Pearl Jam Song of the Week - Porch by Pearl Jam from MTV Unplugged

In 1992, Pearl Jam took their grunge sound to television. They had two very successful appearances with SNL & MTV Unplugged. The sixth song from the TV appearance, and 7th for the DVD release (with the Ten re-issue) was 'Porch'. Besides the obvious difference of the acoustic guitar, the song is extended with a long Mike McCready guitar solo & Eddie Vedder improv. Also without the electric, the guitar seems more rhythmic. The song is self edited by Eddie, but the political statement is not muted at all.

Outside of some incredibly young looking and long haired members of the band, the highlights of the video are as follows:

0:49 Eddie Vedder's growl (I'm not sure why this seems so much different than the album)
1:32 Mike McCready guitar solo (including Eddie Vedder falling off of his stool)
2:07 Jeff Ament's drum acrobatics
2:18 the guitar portion speeding up
2:25 Eddie Vedder starts his self tattoo "PRO-CHOICE" on his arm
3:12 Eddie begins his improv including "I want to live, I want to choose"
4:00 the wailing begins
4:19 the screaming begins

'Porch' by Pearl Jam as featured on MTV Unplugged

Commenter Periodix on SongMeanings.net summarizes it best on 08-25-2002:

"This song is actually a pro-choice anthem by Pearl Jam...it's tough to see that meaning in the song, but in their unplugged performance on MTV, Eddie stood on his stool and wrote "pro-choice" on his arm during the instrumental part...also, on an appearance on Saturday Night Live, Eddie sang the lyrics "a woman her every right...to choose...to choose...to choose...for herself".

I think he/she is dead on. Others argue that it's about a break up, but check out the lyrics from the middle verse. It certainly fits the politicizing of Abortion & Pro Choice Rights more so than a break up.

Excerpt from 'Porch' on Ten by Pearl Jam

All the bills go by, and
Initiatives are taken up
By the middle, there ain't gonna be any middle any more
And the cross I'm bearing home
Ain't indicative of my place

For more info on Pearl Jam try: wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Jam

To purchase this on DVD, check the special editions of Ten on the goods page of pearljam.com

Comments

New Release Q&A - Sonja Sofya answers some questions for "Patterns We Know"

The buzz has been all about Sonja Sofya and her new album The Patterns We Know . Tonight Sonja Sofya and band take to the stage at Boot & Saddle in South Philly along with a great line-up featuring Arc Divers and the dove and the wolf. Right off the top we have some great reasons to expect great things from this album, such as produced by Ross Bellenoit at Turtle Studios and excellent musicianship by guitarist/producer Ross Bellenoit, bassist Jonathan Colman , and drummers Matt Scarano and Jonas Oesterle . But we at Root Down In The Shadow wanted to dig further and see what Sonja had to say about the album. Here's 3 questions we had for the songstress Sonja Sofya: RDITS: What was the impetus to make a full length record and why did you pick the people you worked with? At a certain point, playing and writing as much as I was, it felt like the logical next step, but I waited for a while, trying to find the "perfect" time to go into the stud...

New Chris Kasper single - City By the Sea

Here's a wonderfully bluesy tease to the upcoming Chris Kasper album. New single "City By The Sea", is just enough to keep fans from getting restless, while he tours with Carsie Blanton along the West Coast. Hopefully there will be some local dates soon, as 2017 seems so far off right now. City by the Sea by Chris Kasper

Bandade Presents: the dove & the wolf and Dirty Dollhouse

Bandade Music is very aware of the power of music in our lives. Formed in Nashville in 2015 and now located in Philadelphia, Bandade works to build community, raise awareness, and fight cancer through music. So far, they’ve had support from Alabama Shakes , Jason Isbell , Florence Welch , Sam Beam of Iron and Wine , and more; and since their move to Philadelphia, local artists are playing a major role in the Bandade community, helping to raise funds to fight cancer, and transforming an ordinary Wednesday night into an opportunity to be part of a larger purpose. Last month, Philly artists the dove & the wolf and Dirty Dollhouse highlighted the most recent Bandade benefit, and Root Down in the Shadow was there. Learn more about Bandade and see their calendar of upcoming shows at MyBandadeMusic.com . the dove & the wolf the dove and the wolf - photo by Dan McGurk Upon first listen, Paris turned Philly expats the dove & the wolf stir something gloriously familiar...

Root Down in the Shadow

Search This Blog