Always thought I’d cross that river,
The other side distant now.
As I got close it turned and widened,
Horizon now, fading out.
Drifting off in the undertow,
Can’t spot a figure on dry land.
And afterthoughts of safety,
When in truth, none to be had.
None to be had.
I used to tell time by my shadow,
Until the thunder clouds,
They took the stage.
These days will end, as do the light’s rays,
Another read of the same page.
Wide awake through this deepest night,
Still waiting on the sun.
As the hours seem to multiply,
Find a star to soldier on.
Oh, living beneath a lion’s paw,
Knowing nothing can be tamed.
I want this dream to last forever,
A wish denied to lengthen our time.
I wish this moment was never ending,
Let it be a lie that all futures die.
While the government thrives on discontent,
And there’s no such thing as clear.
Proselytizing and profitizing,
As our will all but disappears.
Folded over, forced in a choke hold,
Outnumbered and held down.
And all these talk of rapture,
Look around at the promise now.
Here and now!!
Can’t hold me down!!
Won’t hold us down!!
Won’t hold us down!!
Live it out!!
Let it out!!
Get it out!!
Shout it out!!
Won’t hold us down!!
Pearl Jam has been one of my favorite bands for quite awhile. Of course I heard 10, as we all did, when Grunge swept the nation. However it wasn’t until 3 albums later with No Code listening to it on Headphones in front of a tent in the desert with the Egyptian sun shining down on my that I was sold.
And then they just kept putting out credibly relevant album after album over the years. Some bands shift and develop a different style like Rush did post-Moving Pictures. PJ has stuck to their core sound with some forays into Cure-like songs. like 2002’s “You Are,” off Riot Act. and now with their latest 2020 offering “Gigaton,” the song “Dance of The Clairvoyants.”
Speaking of Gigaton, it takes me a bit to sink into an artists’ I love’s new work. I need time with it before the songs become familiar. This song River Cross is super solid with all the elements I love about Eddie Vedder’s song writing. Sure he is this SoCal new age poet of the universe surfer dude. That’s a part of it. But he is also a damn deep thinker and seems to just have a beautiful soul. Crap he cares deeply about comes through in his lyrics. Looking at this song there’s, the spiritual healing power of nature, there’s metaphor and maybe allegory (how can one be quite sure the difference between the two?), the moment waiting for light to rise, the common human experience, the raging and ranting against the money’ed set and the current politics of the time with Trump doing all Trump does, then back to the metaphor of nature to a hopeful resolve.
The song ends with a mantra, something Bruce Springsteen did so well on his post-911 healing album The Rising and featured on the song My City of Ruins….and so many other good songs on that album. Rise up. Come on rise up.
Both songs resolve in hope. The Boss, Eddie, PJ. They become the rock and roll savior priest to fan the flames into the crowd of hope. A large, extremely large tent revival as the folks jump up on their seats hands and fists raised skyward. We won’t be held down fucking 2020!!! You can come at us with all you got and we’ll just say what next? Shrug and hope, hope, hope… for better times. For a future day where the sun also rises.
Come on Rise Up. Live it Out! Let it Out! With these hands, with this hands! Fear, love, faith, and hope. And of those four hope does not dissapoint.
Hope.
ZandMe's 999 Good Things 