PEARL JAM FRONTMAN EDDIE VEDDER TALKS POLITICS
Here are parts of a recent interview Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder did with repubblica.it where he comes off as very self-righteous and condescending towards people who disagree with him. This is not the full article since most of the translations made no sense, but I was able to translate a lot of his political quotes from the article. HERE IS PART OF THE ARTICLE! (Note I edited out some of my political beliefs from this because this is not a political site and I am not looking to upset readers, I apologize if I did, I just didn’t really like Eddie’s choice of words but I’ll try to keep things like that to myself in the future)
“The greatest fear is in the past,” he says referring the election of Obama after the failure of the Vote for Change campaign.
“We must strengthen the concept that art can be a protest form not violence,” he insists. “The common consensus wants to think that we artists make part of some kind of Hollywood elite, protected species that need to be kept far from the political disputes, to avoid to express own point of view, to ignore own humanistic education and to care themselves about some of the problems of the world. We do not live to Hollywood, but in Seattle, we pay taxes and we have the right to express our opinion. This has been taught to me with music with which they have grown and the novels to me that I have read. This I have learned from Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Townshend, Neil Young. From the Clancy Brothers and Irish music: framed history pieces in a song. And you do not say that there is not concurred to make it to us, because our job is own this. The Democrats called the Boss, Ben Harper, James Taylor and the Dixie Chicks to support Vote for Change. Who has played for the Republicans? A pair of country & western singers that Bush held to the leash.”
“When Bush was re-elected I could not make less than to think: ‘Fuck Americans, because you are badly informed and based your vote on values that I cannot accept. You believe that George Bush can still be just man after four years of his diabolic administration? ‘. Then, when Obama was introduced for the Democrats, it gave us the hope of having something for which fighting. The night he was elected, I wanted to dance on the street. The day after, Seattle went a rare day without rain, the sky was limpid, happy people and those little that had not voted for Obama recognized to the first look: sad, disappointed, pathetic.”
They found hope again and it is the spirit that guides of Backspacer, the composer who has written the tormented songs more of the grunge never has not been this optimistic. ” The change is obvious: enough political, we need a break. Eddie then mentions that one day while writing songs for Backspacer he called Tim Robbins and asked him if he had written after elections, the answer by Robbins was kind of hard to translate, but it’s probably what you would imagine a political conversation between Vedder and Robbins to be.
Nicely put! I agree with you!
As a socialist I also hate both parties XD
Like I said in the article with Eddie it’s not the Bush bashing that gets to me, I don’t like Bush either, it’s how he acts like Obama is some kind of God. “It stopped raining the day after he elected.” I mean come on Eddie, get real. He’s just another fucking politician. I would definitely respect if Eddie said, “I voted for Obama because I was unhappy with the way Bush ran the country” but his blind praise is just nuts, and even though I didn’t like McCain to call his voters ignorant is immature of Eddie.
i would rather hear eddie’s point of view than yours. And I heard A LOT more of yours.
obama sucks
bush sucks
hillary clinton was WAY better than nobama
When I told my father that Pearl Jam put a new song out, he said jokingly, “What is it about, Obama?”
The Fixer is probably about Obama
I don’t think Eddie is ‘condescending towards people who disagree with him,’ nor is it a pearl jam fan’s ‘least favorite thing in the world’ when he expresses himself. It’s why people enjoy the band in the first place, numnut. Fucking stupid indeed.
Well if it wasn’t for music Eddie would probably still be working at a gas station. He is not the smartest guy in the world.
So eddie says “Fuck Americans, because you are badly informed and based your vote on values that I cannot accept.” So then will he say they are not informed now? Will he say fuck Americans cause most of them voted for a black man just as a cathardic way of dealing with their own bigotries?
I guess it is safe to say Eddie is also a marxist.
Funny that you call Ed Vedder “condescending” and than go on a rave on how “fucking stupid” Ed Vedder is…
I do not know you, but what I read from your comments though – some very objective journalism here btw – you have no sense of real politics, economics or the philosophies that drive the poltical parties… There is some definite confusion here (and also by your readers) between socialism, marxism, libarlism, anarchism, conservatism etc. You write that you live in a capatalistic country, indeed. And that the government should not intervene with businesses… Also indeed. Can somebody call out the fucking “credit crisis”?
It never seize to amaze me that some people seem to think that eight years of very bad politics (Iraq, the biggest economic crisis since the thirties) can be solved in eight months… (I guess McCain of course would have done wonders… Which we would have voted it for of course in a cathardic way to deal with our guilt of eldery people and the way we kill them off in our current health care system.)
And for those of you who call Ed Vedder a marxist. In the name of Christ, go back to school and actually get educated before you spring stupity on the net.
This is the dumbest thing I read in months.
I’m a huge fan of Eddie and I think he’s a great guy, I just don’t really like what he said in the interview about politics.
I edited out some of my thoughts on what he said because I don’t really want to piss people off and this is not a political site, so I apologize for that. I just wasn’t too keen on how Eddie worded some things.
Eddie never mentions Obama is a God? Bush was in office longer than this and then we got attacked on 9/11, but everybody absolved him of any responsibility. Obama inherits this quagmire of an economy and world issues and he supposed to have solved it all in less time than Bush had before 9/11? That wasn’t my expectation… I think he is taking a pragmatic approach that requires unpopular short term decisions and it is only yahoos like you that interpret the support of Obama as servile idolatry… It is a free country and Eddie can say or sing whatever the hell he wants. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it, listen to it or read it, but quit expecting him to keep his mouth shut on his view point of what a better world would be like, just because you or others may disagree with him. Tony – you are spot on man!
I’m sorry but I think you might have just been having a bad day because the way I read eddie’s response, it didnt seem condescending at all. The rainy day comment was just an observation which he chose to use as a metaphor for a breath of fresh air he felt, we all felt, when Obama defeated McCain.
Not condescending, unapologetic perhaps. I mean that’s part of what grunge was always about right? Keeping that frank honest punk mentality. Condescending would be like unjustified scorn and elitism and I think eddie is neither.
Your article did nothing to help your point Brett, and ended up coming off as insulting, hypocritical, and naive. And if you’re just going to edit it, then why put it up in the first place? Just This was among the first articles I’ve ever read for the site, and I really don’t ever wish to go back here, sorry.
Like I said, I apologize for what I said, I should have thought before I wrote. You know when you are sometimes in a bad mood and take it out on something else? It happens, and I’m sorry. There won’t be any political things on here anymore, unless Eddie decides to run for the Senate or something. I’m a HUGE fan of Eddie/Pearl Jam.
It’s all good bro. I hear you = ) And your apology was very professional, so you earned another smiley face = )
I wonder if he woulda dissed Johnny Ramone for being a republican
I agree with Eddie. I live in Alabama and people are just ignorant about Obama. They kept their kids out of school because they thought they were going to brain wash them and all he did was tell them that they needed to actually try in school and it was their responsibility to actually try. In Alabama in Montgomery county they have a 51% drop out rate which is mostly black kids so yeah I think it’s good when a black man tells kids that they need to stay in school and get an education. And yet guys like Glen Beck were on TV crying like an insane person about the president talking to the children of America. I just want to stop and scream what the hell happen to the Republican party. The party used to be the party of the business man and intelligence now they just flock to the uneducated idiots like Beck and Sean Hannity who feed their paranoia. And then you get liberal guys like Bill Maher who come off as pretentious as hell and go off about how evil it is because you eat a cheese burger. The United States desperately needs a third party.
great band..and eddie vedder can believe what ever he wants oh well…i agree with some not all..he’s a bit too left for me..but better than being conservative like a mr ted nugent
Pearl Jam is one of my favorite groups ! I really like the Pearl jam song, Black . Black is also a favorite of mine. I found this really good video of black , check it out here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an3WCm0svCs
stephen
You are right brett, somehow I think that eddie would take back his total praise of obama if he had the chance, he is NOT a god, what the hell has he done lately anyway that has given “hope” to the people anyway?
Money is so intangible, its almost like a promise and a piece of paper.
Why should anyone listen to this guy, as he makes promises and then weasels out …He was supposed to leave the country when Bush got elected. After the election he backed out…coward and lying hypocrite.
Don’t listen to someone who doesn’t have the balls to live by his convictions…this guy’s full of hot air.
Leave your response!
Categories
Grunge Is Dead
Nirvana Unplugged
Most Commented