A little over a month, that's how long it took us before we got our first Pearl Jam song. I find this to be incredible considering the large quantities of Pearl Jam music on my ipod. I would have figured at this stage in the game we would have already heard something. Actually my ipod was so excited to play one Pearl Jam song that it immediately followed it with a second. I wonder if this means the flood gates are going to open and we're going to get an out pouring of Pearl Jam. While this would be really exciting I think it would take away from the big picture here. I want to be able to discuss all the different types of music on my ipod not just Pearl Jam.
The playing of Pearl Jam also brings to light a problem that might occur in the future. Like I've said before I have 880 Pearl Jam songs on my ipod, and a great deal of the come from various live shows. So that means there are a lot different versions of the same song waiting to be played. So what shall I do if a live version of Evenflow shows up and then later on in the journey a different live version of Evenflow shows up? I don't think I should write about the same song twice despite the fact that it's a different version. You don't know what the band was feeling while they were performing it so the sound could come across differently. Again though there really isn't much else to pull from it after it has been written about once before. I think for the integrity of the project that I will let it play out and then write about the second song that is shuffled. Does this make any sense? If anyone has any suggestions for me I'm all ears.
While I'm excited to finally be writing about a Pearl Jam song it comes a little bitter sweetly. I'm a little fuzzy today following what happened to be an excellent night. It's not a terrible hangover per say but I feel that I'm wrapped in a layer of fuzzy fog or something of that nature. Like there is this layer of film in front of me and I can see things but not clearly. So getting a song from my favorite band is exciting but I'm not sure if I'm able to give the write up justice. Guess we'll just have to find out.
This particular version of Spin the Black Circle comes from the Gorge Box Set that was released four years ago or so. An epic seven disc box set that consists of three different shows performed at the Gorge. Awesomeness follows. The only thing is that it's not really available any where anymore. Maybe it had a limited release but you can't get it on itunes or in record stores (sometimes you can get lucky and stumble upon it in Best Buy or something). I was working at Borders part time when it was released and had no problem scooping it up with my 30% discount (discounts on box sets are awesome because they're so freakin' expensive). Now the CD's are just collecting dust in a box (filled with other dust collecting CD's). It's so sad how the CD has become irrelevant. I guess that makes hearing Spin the Black Circle today even more relevant for it's a song about vinyl records.
"See this needle...a see my hand.../Drop, drop, dropping it down...oh, so gently.../Well here it comes...I touch the plane.../Turn me up...won't turn you away..." When I was younger I figured this song was about heroin or something like that. The use of the words needle and hand just made it seem like it was an ode to drug use. Not condoning it particularly but defiantly discussing it. As I've gotten older and learned more and more about the band I've changed my tune. It is a song about getting high but not from drug use. This song is all about the high of playing new music in it's purest form... the record. I love the line, "Pull it out...a paper sleeve.../Oh, my joy...only you deserve conceit..." Just makes you feel like you're there opening up a new album for the first time. It gives me this exciting butterfly feeling in my stomach.
The one thing you need to know about Eddie Vedder and the rest of Pearl Jam is that they are rock purists. They're not big into the direction that music access is going. They still release all their albums on vinyl and have problems with the whole digital thing because they feel it takes away from the whole buying a new album experience. I kind of agree. While my generation was the CD generation I'm having a tough time adjusting to the digital thing. Yes it's amazing how easy it is to get music and have access to it. iTunes is basically the 7-Eleven of the music world and that's awesome. I love knowing if I wake up at four in the morning and have this sudden urge to download I Fought the Law all I have to do is turn my computer on and $.99 later I have it. Despite all that awesome though I miss buying CD's. I used to (still do actually) love that feeling of buying a new one and opening it up in my car and listening to it on the way home. I used to love going on long road trips and debating what albums to bring. Now it kind of feels like cheating. Everything I own is on my ipod and I bring it everywhere with me all the time (don't forget I have to protect it from those ninjas). I know it sounds like I'm complaining, and I'm not I love my ipod. It's just a part of me misses the whole buying of CD's.
As time goes on I wonder where the direction of getting music will go. Will it come down to me thinking of a song and it downloading itself into my brain? That sounds like something out of the Matrix. For me, and the boys in Pearl Jam, music isn't just something that's for your ears it's also a physical experience. There is just something about holding an album in your hand and opening up the booklet wondering whether or not the lyrics are inside. Also the smell. Each CD smelled differently (I know that sounds weird but it's the truth). As soon as that case gets cracked open it's just the smell of new plastic maybe or new music. All of that is kind of gone now and it makes me sad. Yes I still buy the occasional CD (for example I still buy every new Pearl Jam album on CD... I just need to hold it) but it's not the same. Instead of being filled with excitement it's just this gigantic feeling of nostalgia for a lost time.
Spin the Black Circle at first glance my just be a "rock" song but it's so much more then that. It's a chronicle of a loss time where you could hold your music, when the experience of buying an album was at it's fullest. Yes it's a "rock" song but it's subject matter is so rock'n'roll. Who knows maybe years from now physically buying music will become a trend again, I kind of hope that's true. I would love for my future children to know the experience of buying a new album whether it be on vinyl, CD, or whatever cool physical form it takes in the future.
Five Songs I Can't Live Without (At Least This Week)
1. Golden State- John Doe featuring Eddie Vedder
2. (It) Feels So Good- Stephen Tyler
3. Someday Never Comes- CCR
4. Trampled Underfoot- Led Zeppelin
5. House of the Holy- Led Zeppelin
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