Every day for the past year or so, my once-rampant Pearl Jam fandom continued to reach new lows. The enthusiasm hit bottom the day before yesterday, because yesterday I decided I should look at some YouTubes of "Corduroy." Little of this, little of that, and soon I was on "Yellow Ledbetter."
The song, like "Release," I think, showcases lyrical improvisation. From what I hear, Vedder just one-taked the vocals on the studio track, and the song has served as a blueprint for continual revisions since. Eddie rarely sings it the same way twice, although he sings it in very similar ways every time.
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In this way the song is a cousin to "Whiskey in the Jar" and "Summertime," songs that bear the marks of traditionals in that they can be continually revamped and twisted into different instrumentations and even lyrics without losing their base appeal.
This song is different, though, because I think Pearl Jam has to play it each time. They're free to take some serious liberties with it, but mainly it has to bear their stamp and they can't even screw with the structure too much. Anyway, "Ledbetter," "Whiskey" and "Summertime" are still in the same extended family.
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"Ledbetter" embodies what I loved about Pearl Jam when I really loved them. The song is just a simple one-five-four and the guitar solo is wholeheartedly pentatonic. Pearl Jam is often characterized as simple, but I've never seen a band trump their chemsitry live, and it's in the simple songs they expand the farthest.
Beyond the sense, live, that the band really is (was?) capable of flying on the seat of its pants and bringing the audience with them, though, I am attracted to Pearl Jam for their desire to be loved. Their songs and live performances almost beg people to sing along, to wonder whether McCready is going come up with something just slightly different on the next solo, to see what Vedder's going to do after the last verse is done. The message was, "It feels good for us that you love this. Love it some more." And people came on board.
The historical-biographical problem quickly crops up; it might just be that my brain chemistry was such that I bought in to the stage antics and the simplicity and the earnestness back then, and other bands have it now but I just can't see it. "If it's too loud, you're too old," etc. I'm willing right now, though, to indulge the idea that I had something special on my hands from about 1998 to 2003.
And just for fun, "Untitled/MFC." I listened to this every day before school in Senegal with headphones on and would sing on my host family's balcony. They made fun of me because I am not a very good singer. But whatever, fuck em.
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