life ends at 27
Something topical.
I did not understand the song when I first heard it, more than 20 years ago. As part of the majority race in my country, I arguably still don’t but I can at least try to see and recognise inequality and injustice.
Mirrorball is probably one of my favourite albums from the mid 90s and was my gateway drug to the wonder that is Neil Young. I have gone on to embrace almost all the musical aspects of the eclectic Neil Young but it is the distortion merchant proto-grunge rocker Neil that speaks to me loudest.
This is the performance from the 2006 Bridge School Benefit.
With his mind he’s saying, no more
With his heart he’s saying, no more
With his life he’s saying, no more war
With his eyes he’s saying, no more
With his body he’s saying, no more
With his voice he’s saying, no more war
At the Kokua Festival in Waikiki, Hawaii, 21st April 2007, Eddie Vedder debuted this song which was composed just a few days prior. A very passionate song, and obviously inspired by the work he is doing for the documentary Body of War.
Edit: The official title of the song is No More.
Thanks to Laurie/Evolution from AMPJ who posted this photo. Brilliant cover, and, of course as I have mentioned, the performance is just killer.
That will be awesome as a poster (hint).
A-side: Love Reign O’er Me
B-side: Rockin’ In The Free World (with Bono and the Edge!)
The Sky I Scrape is hosting an MP3 of Pearl Jam’s cover of Love, Reign O’er Me. As I have mentioned in an earlier post, it seems Pearl Jam is recording the song for the new Adam Sandler movie “Reign Over Me”.
After years of on and off aborted snail mail attempts to snag this bootleg, I finally got it, thanks to dimeadozen.org. Thank you, DIME users. Thank you, MS (taper). The only references to this concert that I can Google for are a contemporary fan review, and a description of the concert on Five Horizons and an interview from local Singapore magazine Big O.
The experience literally changed my life.
Taper
MS
Source
ECM-939 > DAT-M > DAT1 48khz
Transfer
DA-20 > Monster coax > Dio 2496 > Soundforge 6.0 (resample to 44.1) > CDWave > FLAC
Disc I:
Disc II:
Eddie did a parody of Richard Marx’s Right Here Waiting, right before Blood which was utterly brilliant. If memory serves me correctly, Richard Marx performed at the same location (the Indoor Stadium) a day before Pearl Jam did. Lyrics according to Five Horizons:
whatever you do
wherever you are
you can fuck [?]wherever you piss
wherever you shit
make sure not to fall asleep in itwherever you pee [?]
wherever you spit
make sure you’re not caught by the copsdon’t want to be caned
don’t want to be shot
i just wanna… rock
Stealing a good idea from Crooks and Liars‘ Late Night Music Club, here’s Pearl Jam with guest Chris Cornell performing Temple of the Dog’s Hunger Strike, Santa Barbara 2003. Its not everyday you get two of the best hard rock singers of the 90s on the same stage, singing the same song.
The George Bush administration has been a complete joke and disaster, but times like these can galvanise the political musicians like no other.
Neil Young’s Living With War rocks my socks. He has not been this intense since 1994’s Sleeps With Angels, and not this raw and loud since Ragged Glory. There’s of course the hilarious and controversial Impeach The President, “Well, it’s a song that pretty well follows the title just with a bunch of reasons, and it’s a long song…” indeed. The opener After The Garden and The Restless Consumer are the standout tracks for me on first impressions. The entire album is streamed for free.
The other big release is Pearl Jam’s self-titled eighth studio album. I found Binaural and Riot Act not up to their usual high standards, but I can safely say with this one Pearl Jam is back. The Who-ish introduction to Life Wasted kicks things off on a totally rocking note, and the excitement and energy reminiscent of a live performance is palpable throughout the album.
Add new albums from Tool and RHCP to the mix, and this is one of the best years for me musically.