A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure hearing Pearl Jam‘s new record, Backspacer, in its entirety. I hastily took notes along with each song, trying to keep up with the album’s punk-influenced pace. Around that time, The Globe and Mail‘s Brad Wheeler spoke with Eddie Vedder about every track on the band’s lean album. Here’s what I wrote about Pearl Jam’s 11 new tracks spliced with Eddie’s input. (Check out Wheeler’s full story, too.)
“Gonna See My Friend”CB:
Starts with loud riff. Fast, peppy, hook-y vocals. Hard drum, not unlike Ten songs. Lot of cymbal. “I’m gonna see my friend/Make it go away” chorus. “I’m sick of everything/I’m gonna see my friend/make it go away.” Vedder’s vocal range runs gamut here—lower to high. No solos. Tight. Carries over energy from last album.
All I remember is writing it in a little room on a small table with a little four-track tape machine. I got it sounding loud real quick, without disturbing the neighbours. I work using headphones a lot. I’m not going to have any hearing left. We all make sacrifices at our jobs, and my hearing is obviously going to be the first thing to go.
“Got Some”CB:
Another quick start, catchy riff right at beginning. Solid guitars, hard drums. The Conan song. “I’ve got some if you need it.” Chorus is a little fuzzy, can’t hear all the words. “Are you dropping bombs? Have you heard of diplomatic resolve?” Very tight, with a couple of echo-y bridge riffs. A real head-bobber. A McCready soaring high note into the end. Some background “ahhhh” going on. Kick ass.
I’m talking about music to put on when you don’t know how you’re going to get to work, when you’re just not feeling it. It rains in Seattle 220 days a year on average—there’s a lot of mornings it’s hard to get going. This song will do it.
“The Fixer”CB:
Again, right into guitar. But after a catchy hum-along Vedder intro. “I want to fight to get it back again” is the meat of the chorus. Single-line pairs of problem/resolve lyrics. “If there’s no love/I want to try to love again.” A break at 1:55, repeating the intro. Then “yeah, yeah, yeah/fight to get it back again.”
Men, we all think we can fix anything. It’s not necessarily a good thing. In a relationship, a woman will say ‘This is wrong,’ and we’re like, ‘I’ll fix that, don’t worry about it, we can fix it.’ These wonderful people, the woman you’re in a relationship with, they don’t want you to fix it. They just want you to listen to what’s happening: ‘Don’t fix it, I want you to own this with me—feel it.’ This is a reminder song to me, to stop fixing.
“Johnny Guitar”CB:
Deeper guitar and drum lead-in. Different rhythm for lyrics. Some talk-sung lines, then funk-paced, stop-start licks and drums. “I need to know/why she’s with him.” A story song. One “hoo” from Vedder two minutes in, then fades out almost immediately. Needs a second listen to catch the words. Disappointment in not getting a girl for years—a girl who wants to be with Johnny instead. A good song, but harder to find the rhythm.
An angular Elvis Costello-like number motivated by an album-cover photo from a record by pimp-blues guitarist Johnny (Guitar) Watson that was pasted over a men’s room urinal. It’s actually not the first time we’ve got our inspiration from something on a bathroom wall. It’s a made-up story about a kid falling in love with a girl on a record cover. I imagine that must have happened a few times.
“Just Breathe”CB:
Immediately sounds like an Into the Wild track, with an acoustic spine and simple Vedder lines. VERY different than previous tracks. “Uh huh” ends alternating lines. “Stay with me/let’s just breathe.” Beautiful. Strumming Ament acoustic bassline. At 1:50, blossoms into a violin-sounding chorus. “Nothing you would take/everything you gave.” “I’m a lucky man/to count on both hands/the ones I love.” Bass goes into a Johnny Cash trot at 3:00. “Meet you on the other side” ends the song—kind of a sudden end. Sounds like regret for leading someone on? Grateful for ones he loves, for life, for being in the company of someone. “I come clean.” Humming near the end. Gorgeous. Like the ITW songs, but fully realized where they were brief.
There’s never a dull moment on the road—every day it’s something. Maybe that’s why my goal is the dull moment. That’s what this song is: It’s saying, ‘Just stop, and be together. Don’t talk now, just breathe and feel each other’s presence—now that the kids are in bed.’
“Amongst the Waves”CB:
Toe-tapping percussion brief intro. Finally: Vedder’s unleashing soaring vocals, a taste of McCready high-end licks. “Riding high amongst the waves/I can feel like I have a soul that has been saved.” There’s a tinny, echo-y little guitar wail, reminiscent of Pink Floyd or Zep. NOW, at 2:30, this sounds like the classic slow-build PJ song. Heavy rhythm with a McCready riff dancing over the top. Awesome. Leisurely guitars, a classic Vedder “weehoo” near the end. Nice.
About ebbs and flows—of a couple’s relationships or even those of a long-running rock band. On the strength of this album, we feel good about where the band is at. Our relationship is long-standing, but it’s turned into a forthcoming relationship. We’re open and honest. Things go pretty easy—we feel like a gang. We feel like a galvanized group of individuals. As far as waves, I think we’re up there.
“Unthought Known”CB:
Guitar-string plucking intro reminiscent of “Love Boat Captain,” though not actually alike. A keyboard addition, then prominent accompaniment. Another classic-sounding song. “Fill the air up with love.” Kind of like their version of “Love Reign.” Wow. Gallops around 1:45, with keys going strong. This is another BIG, grand song, with all the pieces loud and vital. Hear some Who in it. A brief, dancing McCready riff. “You will be no one’s rival.” Vedder lets loose and song deepens with Gossard riff. “Distant time, distant place.” Again, ends pretty quickly. No long, fading solo tail.
It’s about a conversation with Catherine Keener, and a book—I think it might have even been called Unthought Known. I got back late to my hotel in New York, and I pushed it that extra hour. I pushed the limits of how much you can drink and smoke, and this song came out of it. I think the thought of the song is that there are things that you know, and they’re in us, but we just haven’t thought of them. But they’re there, and we base decisions on them.
“Supersonic”CB:
Sounds like a Pearl Jam cut, solid guitar riff and quick rhythm right from the start. Punky. Vedder: “Hey, hey” to start off lyrics. “Supersonic going into my soul/I caught the rhythm but the clock was slow.” Busts down into a slower, funky, heavy riff bed. But brief. Then jumps right back to quick rhythm. A real bounce-arounder. “I want to live my life with the volume full. Yeah yeah yeah.” Layered vocals on the “yeah.” Awesome. One of the best.
There’s something about this infusion of energy. It’s a tangible thing that gives you as much energy as a drug. It can change the shape of your mood. I think [rock music] is the greatest art form there is, because there’s so many elements to it, volume being one of them. But momentum, and rhythm, and the literary side of a good lyric, it can really transport you.
“Speed of Sound”CB:
Weird, slow pace, heavy percussion. Flexible timing. Sounds a bit adult contemporary, soft rock. Keys add to the effect. A lounge beat, even. Vedder goes into what sounds like a chorus quickly. Reminiscent of “Love Reign” again, and “Black.” But not as good. Some layered vocals. “A whisper in the dark/Is it you or just my thoughts.” “Moving faster than the speed of sound” closes it out. Another rather abrupt ending.
I was working with Ronnie Wood on a record he’s putting together. He asked me if I could contribute some words, which really excited me because I love his voice. This particular song was a little difficult to transcribe though, so it ended up in [Pearl Jam’s] court. I played it to Brendan at four in the afternoon, and by the next afternoon it was complete.
“Force of Nature”CB:
A solid, heavy funk bassline, dirty narrow riff, and hard percussion. Wow. The noun of the title is a “she.” Prominent drums here. Again, a chance for solo that’s very brief at 1:00. Tight. “One man stands alone/waiting for her to come home.” Guitar kicks in thicker. NiceTen-like denouement, with a classic sauntering McCready riff. A tambourine shake. A tinkling key accompaniment throughout.
It’s about the strength of one person in the relationship, when they can withstand some of the faults in another—maybe drug addiction, or straying off the path. The person in the song is the lighthouse for the other person caught in the storm.
“The End”CB:
Another acoustic beauty. It’s all Vedder’s voice, reaching higher registers. Acoustic guitar strum, some wispy strings, orchestral backing now and then. Hard to imagine him growling through “Alive” in 1991. Fit for Into the Wild. Wow. “People change as does everything/I want to grow old.” “I’m better than this/Don’t leave/me so cold/I’m buried beneath the stones.” A lover’s apology of sorts? Some wispy violin/strings again. “I’m here/but not much longer.” Ends.
I got a phone call from a friend, from Spain. I couldn’t pick up the phone because I was recording the guitar part. I had written half the song’s lyrics. When I checked his message, he had said something that enabled me to write the second verse, and in 20 minutes, it was done. That’s how it happened on this record. It was writing the quick ones—there was no room for the other stuff. We’ll see how long approaching it like this goes. But it’s the right way for us to do it right now.
If your interest is piqued, here’s more on the making of Backspacer, courtesy of the entire band and photographer-director Danny Clinch. The album hits Target stores and indie record stores on Sunday. The band hits Key Arena for a two-night homestand a day later.
