jam close out the spectrum! Can't wait for Pearl Jam in Phila!!
thanks dude, you make me cry with that description of Black
perfect
thanks Pearl Jam
Thanks a million for your amazing countdown!!!
Amazing countdown Charels. It's been great to think through the songs of my favorite band and explain my frustrations and delights on some of your choices with my girlfriend who I'm slowly getting into Pearl Jam ;).
I suppose I should actually bother reading the lyrics notes in the albums more often, but I had a really interesting mis-interpretation of Black. I always thought the second line was 'Legs spread out befor me as her body laid still'. Now reading it, it makes so much more sense (like I said, should have read the lyrics all along). But I always thought my interpretation gave the song a whole other dynamic and intimicy. Anywho, just wanted to share that one. Have a great show in Chicago. They're in top form right now! Can't wait to see the compiledfan list!
Dear Charles,
I just wanted to say thanks for what i consider the single greatest pop-culture endeavour (aside from The Fixer and Got Some) i have had the pleasure of consuming this year.
It was a brilliant and insightful countdown. Your connection to the music gave me chills. Indeed, my life and my life view was changed with that crescendo moment in Black... "why can't it beeee mine .." This was the perfect primer to the Australian tour. Promise me you'll put this into a book that i can flip through while I go through my records. This was exceptional.
I can just see the boys reading this and blowing their minds ...and I hope they have read it, because you have eloquently and laboriously synthesised things we all feel. And that way you've said thanks to them from us all.
Keep on rockin' in the free world my friend.
'I know someday you'll have a beautiful life, I know you'll be a star...In somebody else's sky, but why, why, WHHYYYYYY ...
About ten years ago I related the lyrics to a girl I really liked.
Married her, got 2 great kids and got new meaning to the song.
Thanks so much for this list, Charles! I've been raving about it to all my friends for a while now, and I can't wait to read the top albums list (go No Code!).
This write-up for "Black" really made me realize how much of an error I made in leaving it off my top 25. I've connected with this song so many times that I'd be remiss not to acknowledge it in my top 10.
You know, it's weird. I think I've heard this song so much that it somehow fell off my own Top 25 list, but now I'm thinking that might have been a mistake. (I am looking at that list now and thinking that I would probably bump WMA for it, and maybe even place it up a little higher.) I rarely listen to the radio anymore, but I took a road trip recently and was flipping around the dial when I heard that unmistakable opening, so I blasted it and sang along. It had actually been a while since I'd heard it, and it flooded me with emotion. This is a great choice for #1. I think even if it isn't everyone's #1, no one can really argue with it.
Black is probably the biggest masterpiece in the history of music. It should at least be on the top 10 greatest songs of all time if not the number one. Great article.
For those who haven't heard it, track down the Mookie Blaylock Demo of "Black" from 1990. Eddie's voice sound so incredibly young and earnest. Probably my favorite version of it.
Great article. I agree with all you said. Thanks.
Charles, first I just wanna thank u.....for ur amazing job in this amazing list, I really appreciated ur thoughts/feelings for every song, especially in my fave. songs.......Given to Fly, Black and Immortality.......I feel the same way about them!!
Now the reason for this comment....
U can't imagine how happy I am right now......to see my name in this text and the word "transcendental"......is really unbelievable for me.. (I'll send u an email with some details of my relation with PJ...I guess it's the same...cpeelle83@yahoo.com)
"Happiness only real when shared." ;)
Unfortunately I only had the chance to see this text today, because I've been away in the last 2 weeks.
I've went to the U.K. to attend the shows in Manchester and London. They were my first shows, I've waited 12 years for those moments......to see my reason to live playing live.
I quit my job to go there and I don't regret it a bit......I really was the happiest person in the world in those 2 nights.
I saw Given to Fly, Black, Immortality, Porch, Release, Indifference, Light Years Footsteps, Present Tense.....just to name my personal favorites.
In the first night when they played Black, in the first notes I went nuts and began to hit the floor with my fist......those punchs meant I was releasing all the anger kept inside me all those years, but at the same time I felt an amazing joy inside me....that was the epitome of Black through out all these for me. (continues...)
But in London it was different......I yelled the lyrics, but then the "doo-doo-doo-doo-do-do" started and my heart immediately stopped.....I felt something I haven't felt before......then it hit me....I was crying. :')
While in the first night it was a mixture of feelings, in the second night I made a connection with the ""transcendental" nature of the song". Those tears meant I was (am) ALIVE!!
Above all sad feelings attached to this song, right now I feel so damn happy, I can't even think about the real meaning of the lyrics......for me Black is everything. :)
I'd rather stop now........because when I start to speak about PJ is pretty difficult to call it a day. :D
Now I know I am a better person just because I love Pearl Jam....like I use to say.....Pearl Jam isn't only music, it's my lifestyle.
I left this once in a video of a live performance of Black:
If I ever get married this will be the song I'll ask to be playing while I'm entering the place I'll get married. When I die I want this song played during the funeral. If I ever be a parent this will be the song played when my girl gives birth. If I ever again be in love with someone this will be the soundtrack of my? relationship. If I had the opportunity I would have a tattoo with the lyric of this song in my body..
And so many things I could do using this song..infinite options.
I LOVE BLACK!!
I guess it says it all!!
As a fellow Examiner and PJ fan, I had to leave a comment, even if months later. Great article. You somehow released even greater emotion from the song than I had been able to do myself. "Black" is a classic and probably the best PJ ever (although I have a couple others in mind that can compete).
Around the same time you wrote this article, 101.9 RXP in NYC had a Top 20 songs ever countdown in which listeners had to submit the 20 greatest rock songs ever, without repeating an artist on the list. No doubt Pearl Jam is the greatest band of our generation, but the question is, would "Black" be #1 on your list? Thanks. I'm sure they'll do the countdown again this Labor Day if you want to tune in.
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