Pearl Jam - song of the week - Dead Man Walking

Some of you may know, my all-time favorite band is Pearl Jam.  I'm not from Seattle, so I didn't know them from the beginning, I didn't have cable, so I missed 'Alive', and subsequently 'Even Flow' the first times around, but by 'Jeremy' I was hooked.  My love for Pearl Jam grew strong, but exploded prior to the release of 'Vitalogy'.



I acquired two Pearl Jam bootlegs 'No Fuckin' Messiah' and 'New Songs'.  I had an early and raw view of what was to become their third album a few weeks later, but also some cover songs, live tracks, and "B sides".  Cover songs of 'I Won't Back Down' from Tom Petty, 'I've Got a Feeling' from the Beetles, and 'Dock of the Bay' from Otis Redding were phenomenal.   Live acoustic versions of 'Wash' and 'Porch' from the Virgin Megastore in Paris were incredible.  Even better were raw live versions of 'Better Man' and 'Satan's Bed'


The two referenced live versions which were featured on both bootlegs exposed me to new aspects of music.  'Better Man' started off with Eddie saying "This is dedicated to the bastard that married my momma." I had never really got that into lyrics before except for letting my imagination go with Ween or They Might Be Giants.  But now, I had a direct view into what Eddie was thinking of when he wrote the song.  As transparent as the song was I felt I always had some special knowledge when listening to the song.  Also, unlike the true album version which starts off slow and then speeds up a chorus or so later, this live version was lively from the beginning.

The version of 'Satan's Bed' which was titled 'Already in Love' on the bootlegs, was also a raw and early take at an all-time great Pearl Jam song.  Unfortunately this song is rarely heard and never charted.  Amazingly according to pearljam.com this track has only been played 23 times live compared to 'Porch' the #5 top played live PJ song at 425 or even one of my least favorite 'Spin the Black Circle' which charted and has been played live 134 times by PJ.

But I digress, to my original point and topic of this rant.  The bootlegs also exposed me to the world of B sides.  I had purchased singles before that had a b side, but none with the power of a Pearl Jam B side, those which seemed to have a magical life to them.  These songs in many cases could stand alone on any album or radio but many would never ever hit the radio waves.  Really only 'Yellow Ledbetter' which charted up to #21 on Billboard Main stream Rock (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Ledbetter) had broad success.  From these boots, 'Angel' and 'Bee Girl' were the best b sides.

Pearl Jam 'Dead Man Walking'


Now that my deep, deep love for Pearl Jam has been exposed, I can finally bring you to the Pearl Jam - song of the week: 'Dead Man Walking'.  This could have had some influence from the film soundtrack "Dead Man Walking' which Eddie Vedder placed the track 'Long Road' but instead that albums title track was Bruce Springsteen.  PJ's track was released on the 'Off He Goes' single in '96, and subsequently on the live album 'Benaroya Hall" and the B sides collection ' Lost Dogs' The song is a haunting first person view of a man on death row preparing for execution with going over his own thoughts.  It's a darker view of the subject, much darker than a more famous death row song, covered on the same 'Benaroya Hall' album; '25 Minutes to go' a comical Shel Silversteen most famously covered by Johnny Cash song in his Folsom Prison album (although this link is from his show)




'Dead Man Walking' is an outstaning composition, simply and perfectly constructed with equal parts of Eddie Vedder's voice and guitar.  Many lesser bands would love to have this song in their collection.  Pearl Jam it seems is content to have it in their back pockets.  The track is just yet another example of the extensive catalog of Pearl Jam songs that many people are just simply unaware of.

Whether anthem, silly b side, soft love song, or cover, the collection is vast with this band.   In the future, I plan to bring many of these songs out into the open. 

To hear or read more regarding Pearl Jam, check out:
www.pearljam.com/song/dead-man-walking
Dead Man Walking @ iTunes
wikipedia.org/wiki/Off_He_Goes
wikipedia.org/wiki/25_Minutes_to_Go
iTunes album/25-minutes-to-go

To see more pearl jam song info, check out : pearljam.com/music/songs
to buy, check out: Pearljam.com/goods