Black

I've been putting off doing this song as a review for a long time, mainly because I never

thought I'd do it justice,

But I'll never know if I don't try so here goes.

*clears throat*



Pearl Jam - Black

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 (note the lack of question mark)
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 ever be...yeah...

Uh huh...uh huh...ooh...
I know someday you’ll have a beautiful life, I know you’ll be a sun
In somebody else’s sky, but why
Why, why can’t it be, why can’t it be mine

If both extremes of emotion were condensed into Verse-Bridge-Chorus-Outro,
Pearl Jam's Black would be the result.

There isn't enough I can say about this song that hasn't already been said before by my fellow-Black loving peers but I can say that its one of the most beautiful songs that I've ever had the pleasure of listening to,

I've always loved listening to songs using a pair of headphones rather than a speakers because I feel its alot more personal that way, its just you and the music sharing an experience,nobody but you,lost in your own thoughts.

This is the unofficial anthem to the aforementioned statement, the way the mood seems to change from the verse to the bridge is perfect and the song has one of the most moving outro verses I've ever come across, its definitely one of,if not the, highlight of the entire song and Vedder's choice of lyrics really denotes the intensity of emotion.By this I mean that the change of style in the lyrics from mildly abstract poetry, to a clear message ("I know someday.........why can't it be mine?").


From what I've read,the band never wanted the song to turn into those mainstream,overplayed tracks on the radio, it meant alot to them.
One story I heard was a group of people were sitting around a campfire singing the song and Eddie came out and asked them to stop.

The song is too fragile and beautiful in it's simplicity to be played on FM in my honest opinion.

Moving on, the song revolves around the loss of a person,the five horizons of a person,the untouched sheets,the pictures washed in black all symbolizing the aftermath of a person leaving,these phrases used ever so subtly,really put you in awe at times, it sorts of builds you up for the final climax at the end where Eddie sings with such passion, its enough to quiver the hardest of hearts and make emotions run freely again in a once hollow body.

There are three versions of the song that I know of, one of course was the recorded studio version, then theres the 'Unplugged' version and finally the version the band did live at the Benaroya Hall.
An interesting fact that a few people mustn't have noticed was that Eddie messes up the lyrics in the 'Unplugged' version, if you watch the video you can see him shaking his head at the end of the verse and right after he makes the mistake,I recommend watching their Unplugged performance of the song simply because he really belts it out in the end with the "We belong together" bit.
The last one is something I'd recommend for the very nice solo after the song,it seems to have the same effect on me as Eddie singing the ending in the original (the crowd sings the "I know someday....can't it be mine?" lyric and it can really give you goosebumps.

And that my dear readers, is my shameful review of Pearl Jam's Black

Comment at will.