I think this song is about trying to get away from something such as your past, "all those yesterdays". It is about being afraid to show your true self because you might not feel accepted, so you are a fake to be wanted, "taking pills to get along, creating walls to call your own, so no one catches you". So you're afraid to move on because of the past, and you hide yourself behind these walls you've created. Then at the end, the line "you've got time, you've got time to escape there's still time, it's no crime to escape" means you have to be able to forgive yourself and don't let the past haunt you to death and destroy your future.

Follow-up by Yield_LO2L: just read the first few lines of the song, it's asking the questions and knowing whether it is time to move on with on what could be holding you back and greatly bothering you

i think this eddie talking about the band feeling as if they are taking on the whole world that has united against them: 5 against 1. you've got ed's confusion why everyone is attacking their band with the lyric, why would you wanna hurt me? so it's more of pearl jam against the media and that they are nothing of animals. usually someone is more afraid of an animal, but in the case of a pearl jam in the early days and the hype about them, they'd be safer with a grizzly bear than a reporter for a magazine.

I heard this song was written for Jack Iron's new born child, but to me it is a love song. It's about two people in a relationship, but are unable to make time for eachother much as they'd like to. So in this song they are given sometime for eachother to relax and enjoy eachother's company (that is why the music is so gentle). They've found time for eachother: "all the evenings close like this", and enjoy the little things that make their relationship so special: "i'll be watching as you breathe", "i hold your head deep in my arms, my fingertips they close your eyes". It could also be they had a fight that took a little time to resolve, but they finally have: "all these moments that i've missed, please forgive me, won't you, dear?". In the end when everything is said and done, they realize they are meant to belong toogether: "you're an angel when you sleep, how i want your soul to keep"

This song is about Eddie Step Father, as in one of his concert, he said: I dedicate this song to the bastard that married my mum". I guess that Eddie tries to find an explanation to the fact that his mother stays with that man , that he openly dislikes. His mother is still with him, cause she doesn,t want to stay alone, and try to "imagine" that he has qualities. She tries to convince herself that she cannot find better man than him, though she is unhappy with him. I think Eddie Vedder disliked some much his step father that he couldn,t accept that his mother loved that man. I think he wrote this song, to convince himself that his mother stayed with that awful man for bad reasons...what do u think?

Okay, everybody deals with this conflict one time or another in our journey of life, it's part of life you can say. In the beginning of the song the person is faced reflecting on the past he had with this girl, and how she was his life and everything to him and this guy also meant a lot to the girl, they were eachother's destinies at one point: (Ooh, and all I taught her was everything - Ooh, I know she gave me all that she wore). Now the girl is out of his life for whatever he reason, maybe he's turning to God to ask what went wrong: (And now my bitter hands chafe beneath the clouds - Of what was everything?). The guy makes an attempt to move on with his life and going out into the world, and yet it bring him no joy at all, he's still bitter: (I take a walk outside - I'm surrounded by some kids at play - I can feel their laughter, so why do I sear). This could be another example of an attempt to move on: (And now my bitter hands cradle broken glass). He could've smashed up pictures of the girl to release his love, but he can't let her go, and he finds himself holding the broken pieces of the picture frames. He realizes he can't move on, this was his true love and now is gone. He's afriad to love again and feels an emotional scar that will never leave: (All the pictures have all been washed in black, tattooed everything - All the love gone bad turned my world to black - Tattooed all I see, all that I am, all that I'll be). He finally sees the girl is gone, and accepts that fact, but wishes he can hold her: (I know someday you'll have a beautiful life, I know you'll be a star - In somebody else's sky - but why Why, why can't it be, why can't it be mine). So there you have it, the story from my view behind the lyrics of Black. I wonder if Eddie wrote these words based on his own experience, or someone he knew or just made a story up. But feeling the emotions of this song on the Ten disc, and especially live, it feels like Eddie's reliving this story everytime they play this song. I get chills whenever I hear this song played on bootlegs I've heard, and especially the MTV Unplugged show. That was beautiful.

Follow-up by Buru7_Sadbeauty: I love this song too... a song about losing someone you love. Or maybe yourself picturing your life without that person, how hard it would be to go on...It's just heart-wrenching, all those raw emotions...

This is a hard one to get at, but from the title I can see this is probably talking about JFK and the fact that is body was buried but ihs brain was kept for the purpose of science. The other idea I have is about another JFK coming into your world and once he does "the world will be different". it's definetly about him, but don't have the slightest clue what the lyrics could suggest.

Ok, in the song I feel someone who was loved by someone, got whatever she wanted, she took advantage of the situation to gain more until this other person(s) saw what was going on and left. Now the character is left with nothing, and loved by no one and is dealing with depression or what not, "there's a girl on a ledge, who's got nowhere to turn, because all the love that she had was just wood that she burned, now her life is on fire, it's no one's concern". So you have this person considering suicide as in the first line it says she's on the ledge, and the only thing that can save her now is the love she once had, "only love can breakherfall".

The first to point out is the song title. everybody remembers Eddie's signature corduroy jacket? it was given to him by Stone as a gift. after the band hit the big time, and Eddie was seen everywhere wearing it, gap was selling that jacket who knows for what amout of money, but more than it was before Eddie put it on his back. Having said that, you can see what this song is about. Eddie wrote the lyrics to those who see him as a "god", and pretty much stalk him. The lyrics may have been written shortly after Kurt's death and the attention he got, so Eddie is afraid Pearl Jam's fans are elevating him to the same level. These musicians or movie stars get trapped into this world and can't get out. They've got fans going up to them: Eddie, was it the meaning of life? No one can handle such pressure they are put under, Ed's releasing his frustations at these "fans". You've got lines like: "take my hand, not my picture" of people asking these celebs for autographs, and the actual person. All of strive to get a CD signed by Pearl Jam, don't we? But maybe they don't want to that, they'd rather sit down and have a talk with you. Then the line: "why ain't it sposed to be just fun. oh, to live and die, let it be done", I think it shows Ed's confusion about the whole stardom situation. one day he's a youngster working by pumping gas and soon he's being seen as the voice of our generation, but he just wants to write music and not have to live up to such pressure. He's a person, not a god.

Follow-up by Pilate78: I really like your idea of the Corduroy being about fame.. it makes perfect sense, no doubt it.. i've always seen it the same way too.. that's how our pop culture works: every once in a while we choose a certain person to the "voice of the generation" as you referred to it.. and that person is viewed as something bigger than life itself among us.. the commercial world tries take advantage of that and they provoke our star craving minds to thrist even more for these people.. Eddie once was had to live through that.. it's like he was bigger than life itself.. so you've got places like Gap trying to take his look and sell it to these kids who wanted to be just like their idols.. and thing is Eddie or the band didn't want this attention, but they were thrown into this cycle.. now you've got the Backstreet Boys, Spears or whatever on these leaders of the generation.. although they'll be gone eventually and have short life spans, they'll leave knowing they emptied the pockets of these youngster who don't know how the music business works.. so Corduroy is going out the fans and the business world just leave me alone, let me just write my music and don't make me into something I'm not.. the band provailed and are still out there and kicking.. to me it shows the difference between Pearl Jam (anti rock stars) and Pop/Rock stars.. and in the end, those are in it for the music and not the money, will survive

I see this song dealing with abuse, not as much physical, but emotional abuse. You have a young girl who doesn't recieve much love from her parents. To them she is seen as their creation, and want to make this girl into the way they want her to be, and strip her of individuality. You come across these situations quite often, the parents were raised in a strict home, and think they turned out well. Now they want raise their own children in similar fashion. "She holds the hand that holds her down" is the girl living to the likes of her parents, and not herself. And she can't break away from this oppression because it's the only way she's known to be since being born, she's holding the hand that prevents her from expressing herself. However she will overcome her parents' control and rise above. Then you have the girl repeating "don't call me daughter", it could be a call of guilt. The girl feels she let her parents down by breaking away from their discipline. Now she feels lost without the life she once knew, and thinks she will not be welcomed by her parents now, and isn't worthy enough to be called their daughter. Then you have the line "the shades go down" and in Rearviewmirror the shades are raised. The girl sees the oppression she's been under, and in Rearviewmirror the guilt has dimished and the girl is looking back at the life she was had, and the anger that came with it. So to me these song go hand in hand, as in Rearviewmirror you realize you don't have live upto anyone's liking, you're free to be yourself.

i don't like the song very much... but i have an idea what it means... to me it speaks about rape... you've got a woman staying with a man for the night as the first line says... but she isn't sure if she wants him there... she could be doing it out generousity... she doesn't know what she can say about this sitation... the male takes advantage of this... soon the woman is down... and he's low... to me this shows the actual rape occuring... a dissident is here... a person who disagrees with something... and after afterwards you have the escape never being the safest path... it is sad but true... maybe if the lady tried to fight the man off it would cost her life... now the lady's gliding on... she's home but far away... the affect the rape had on this lady... and she's not speaking to anyone about it, "nothing said, what a waste"... if she came to someone close to her and explain her story... the rapist could be punished... then you have the being to the line about "selling him to the state"... i get the idea got pregnant by the rapist and has to give the child up for adoption because either she can't raise to child or know the fact this child is in the world today because she was raped and not created out of love... the woman once again is faced with a dissident... the child is hers, but "she gave him away when she couldn't hold...no...she folded... a dissident is here"... and this may not be the right solution, "escape is never, the safest path a dissident, a dissident is here"... the lady had trouble making this decision and it is haunting her now... but sometimes we have to make the tougher choices

Follow-up by Yield_LO2L: I see this song about rape and probably geared to the male population of the world.. the song has the line "a holy no".. that to me is the "no" of a woman.. and a woman's "no" is scared and we have to respect that, male or female.. so when a woman says "no", it means NO..

if any of you read the book Ishmael... you will see the similarities between the novel and the song... it's about what we have done with our world... and how the humans have destroyed believing we are the supreme being and do as we please... the world was made for us and we are meant to rule it and this our paradise... however we've destroyed our paradise and are doomed... (this land is mine, this land is free i'll do what i want, but irresponsibly)... we've taken the world and destroyed it beyond repair... this is what i get from this song and novel i read from which this song came from... i recommend you guys read Ishmael by Daniel Quinn... the lyrics of Do the Evolution will make clear sense...