In Pearl Jam’s seventh and latest album, “Riot Act,” the listener is embraced with a variety of different sounds in an array of songs. There is a brief, early-morning chant near the close of the album, a cleverly titled political commentary called “Bushleaguer” and a number of more traditional rock songs addressing life and love.
Complementing the album through a variety of sounds, there is an evident impermanence in many of the lyrics. The very first song, “Can’t Keep,” features the narrator declaring that he won’t live forever and that he can’t be kept “here.” An idea of impermanence is also raised with “Love Boat Captain,” where according to the singer, love arrives first and then comes pain. It all might be a “phase,” the narrator proposes.
In the first single from this album, “I am mine,” Eddie Vedder — the lead signer of the band — says “I know I was born, and I know that I’ll die.” Though the tone of the song is slower and more melancholy, and the notion of death is certainly not an uplifting one, the premise that he follows with is certainly an assertion of control, emphasized by the title of the song. The period of time between his birth and his death, the singer decries, will be his own. “I am mine,” he declares.
There is a juxtaposition in this song that is important. The singer says that the ocean is full because everyone is crying and yet there is no need to hide, because “we’re safe tonight.” The song has a complexity to it, yet is an enjoyable piece of music. The assertion of self-ownership can be seen as a positive message, but at the same time one has to rectify the portrayal of conflict and sorrow in the song.
Pearl Jam demonstrates that they can link many independent songs and sounds to a common theme and do it well. Since they are, and always have been, confident in their independence, it would be hard to imagine Vedder and his band not addressing social issues in the album.
They do so with one of the most clever series of analogies for a political statement that I have ever heard. Vedder begins in a near somber monotone to discuss a man, a Texas leaguer, who swings for the fence and gets lucky with a strike. He was born on third and, “thinks he got a triple.” The song is “Bushleaguer,” a common term to describe a sub-par baseball player. Let’s not forget that George W. Bush was once involved in the Texas Rangers, and the play on his name is fascinating.
Vedder spices it up further, using the phrase “drilling for fear” and the words “black sugar,” “refine” and “tail-pipe” to allude to the oil interests in the Bush family. The slow, taunting monotone voice that Vedder uses is powerful as well. It sounds depressed, but strong, as Vedder says that “The haves have not a clue” or that the aristocratic choir can not understand the anger of others.
In addition to the fascinating and developed lyrics of the song, the band has produced an entertaining rhythm and sound. It is a clever and witty song, that plays with several themes, yet it is also a very good piece of music.
very strong. Pearl Jam continues to assert their independence in social views and with this freedom they are willing to make statements that more mainstream artists are simply not willing to attempt.
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