The 1990s catapulted some bands into the wonderful orbit of musical discovery, and they are still creating now. Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer, and one of the deeper bands of that time, Pearl Jam. Their debut album, Ten, was a platinum selling record that still gets played by new and old fans, even to this day.
Eddie Vedder, the brains behind the brawn, has always been a heavy hitter in the lyric department. And their album, Ten, is by no means the end of the story. But while on stage, many years after their debut release, Vedder reflected on the way playing one of the biggest hits off the album, “Alive,” to rapt and optimistic crowds in the future “lifted the curse” the sad and disillusioned young man who wrote the song felt.
In the familiar self-deprecation of artists who look back on the time of their youth, Vedder talked about the real meaning behind the song--a man who tragically loses his father, but, as the sad chorus wails, “Oh, I’m still alive.”
For Eddie Vedder, it's been a lifelong journey of finding hope in honest creativity
Without being too precious about his original intent, Vedder spoke about how meaningful it was, years later, to play the song, knowing that a “sea of people” who were singing along to that lyric actually felt hope in the words. And he talks about how it imbued hope into him and somehow redeemed a negative experience and song for him.
Eddie Vedder, who is certainly a life-long artist, and a super good one at that, shared in the interview this important revelation: that in many ways, a song that you write is ultimately not your own. It takes on a life of its own when it is shared with a larger, receptive audience. When we create, when we offer our ideas to the world, we are taking part in a much bigger conversation than we might originally imagine.
With newer songs like Eddie Vedder’s solo offering, “Invincible,” which has the lyrics, “Ah-ah-ah, invincible when we love,” it’s hard to interpret such a positive message a different way. But that feeling of “invincibility” that he sings about seems to have come about by being vulnerable and sharing the most despairing thoughts of his younger self, and meeting with love instead of judgment, hope instead of despair, and new life instead of a continued cycle of death.
The audience who sings the originally sad lyrics to his song, "Alive," is glad to be alive at a Pearl Jam concert and facing a new day. The creative process is certainly a wonderful mystery, one that Vedder has made a life-long quest and offering to.