Black Wednesday

Not that kinda black. Way better…

Hey… oooh…

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’ll be… yeah…

Uh huh… uh huh… ooh…

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?

Aah… uuh..

Too doo doo too, too doo doo

Freshly Played #20: Pearl Jam

Yep, Pearl Jam again. This time, it’s a song with a curious history… and great guitar riffs at the beginning and end.

As I’ve mentioned previously, guitar riffs drive me wild. The riffs at the beginning and end has a striking resemblance to Jimi Hendrix/Stevie Ray Vaughn’s rendition of Little Wing.

Yellow Ledbetter never featured on any of Pearl Jam’s studio albums. It was an outtake from their debut album 10, and was released as a B-side on the released single Jeremy. It did however feature on a B-sides and Rarities album, and their Greatest Hits album.

And it seems that nobody really knows precisely, the lyrics to the song. Lead singer Eddie Vedder is known to change the lyrics at nearly every live performance. Vedder once jokingly replied in response to a question from a live audience, “Wait…you mean there’s lyrics?”

Not surprisingly this lyrical ambiguity has stirred up some ingenuity in elucidation by others – the famous misheard lyrics videos. Catch a load of this:

Freshly Played #10: Pearl Jam

Another in my series on cool guitar riffs, this time by Pearl Jam, one more of my (many) favorite bands of all time.

Released in 1994, this song really speaks to me as I consider myself to be something of a dissident in my own country. From reading this blog, you will have noticed that I’m an outspoken critic of the political masters in charge, and I judge the democracy we are told we have, as a lie and a sham.

I dedicate this song to other dissidents in South Africa, and all over the world who stand up to political tyranny, and other forms of oppression.

Dissident

she nursed him there, over a night
i wasn’t so sure she wanted him to stay
what to say…what to say
but soon she was down, soon he was low
at a quarter past…a holy no…
she had to turn around
when she couldn’t hold, oh…she folded…
a dissident is here
escape is never, the safest path
a dissident, a dissident is here
and to this day, she’s glided on
always home but so far away
like a word misplaced
nothing said, what a waste
when she had contact…with the conflict…
there was meaning, but she sold him to the state
she had to turn around
when she couldn’t hold…she folded…
a dissident is here
escape is never, the safest path
a dissident, a dissident is here
she gave him away when she couldn’t hold…no…she folded…
a dissident is here
escape is never, the safest path
a dissident, a dissident is here
couldn’t hold on…she couldn’t hold…no…she folded…
a dissident is here
escape is never the safest place
a dissident is here