The Touring Fan Live
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Let's Talk Vine(YL) - The Fire Still Burns: Pearl Jam's Activism Through Music
Music has forever been intertwined with activism, and few bands embody this connection more authentically than Pearl Jam. The legendary Seattle rockers have spent decades using their platform not just to entertain, but to educate, inspire, and mobilize their fans around causes they deeply believe in.
From the raw emotional power of "Jeremy" addressing gun violence to the environmental advocacy woven throughout "Gigaton," Pearl Jam's lyrical activism spans their entire discography. This commitment extends far beyond their music—through initiatives like the Vitalogy Foundation, they've channeled millions toward organizations fighting homelessness, environmental degradation, and social injustice. Perhaps most remarkably, they've demonstrated true conviction by making difficult choices like canceling their 2016 North Carolina show to protest anti-LGBTQ legislation, putting principles firmly before profit.
What makes Pearl Jam's approach to activism particularly powerful is how it ripples through their fanbase. Fan-led organizations like the Wishlist Foundation have raised substantial funds for various causes, while concert pre-parties often feature voter registration drives and community outreach. This legacy of inspiring others to take action may be the band's most enduring contribution. As Eddie Vedder implied in "Grievance," we live in a world where technology connects us digitally while often disconnecting us humanly—Pearl Jam reminds us that music can still bring people together across differences for meaningful dialogue and positive change. Whether you align with their specific views or not, their commitment to using their voice authentically deserves respect. Next time you listen to a Pearl Jam track, consider placing "bubble gum in your right ear"—truly hearing their message rather than letting it pass through unexamined.
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We can shout a party. We can play low. A heart, a love and a toe Underneath it all, a central breeze that'll never last long. Don't turn around and walk and when the night won't see, when we're all on the floor, get to shivering skin. Don't let it ever end. And welcome to the Touring Fan. Live, we are live. It is the day before 4th of July. Happy 4th of July early. Happy July 3rd. If you're celebrating around the world, where we do have a lot of listeners, I'm sorry you're working tomorrow while we enjoy the day off eating and drinking.
Speaker 1:Just to give a quick shout out to Dust Star. It is a band out of Texas. The song you just heard is Nothing In my Head. They are a political pop punk band out of Texas. They, a couple months ago, sent us out, or someone. One of their fans sent us a song and said hey, you guys should listen to this. I dug it so we put it on. That's Dust Star, nothing in my Head. So give them a listen, give them a like and go from there. Trey Bush, it has been a while, buddy, how have you been?
Speaker 2:I've been good, I you know, just jumping on here and you know. We know what the climate's like right now, so it's a harder question to ask today than it was six months ago, that's for sure. But outside of the outside distractions, we're good, holly and I's good. Kids are good. We just got back from our anniversary vacation to maui where we did seven days of nothing, which was great nice uh did our best to stay off our devices and uh not pay attention to what's going on. So, um, but uh yeah other than that man.
Speaker 2:I mean, I think there's a reason we're doing this show tonight. I have a feeling that a lot of people are feeling the same way.
Speaker 1:We are so well. Well, first of all, I need to apologize. We were supposed to do a show last month. I got into another car wreck, totaled my van, which put me through like I got stuck in a tornado, wrecked my van, so put me through like a whole weird situation, had to get a new van, put everything on the back burner, really push everything out of the way, and then I've been on steroids for a while. It's kind of put me in a limbo, you're looking pumped by the way.
Speaker 2:I mean like jacked Plump, your neck is huge Plump.
Speaker 1:I feel like I need a fucking bra. I feel like I need a turtleneck to cover this. Get it. Um, your voice, your voice, your voice keeps on going up and down. Oh god, oh great. You see now, now I'm going through, steroids are fucking with me, uh no. So then, and then I've been training really hard because and I really should have been doing better but I had my first bike race last week weekend, so I did a 50 mile bike race and I'm training for another half a marathon in two weeks and so, like my, my mind hasn't been in it and, to be you, like, it's just been a weird time in general, like everything's just weird. It's just everything. I don't know.
Speaker 2:Everything's weird.
Speaker 1:Everything is weird, not like, remember the Lego song from that movie, everything is Awesome? I don't know. I think Everything is Weird should be the new fucking song that comes out. But you know, I messaged you the other day because I'm like, listen, 4th of July is coming up and I think one of the key things that Pearl Jam is known for nowadays is for their activism, utilizing their music to be very much a platform for change, to use their fame in ways to try to educate and to push the ideas that they believe in onto their fans, and not in pushing a negative way, but to educate. I think educate is the key word tonight. And there's something I want to say.
Speaker 1:I know that Pearl Jam has fans from both sides of the table and I'm not saying tonight that I'm here to change anyone's mind about anything, or I'm not here to push any political agenda on anybody whatsoever.
Speaker 1:You can believe whatever you want to believe. With Tamar being 4th of July, you know, I, in my opinion, I believe that you have the freedom to believe what you want to believe, to say what you want to say and to do really what you want to do legally, and you know we might not agree on that, but it doesn't mean that I can't have a beer with you and talk about it, and I think tonight what the we're have 10 topics about Pearl Jam. We're going to talk about the song Bushleaguer. Is that? No matter what? Don't let anything that's coming out from the news or anything in general that's coming out from any politician, from either side of the platform, change the way that you look at somebody or believe in someone. Have conversations, have difficult conversations, because sometimes educating and learning from others is a great thing, and that's what we're going to be doing tonight and talking about how Pearl Jam utilizes their fame and their platform to educate and to really push what they believe in onto their fans in a way that's educational.
Speaker 2:I completely agree with you wholeheartedly. The hard part is getting those people to sit down across the table from you, though you know, Ain't that the trust. Well, actually that's not the hard part. The hard part is actually getting them to listen to you, and you know what I mean. They can hear you.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Or they can listen to you, but are they hearing you? That's what I mean. Great point. Listen to you, but are they hearing you? That's what I mean. So, and those are different things. Listening to you is one thing, but actually hearing what you have to say and processing that and um, and that's where we are right now, uh, is we? You know? Uh, I feel like I've been listening and hearing a lot from the other side, and but it's just everything that I hear is awful, you know so, um, and then the rest of us are in an echo chamber. You know me talking to you, you talking to me, you talking to your friends at all to feel the same way we do, and stuff, and um, you know.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, well, that was uh, it was one of the things I wrote down that night. Actually, there was, uh, yeah, that was one of the things I wrote down that night. Actually, I'm trying to remember. I think it was a song, grievance, I can't remember which song it was.
Speaker 2:There was a song that Eddie had written and he made note of the fact that where we are headed as a society, especially this digital age that we live in, we all live on our phones and you know we live on these apps. We don't live talking to each other. We're not sitting across the table talking to each other, like you would never say 99 of the things that you see people write on social media. You would never say that to someone if they're sitting right across from you. You know what I mean. Totally agree, like they would. You would. It would be a conversation of some sort, but, um, now that we have these, uh, that's almost like you know this protective wall of you, know you're of, you don't know who that person is and they're not going to do anything to you or whatever. So you feel like you have the power to say whatever you want without any consequences, which is just terrible.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we live in a weird world, but I I would say this, though if you look at the way history plays in music in general because tonight I want to talk mostly about how music and politics and and the way of life have really changed there's always a change in guard, right? When I mean guard, I mean, like, whether a leader or local leadership and stuff of that and then musicians, artists because that's something we could talk about a little bit to use their platform and to try to to make change. And a lot of times, you know there, maybe they're not heard or maybe that looked into a certain way or maybe it's not coming across in a way, and you know, some people want to shut that down or some people want to ignore it. But I will say this the best advice I was ever given in my entire life when it came to politics or into disagreeing with somebody and we've had disagreements on the show, not about politics per se, but like music or whatever right Is try to understand the person you're speaking to, into their shoes, right, like how is that coming across from him?
Speaker 1:Because here's the thing we I and it's almost like I talked to someone recently about um, you know they live a certain lifestyle and the and you know, and some people don't agree with it, and maybe they don't agree with it because they don't understand it. And maybe if they understood it, maybe they'd be living with it because they don't understand it. And maybe if they understood it, maybe they'd be living that lifestyle. But instead of just partially downplaying it, or or or being so, I don't understand how someone can be so passionate against something that it almost turns into a red sox yankees rivalry, that you're almost like, so against that you're willing to fight for that. There's nothing that I disagree with in this world that like whether it's a choice of life, or how someone looks, or how someone dresses, whatever, like if that's what you want to do and you're comfortable with it, that's fine, that's on you, that's your agenda. Like you might not like the way I dress, but who cares?
Speaker 1:but it doesn't mean I don't know about that. I mean, I'm digging deep in my closet now to find shit to fit around this fucking chest I got growing. Sooner or later I'm going to be.
Speaker 2:I'll be taking photos like Holly we're going to be. I'll have Holly send some lingerie out for you. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:On the next episode of Touring Fan.
Speaker 2:So I mean my new Instagram account for you, anthony.
Speaker 1:Okay, come up with a great name, so listen, account for you, anthony. Okay, come up with a great name, but so listen. Here are the 10 topics we're going to talk about right after we get into uh the, the, what we're drinking this evening. Uh, one, we're talking about the historical context of activism and music when it comes to Pearl jam. Uh lyrics, a tool for change. When it comes to, uh, what lyrics and how they utilize it for it. Supportive environmental causes. Uh concerts as a platform for advocacy fan and gave her an activism resistance. Environmental causes, concerts as a platform for advocacy, fan engagement and activism. Resistance against corporate influences, support for LGBTQ rights. Political statements with their music videos, collaboration with other artists and activists and then, finally, a legacy of activism and rock music when it comes to Pearl Jam.
Speaker 2:But before we dig into that, first, I don't know if you want to show everybody no, no, no, no, no this will not be a four-hour show.
Speaker 1:This will not be a four-hour show. I've tried to keep this organized. I feel like our shows that are about an hour to an hour and ten minutes long are most popular. But, with that being said, next month is a big month. I don't know if you realize this. Next, next month will be five years since we did our first show.
Speaker 2:Ooh, is that right?
Speaker 1:Five years. And it kills me. Because you messaged me a couple weeks and you're like, hey, you want to come to Seattle because you're doing something in Seattle and I'm like I can't because I'll be in Portland seeing Nine Inch Nails with Brad and Sam. And then I looked at the date and the date that you're doing that thing at London Bridge Studios is literally five years to the day that we did our first show. Come on.
Speaker 2:Well, you can miss a concert for that, no, I'm not missing.
Speaker 1:Listen, I love Nine Inch Nails and this is it's been a long time since I've seen them. Fine.
Speaker 2:Sorry, sorry.
Speaker 1:Sorry to be a buzzkill. I wish I had a button to do something. All right, there we go. All right, so let's dig into this. What are you drinking tonight, Trey?
Speaker 2:I am drinking. I went back to the Wayback Machine and was going around my cellar. I was like I'm trying to find something. I wanted to find something in the timeframe that I remember when I really thought about Pearl Jam being a really political activist band. You know the for me, when I listened to those first five albums, while they were well, and we're going gonna dig into this tonight, I know we are uh and I'll we'll go back and find songs. I always, I still just I related to those songs, um, as just great music and they made me feel good or they may feel it made me feel a certain way, but I wasn't like really like glomming on to some, like hardcore messaging, especially political from the standpoint, and it really for me, it wasn't until binaural and um riot act when and you know the george bush years, uh, when they really were, you know, very outspoken, especially lyrically and musically stuff. So I found my only bottle. I have left 2004, uh, basil sellers.
Speaker 2:Now, this is a winery I made wine at from 2002, all the way through 2006 before I started, sleight of hand, and it was seven, uh, so I was the winemaker. I didn't own this winery, but this was the winery that I was the winemaker at and kind of developed a lot of my um following while I was at this winery. There's a hundred percent cab franc from? Uh. The 2004 vintage is from sheldon millie vineyard, which is a vineyard that I'd worked with when I was at dunham sellers prior to moving over to basil. I used that vineyard for a couple of years at sleight of hand and then we ended up dropping it. But um 21 year old bottle of cab franc and it is rocking, rocking good, like. It's in great shape, still very fresh, not tired. Uh, the look at the cork on this thing. This is a 21 year old. You see that 21 year oldyear-old cork. Look at that. Barely even seeped through the edge of that. Can I ask you a?
Speaker 1:question, Trey, when you drank that wine, because you've already had a sip of it, you know how music can bring us back to a time, or a poster can bring us back to a time. When drinking that wine does that bring back memories you haven't thought about in a long time?
Speaker 2:that one. Does that bring back memories you haven't thought about in a long time? I mean, I, I for sure. Yes, drinking old wines absolutely makes me think back to I use for me. I think about that vintage, I think about what the growing season was like that vintage um, whether it was a good growing season, a hard growing season.
Speaker 2:2004 was actually a very interesting year. Uh, washington had one of the coldest winters we ever had. We had a freeze in, I think, december or january. Um, hold on one second, how I go into burlesque practice. Oh, uh, we had a freeze. We had a freeze in 2004. In the winter of 2004, I believe it was january got down to 20, 20 below zero.
Speaker 2:Walla, walla, walla, walla lost almost every grape. We we had to cut all of our vines to the ground and at the time our winery we were mostly a state fruit, so most of our fruit was coming from Walla Walla, so we had hardly any fruit to work with that year. And Chateau St Michelle, the largest winery in Washington and also the largest vineyard holding company in Washington, came to all of the wineries in Walla Walla. We had a meeting. I remember the meeting. It was in March. They said, hey, we'll make available to you anything you need to make wine from our vineyards. All the wines that I made from 2004 were outside of the Walla Walla Valley. They were all Columbia Valley wines at the time. And now this particular bottle, the Sheldon Millie Vineyard, was a contract and a grower that I had been working with already for several years, so this was outside of that offering from St Michelle Michelle. But that's the only reason we really madea lot of wine that year or any wine was because Chateau Saint Michelle came to us and offered us. So we were able to keep our production levels at the same level and it was a very good vintage as far as wine making goes. It was a good growing season.
Speaker 2:People think of the o 04 vintage as a tough vintage, but only because of the freeze, but the actual growing season was fantastic and this wine's a testament to that for sure. And this was my third vintage on my own and really my first vintage where I felt like, okay, I'm sort of stepping outside of the shadows of where I got my training. I'm making some decisions now that maybe my other, the other winery I used to work for, wouldn't have probably made these decisions. Or you know, I started I guess I started doing things a little differently, starting in 04. Um, and so, yeah, but again, this is, you know, that sort of binaural riot act timeframe and I thought, oh, this would be a fun wine to fun wine to pull. I had no idea I haven't had this bottle of wine in probably five years. Wow, cause, you know, I only had a few bottles left. And so, um, to see that it's still kicking is awesome.
Speaker 1:That is awesome. I like the story behind it too. I think the one thing I've always appreciated about you, especially like when we first met, was how you did things that you believed in. Like you're talking about, like this is your, you know, this is when you really started thinking outside the box and making changes that were different, that some of the wineries you were learning from or you were working with might not have done, and this is kind of like the building blocks or the foundation you were building to get into what you have now.
Speaker 2:And that's pretty amazing. Yeah, for sure, thank you. Anyway, it's delicious. What are you drinking tonight?
Speaker 1:Tonight. So our good friend Brad, when he came out here to go see Jack White with me, he brought me a bunch of stuff and one of them was this so I'm drinking beer tonight. I'm actually off steroids, so I'm drinking something a little bit different. So it's called Barrel Age. It's from Fremont, it's a Barrel Age Dark Star. It's a 2018 limited release and it is delightful.
Speaker 2:I don't know too much about the…. Yeah, so Fremont Brewing Company is one of the older breweries in Seattle. Okay, and that is their. That's a barrel-aged. I don't know if they call it a stout, but it's a dark beer obviously. Did you get a glass for it? Let's see it.
Speaker 1:I got my glasses on because you told me to hold on a second. It is barrel-aged. Yes, imperial oatmeal stout aged in bourbon barrels, oh, fuck me yeah, oh, it's so good, oh, no, you told me to stay away from the barrels that are aged and the gimmicky and but I know this is a beer.
Speaker 2:I told you to stay away from the wines that were aged in the gimmicky. That. That's what I told you Beer. That's the beauty of breweries and being a brewer. They have the freedom to do anything they want without being judged with what they make. They can add fruit stuff, they can add lactose, they can add whatever they want to do and make these really cool beers. That's why the fun part about going to a brewery is looking at the menu of all the new stuff they have, not just going in and ordering the same thing every time. Dr Justin Marchegiani. Yeah, dr Tim Jackson, we're bound by wineries, are bound by tradition in a much stricter way, I think. So it needs to be taken seriously.
Speaker 1:Well, I take you very serious. I take you very serious and tonight's topics are going to be very serious.
Speaker 2:It is very serious. What do you think of that?
Speaker 1:beer, by the way. Do you like it? I do. I like it a lot, so I do like a dark beer and it's been a while since I've drank a dark beer and this is fantastic. I love this a lot.
Speaker 2:I know they make they make a beer called the B bomb, which is also. They almost have a. You know there's a sweetness to them and there's they're almost chocolatey. You know this is very yeah, yeah, and check out the alcohol level on that?
Speaker 1:I don't know. It's gonna be interesting when I go to see fireworks here in a little bit, oh let's see Alcohol in a little bit.
Speaker 2:Oh, let's see alcohol. The alcohol level on this is 13.6 per volume. It might be higher than my wine. Yeah, my wine. My wine's 15-1, so it's close. I was making some boozy wines back then you were living it up.
Speaker 1:Living it up, but all right, let's, let's jump right into this topic, shall we? Yeah, so the first topic we're talking about is the historical context of activism and music. And if you look at pearl jam, when you look at how they utilized, like, what's going on in the world at certain times and how they can utilize their music in sense to, I guess, show how they're feeling, right, um, when you think about, like, for instance, you were talking about when Ryback came out, george Bush era, that you, you almost know that the music on there is really historical to that time, because the music is made because of how the band felt as things were going on at that time. Um, you made because of how the band felt as things were going on at that time. Um, you know, 9-11 and and and so much around those moments, um, and it is. And when you think about how that activism is, it's, that's that's how they were active on things.
Speaker 1:Even, I mean, you'll see eddie out and doing you know, I remember there was this really famous picture back in the day of him with a guitar over his shoulder and he was marching and there was a big piece like sticker or a painting on the back of his acoustic guitar. He was walking around, I think it was in Rolling Stone magazine, but it was him doing what he believed in at that time. Right, I mean, that's what it is. Pearl Jam used a lot of like even earlier 80s punk rock activism and how they utilize their music to really push a message through. I feel as though the band really utilized their. I guess that grunge error and sound kind of almost took a slice of pie from how the punk rock activism came and how Pearl Jam approached their music and messaging in the same sense that they did music and messaging in the same sense that they did, but it just maybe not in such a more, you know, different tone per se.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, if you really want to get down to it, anthony, music has always as far back as you can think about music. You know, I mean Bob Dylan, you know 1963, 64, he wrote Masters of War, right, masters of War, think about that. I mean, he wrote that. Maybe wrote that in 66, 67, whenever he wrote that. But folk singers, inherently, were writing political songs to get their messaging across to people. And so you know Woody Guthrie in the 50s, I mean they were. That was their platform for delivering their message.
Speaker 2:And you know, I think we've said it before where it's like gosh, you know, a great song is do you have to like? You have to have pain, you have to have, uh, there has to be some deep emotional thing that happens to a writer to be able to dive into that, to go create. You don't create beautiful art out of nothing. You got to create beautiful art out of something. Well, that something isn't always beautiful things. Sometimes the, the something is painful and and hurtful and uh, and that's where they create that incredible art from, and that's painters and that's singers and that's sculptors and that's writers, and you know anyone that creates art in general. Hopefully, they're tapping into something. You know they are tapping into something to be able to create that greatness. And you know the Clash, I mean, you know most that greatness, uh, and you know the clash, I mean, yeah, you know, most political band ever. You know, I mean, uh, so, um, you know it's not like it's a surprise.
Speaker 2:You know, we, we had these conversations about pearl jam and you're like I can't believe they're singing this song about bush leaguer. And you know the time frames, frames, when that was. I remember the Seattle show when Pearl Jam played Bushleaguer and there was this talk of all these. You know people walking out during that song because of the message that Eddie said, before or after the song, I don't remember when he. He gave a little speech and then he went into it. You know, and first of all, I don't remember anybody walking out, but I'm sure there were a few people.
Speaker 2:But, uh, you know it, if the song, if the song didn't offend somebody, then it probably wasn't that great of a song. You know what I mean. Like it wasn't a job. You want to get some reaction. You don't want everyone to agree with you. I mean, the point being is the same way we just talked about at the beginning of this show, to be able to sit down across from somebody and have a conversation. Well, eddie's conversation is through the radio and through the microphone and through the songs, and so his, so his, you know again, you can listen to the song, but are you hearing it? Uh, and he's hoping that there might be somebody that thinks differently than he does that may actually hear that and go oh, you know what I?
Speaker 1:I see your point, you know so 100 and there and it's, it's just not pearl. I mean, think about here's some bands that I've written down that really are artists that do make. There were political bands that had song lyrics, that had songs that were pushing that, that were caused by the times they were living in, that they felt a certain way religion, black 47, black flag, the clash, ccr, crosby, sills, nash and young dead, kennedys, dropkick, murphy, green day, jefferson, airplane, mega death, uh, midnight oil, nwa, of course, pearl jam, peter paul and mary public enemy, pussy riot was a huge one rage against Against the Machine, rise, against Sex Pistols, sleater-kinney, bruce Springsteen, system of a Down, u2 these are all bands that are. Majority of those bands are all nationally known, almost a kitchen table known. Everybody knows U2, everybody knows Springsteen, everybody knows System of a Down.
Speaker 1:You know Public Enemy. Maybe you don't know P System of a Down. I mean you know Public Enemy. Maybe you don't know Pussy Riot, but I mean the idea of what Pussy Riot did when they were coming out and being so you know, just like so against what Russia was doing at the time and how they were utilizing their music to make a change and went to jail and all it's insanity. But if it wasn't for how they were feeling, their art was never created. So that's, that's always a crazy thing. So that's you know, the activism behind how something can cause a change in a dynamic to make them have the music be come out yeah, yeah, for sure which also comes an idea of like.
Speaker 1:So our next topic, lyrics, is a tool for change. If you think about Pearl Jam in general, right, and I have some lyrics up here of how they use their lyrics you know that these lyrics are 100% driven by the climate in the world, how things are going on in the world and how they feel. Most recently, think about the song Can't Den me. Right, lyrics like you're, uh, you plant your living seeds, watches the roots take hold. The country you are now poisoning, condition critical, I mean that. That's. That's such a strong message of dissent and concern.
Speaker 1:I think look at, listen to the chorus. The higher, the farther, the faster you fly. You may be rich, but you can't deny me, get nothing, get nothing but the will to survive. You can't. But you can't deny me, get nothing, get nothing but the will to survive. You can't control, you can't deny me.
Speaker 1:All it is is defiance and resistance, and that's what the band talks about. Just, you know, like, don't let this, whatever's coming over, oppress you and really push you down. And that's just one song. Think, I mean Grievance is something you talked about a little while ago. I mean mean that was inspired by the 1999 uh, wto protests and I mean and and it really it critiques unchecked technical technological advances and the potential to, like you know, really kind of screw us in our freedom. Um, and then you know he that's when eddie said like for every tool they lend us is a loss of independence, and it expresses concern like how technology you get it and it's great, but realistically it's just them getting that much closer to you and taking away something in its own sense. So grievance is an interesting thing.
Speaker 2:And then one more. Yeah, that was yeah. I don't know if you did. Did you see that I looked up an article from the magazine called Georgia Magazine? Is that the one same one, you?
Speaker 1:saw uh. So my lyric is from rolling stone magazine uh, in 2001.
Speaker 2:okay, yeah, the one I saw was he was eddie, was talking about grievance and he says that's what I talk about in grievance, about the dangers and what a lot of people don't see or don't want to see. There's the line for every tool. They lend us a lot. Is that what you said? Yeah, so there's the line for every. Yeah, it's true. Everything happens so fast. The technology is supposed to make everything simple and easy, tries to make us believe that it's some sort of freedom that we have. Of course, it's easy and comfortable if you can do all your shopping on the internet, if you don't need to leave the house to do anything. But on the other hand, what's going to happen? You touch with people. You don't meet new people except on the Internet and whatever you can do can be traced. They know everything about you.
Speaker 1:Everything so yeah.
Speaker 1:Look at the song Wreckage off of the most recent album, dark Matter. Right yeah, this 100% addresses the political landscape and especially references Donald Trump's actions. As Donald Trump's actions? In an article from Spin Magazine, eddie Vedder describes the song as reflecting on someone who has lost on an election but continues to claim victory and spread misinformation he suggested the song encourages people to avoid being divided by individuals and individuals lacking worthy causes. Now this is once again Eddie utilizing his platform as a singer of one of the largest, the greatest bands in American history to be a voice of something that he feels passionate about. Once again tonight.
Speaker 1:I'm not telling you what we're saying is right or wrong, because I'm not trying to do that Like I'm not. This is not what the show's about. We're not a political show by any means. Me and Trey have our opinions, but we're stating facts. This is how the band does, and I think Pearl Jam does a really great job of utilizing their platform and how they feel to distribute information, educate people on how they feel and why they should look further into things. From the news or from your elected officials, be the only thing you believe. Take, ask questions, dig deeper into things. That's what it's all about. I mean you know this is. I mean there's so many songs. I mean Jeremy, I mean you think about Jeremy and how that song and those lyrics and that story about a school shooting and someone going into things being in a time where there was so much going on in the world, that song, a lot of people don't realize how emotionally driven it is because of an action someone took and that's why they're so anti-gun. Yeah.
Speaker 2:White, male, americans same way.
Speaker 2:Oh, you can go, that was so many Eddie hanging out and just happened to have a you know African-American guy sitting next to him and the cops rolling up on him and they didn't even bother Eddie and he looked like he just, you know, according to the story, he looked like he just woke up and could have been a homeless guy, but they didn't even bother him, you know. So he was an eye-opening experience for him at that moment and you know it's a laundry list of of songs that you could go through and again, you know, especially that first album with with 10. You know, yeah, you, you can dive into some of those songs and and and and find you know what you will call, I guess, political, um, you know political um, you know political content or whatever, but it really is more social content that, uh, politicians are the ones who are trying to control a lot of the. You know social stuff, right, like homelessness, or, um, uh, you know access to mental health, right Like 10, there's a lot of mental health stuff in there, right, well, that is a political issue now.
Speaker 2:You know, to mental health, right like tenors. There's a lot of mental health stuff in there, right, well, that is a political issue now you know we're trying to get access for veterans to uh, you know they're not committing suicide and stuff and, and you know, increasing the va, all these things. So it may be, it may be a social, this might might be a social message, but if they're social messages they end up being political because we do have to pass laws one way or the other to address them. You know what I mean. We have to make money available through the government to address these things. So, in a way, a lot of this stuff, even though they may not be political in nature, they are political in nature because it takes politics to solve some of this stuff.
Speaker 1:So yeah, and if you think about, like, going into our next topic, which talks about environmental causes in the band and how to use, how to use a platform for this, I mean it's just not. Pearl Jam is just not 100 percent just about politics. It's not about politicians. They really, you know they're not one, they're not not one. They're not focused on just one thing. They really see a lot of issues and they're not just one box. It's like, hey, this is affecting all of our fans. How can we get involved?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, the reality is they, like I said, they're all social issues. They just happen to have, uh, you know, political leaning. So, whether it's, you know, surf rider eddie and surf rider, you're telling the environmental causes. Um, you know, uh, uh, jeff, in his home home state of montana, uh, trying to save all the, uh, you know, state lands and and and you know all the natural areas that they have out there, just not even Montana, just on the West Coast in general. Yeah, I mean, you know, I remember in the late 90s in Seattle we had the WTO riots.
Speaker 2:I don't know if you remember that at all, yep, but that was, you know, that was another eye opener for, just on a local level. You know, like I was, I was working in downtown Seattle at night. Those uh, right the day, those riots are going on. I was working at Nordstrom down there and, uh, I had to stagger out and go catch a ferry to get home that night and it was, you know, know not that it was necessarily terrifying. It wasn't like I was afraid for my life, but it was like holy shit. There are some pissed off people here, yeah, you know. And uh, so, um, yeah, I mean I appreciate the fact that this band recognizes they have this very powerful platform and I feel like they utilize it very well.
Speaker 2:Uh, they, they understand that they have the ability to get whatever messaging they want and you know, for me, think, thankfully, their messaging is, you know, in par with my messaging. You know that, what they believe, and it's not like they told me to believe it it's, you know, I, I have a conscience. You know, I know what empathy is. You know, uh and um, and it probably sounds ironic coming from them now, and I say that because these, you know, these guys are worth tens of millions of dollars, if not hundreds of millions of dollars, at least Eddie, right, so it there is some irony in some of his messaging.
Speaker 2:However, you know, they don't just they're not, they're not also not just using their words, right, they have the Vitology Foundation, which they set up, which which they donate tens of millions of dollars to incredible organizations, not just in Seattle but all around the world, for so many different causes, everything that we've been talking about, all these social issues that we've been talking about. So they do back it up with action. They're not just hey, would it be great if you know we all held hands and did this. It's like no, we are going to go out and raise. We're going to raise $10 million for the home shows and we're going to figure out a way to address our homelessness issue. Yeah, we're going to try to figure out a way to get you know take, tackle the drug abuse, drug abuse issue in Seattle, and so they do back up their words with action. And I can't say that about everybody.
Speaker 1:No, I do think a lot of artists do speak a large game, like to say, hey, we're going to do things. I think one one instance for me was you know, the one another band that really backs up what they say is you know, dropkick Murphys recently just did a concert in Washington DC based off of you know, they had a lot of union workers out there that were nervous about losing some benefits and stuff based off of some policies that were going through, and Dropkick Murphy's were vocal in what they were doing and they were standing for it. You know and and listen, a lot of people can say one thing and do another, but I mean kind of going back to the whole environmental thing. I mean think of pearl jam in 2020, during the pandemic, put on an album that really legitimately, was a lot of environmental causes. I mean the album calledaton, when you talk about it, was a gigaton of you know of ice caps that are melting yearly and how that affects our climate and control.
Speaker 1:I mean that is it's wild that they would take you know, their art, which is their album, and basically turn it into a political statement in the how things are affecting the environment and how the world works and things, and the band constantly does that. Now, if you look at things like quick escape, retrograde, dark matter amongst the waves, these are all songs that really are driven by the idea and the logic and the lyrics are based off environmental change and how the band utilizes that and it's. They preach it, they sing about it, they write about it, they raise money for it. They're doing everything they need to do without them just going to Antarctica and buying a big freezer and trying to freeze everything back up again.
Speaker 1:I mean they're literally trying to do everything they possibly can, and, just like you said, I mean not only that like you know, they're utilizing their concerts truly as a platform to get the word out. During Gigaton, the Gigaton tours, which you know, I will say this too A lot of people shit on Gigaton. Give it a new listen. I'm telling you Gigaton is not nearly as bad as people make it out to be. I do enjoy Gigaton a lot more than people give it a bad rap for on a lot more than people give it a bad rap for. But that album and that tour really always do their best to try to make people educated and aware of what's going on in the world when it comes to affecting us. Because here's the thing, the reason why they're so passionate about these things not only is it for themselves and not only for their fans, but it's for the future of their families. A lot of these everyone in that, I think everyone. I don't know about Josh, but most of the people in the band have kids and they're trying to get that lifespan going and getting families built and they're just doing this for the best for the future. I mean, you know so it's crazy. And then the one thing you said, which kind of goes into the next topic, and then there's a couple comments I want to get to uh here in a minute because we've kind of getting active here on youtube. Um, there, you know, fan engagement, activism.
Speaker 1:I will say this now I know a lot of people know my uh distaste for a person that runs an organization. It is what it is. But I will say this the, the band helped create a group of fans back in the early 2000s to create an organization called the Wishlist Foundation. Now I don't necessarily agree with some of the things behind the scenes, but what they actually do as an organization, the money they raised and the policies they've kind of helped change. When they went to different cities and they kind of had the people from those cities join those pre-parties to focus change to do. They had voting, you know like, you know, pledge to vote, you know, register to vote. They raised money for politicians, raised money for great causes.
Speaker 1:Those things don't exist. Wishlist Foundation doesn't exist. The touring fan live where me and Trey, myself and Rhiannon myself and Michelle different things we wouldn't have raised the money we raised. The Wishlist Foundation wouldn't raise the money they raise. The different pre-parties. I mean there's been small groups Over in England, there's the unicorns that have raised a shit ton of money for different things.
Speaker 1:None of those exist without Pearl Jam making the efforts in themselves and their fans to go out and push and do things. And because of them, and them taking those activism forefront, they educated us in a way to go out in the world and do good and to make changes that we believe in. The band might not agree with some of the things we're doing, but in the sense they created a change in us that wanted to make a change in the world. And that's fucking rare, trey. If you think about it, you don't. I mean listen, I don't know, maybe I'm wrong for saying this. I don't think that. I don't think Puff Daddy has fans going out and making fucking change for Cure. I don't think they're doing that. There's not people like, but Pearl Jam fans are and I think there's a passion behind them to do good and that's what's really fucking cool about this band.
Speaker 2:Yep, y'all are going to bring up our benefit last year for Smash and raising all that money for a great organization here in Seattle, which, you know, that is a hometown thing. But yeah, I mean, none of that would have happened without, uh, without the band existing. Um, you know, I shouldn't say none of it would have happened, but but it wouldn't have happened in the way that it did happen. How about that correct? Uh, you know, you and I, you and I wouldn't know each other without this band. So 100, um, yeah, uh, and yeah, there's a lot to be said about that.
Speaker 2:Uh, inspiring their fan base to be active in their communities, yeah, um, is is pretty fucking awesome, it is. And, uh, pearl jam does a really great job with that. Um, because, in the end, uh, even though they may be railing against a political party or railing against, what they're really doing is they're raising the awareness, every time they speak about it, every time they sing about it, for us to think about it. And then we're like, okay, yeah, shit, what can we do about that? Does that mean, is that a letter to your congressperson, you know? Is that a phone call to your local? You know, even on a local level, on a, a community level, a city, county wide, you know, there's probably hundreds, if not thousands of folks who have maybe taken that first step to do some good, even if that means going picking up trash on the side of the road with their school or something, maybe because of Pearl Jam, yeah, and you can't fault them for that, you know.
Speaker 1:I totally agree with you. One of the comments that came through from a gentleman in vinyl dude 82 on youtube says pearl gym finds the way the band can help push initiatives forward that reflect the band members collective consciousness. They use their platform to shed light on great causes that are less familiar to many.
Speaker 1:I totally agree with that um on the the text in line jake says is there anything that Pearl Jam has done that you don't agree with? Has the band ever done anything that made you mad and didn't want to see them? So this is one thing that I will say, and I'm going to speak just on my behalf, and I'll let Trey answer in a second. I go see artists that I like. I'm not going to go see a band that's spewing Nazi, spewing nazi rhetoric or something like that.
Speaker 2:that's but if, oh, I, I can see, right behind you there's a kid rock ticket stub right behind you up there, get the fuck out of here.
Speaker 1:But I listen, I listen, I observe and educate. And just because someone believes a certain thing doesn't mean that I am going to jump into exactly what they believe in. Pearl jam's never said anything or done anything that's made me upset by any means whatsoever. You know, I actually appreciate people that are passionate about something enough to go out and fight for it, whether I agree with it or not. I mean, I'm not saying that I do or I don't, but I just believe that if you're going to say something, because in this world we live in and it kind of goes back to grievance once the keyboard was invented and put in front of us and the internet was created, there's a lot of people that go online and they click, clack away and they just cause more harm than good and they spew a lot of things that they don't back up. It is where it is.
Speaker 1:Pearl Jam, since the album 10, has said things they believe in. They have fought for those things, whether you agree with them or not. They have gone out. They have fought for ideas that they did agree with or they didn't agree with. They fought for politicians they didn't like and they liked and they backed them, no matter what. And if you like them, great. If you didn't like them, there's the exit sign, nassau Coliseum. When they came out right after 9-11 and did Bushleaguer, there was I mean, if you saw Pearl Jam 20, you saw in the front row was a lot of police officers that love Pearl Jam but maybe didn't agree with the message that was coming out at that time because of how they maybe felt, with how things were going.
Speaker 1:Whether you agree or disagree, that's your interpretation, that's how you believe. I'm not telling you to agree with one way or the other, but it shows you how a band can make you feel. It can make you feel good, it can make you feel bad, it can make you feel uneasy, make you disagree with them, make you agree with them. The only bands that can do that are good bands, because there's a lot of bands out there that put a lot of shitty lyrics out and a lot of shitty music out. That means absolutely nothing, and then they're forgotten about. In 30, 40, 50 years, 60, 70 years, when we're all long gone, pearl Jam's music will still be relevant to certain people in this world because it will make them feel a certain way, to make a change, and that's why Pearl Jam is so special.
Speaker 2:No arguments from me at all. Yeah, I same, same for me that they've never put anything out. That's uh, you know, quote unquote either offended me or um, that I didn't. You know, quote unquote either offended me or um, that I didn't agree with. Uh and it's.
Speaker 2:I feel like it's because we're, you know, we're on the same sort of uh, emotional spectrum, I guess is the best way I want to put it. You know, like, again, I have empathy for people, um and uh, you know I'm, I'm a veteran, you know. So if anyone has a right to stand up and say what I think about you know American politics and and war and and all that stuff, you know I certainly earned it. And you know, when 9-11, when 9-11 happened, and you know there was this very fervent patriotism for America, and you know all these shouts to you know, bomb the living shit out of the Middle East, the Middle East. I can see how people would get swept up in that because of what a horrible act 9-11 was. But I feel that there's a similarity between and I'm again, you're right, anthony, this isn't a political show, but we are talking about politics today, so I'm going to bring this up but there's a very similar thread between what's going on in palestine and israel right now and it is really disturbing and alarming when you watch an entire group of civilians. These are civilians. These aren. These aren't soldiers. These aren't people who signed up for the army to go do this or that. These are women and children. These are people making a living as best they can and one of the most difficult places in the world to do that and to sit idly by and watch that happen without making statements and stuff is is criminal.
Speaker 2:And when Pearl Jam made those comments when the world was so behind, like, yes, let's go bomb the shit out of these people. And you know, look what they did to us in New York. And uh, you're bombing people who didn't do anything. You know what I mean. And so in the end, it's, it's. You're like you know what? I can't the war. What is it good for? You know absolutely nothing. I mean how, how many times do we have to scream that? And uh, so screen that. And uh, so you know I it, uh.
Speaker 2:Again, I understand why people felt that way at that time, but especially now when you have revisionist history and you go back and look at who we bombed and then you say, well, why do we bomb them? Well, they didn't do anything, they didn't have this, they didn't have that. You know what I mean. Enjoy, the entire George Bush government and him and Dick Cheney made up at that shit and the, the, so you know it's. I was asked the folks who walked out of that show you know, walked out of that show, you know, gosh, do they feel this? Would they feel the same way now that they have real information in front of them? You know, I mean yeah, uh. And then again that goes back to can you sit down with those people and have a conversation with them without them? You know?
Speaker 1:can they hear you?
Speaker 2:you know, can you hear them and can you, can they hear you.
Speaker 1:So there was um an old saying. My social studies teacher his name is Mr Mr Atchison, he was I just want to live in Maine and he used to tell kids he's like, put bubble gum in your right ear. And at that time I was like what the fuck does it bubble gum in your right ear? And he'd always say that when we were doing like really hard topics and he's like we're going to talk about things that you might not agree with, your family might not agree with, but just listening and understanding, Put bubble gum in your right ear. And it wasn't until I don't know six, seven years ago he got cancer and I emailed him and I was like, hey, you know, I'm really sorry that you're battling cancer. You know, you made a big positive influence on me. It was one of those things.
Speaker 1:And I asked him like what the fuck did it mean when you said put bubble gum in your right ear? For years, asked him, and he said the majority of people let things go in one ear and out the other, but if you put bubble gum in your right ear, you're going to listen and observe and let it sink in and he goes. I always said that because I wanted people to take that information in and didn't let it go in one ear and out the other. Take it in, whether you agree with it or not, and utilize that information to make a change. And it's it's weird because when I was like you know, 16 here and this shit is what the fuck does mean nowadays, I'm like it's a pretty powerful thing to say, because a lot of people it goes in the air one ear and out the other, especially if it doesn't. It's not something they agree with.
Speaker 2:So yeah, parents today would call that indoctrination. Yeah, in other words, if the parents, if the parents didn't agree with what the teacher teacher was trying to teach, or even a topic they were talking about, you know they'd say, oh, they're indoctrinating, they're indoctrinating my kid, they want my kid to be gay. You know, jesus, it's so stupid, stupid, oh god. And you know, you know, we are the dumbest fucking country on the planet.
Speaker 1:You know you want to hear something too? It's, it's, and I and this I didn't think I was gonna bring this up today, but I saw the new jurassic park movie today and there's a part in the movie that they the guy was talking about how, like, isn't it crazy that dinosaurs live for millions of years and we've only been, and then humans have only been around for so so much longer, like you know 200,000, 250,000, where the fuck it was? And he's like you do realize we're never going to survive longer than them because we're too smart for our own good, and he goes of just surviving in the moment. We're always trying to overtake and destroy and that is going to be our downfall and we'll never survive longer than a dinosaurs. And I was like holy shit. I was like oh, I was like how the fuck is jurassic world making up? But hey, use your platform, right?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, not wrong. I mean, it almost makes you want to. You're like I look at both my run. You know two of my daughters are old enough to have kids 26 to 19 and I'm like I don't even know if I can almost guarantee you my oldest daughter's not going to have kids. You know, chloe, I don't know my middle daughter, june, you know she's 13, so, but uh, is it? It's weird to think. You're like who would fucking bring a kid into the world right now? You know what I mean. Well, like we don't even know if america is going to survive at this point. Well, I will say.
Speaker 1:I will say this, though there's this would be my statement on that is that if you want to have kids, you raise them right and you put, I guess, the bubble gum in the right ear, as my teacher once said, and you educate them to listen and to do what they believe is right and not just I don't know. There's. There's such a cult like mentality nowadays where people like they can't believe, like I've always, I don't, I don't take everything verbatim. I always got to educate and learn and fucking dig deeper. Everything verbatim. I always got to educate and learn and and and fucking dig deeper. There's so there's so many people that just like they buy into one thing, they jump in and then that's it, it's over there, it's like a, it's like the fucking Manson family. They just jump in, they give up their entire life for one thing.
Speaker 2:And then I know what you're talking about.
Speaker 1:You're talking about religion? Yeah, that's a whole.
Speaker 2:That's a whole other topic. Man Join in next week for part two. Oh God, excellent.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, yeah, no. You know there's a new artist out there and my daughter is getting into her geeky something and she has a song called Sailor Song and there's this lyric in the song that I heard today and it hit me so hard. It's like I don't believe in God, but I believe that you could be my savior and it was like I don't know, Fucking music makes you feel things and I was like it's crazy that I don't know fucking music makes you feel things and I was like that it's. It's crazy that I don't know, it's just wild, wild. Anyway, jumping off topic, sorry about that that's all right, but yeah, so go.
Speaker 1:You know going into some of the final topics so we could jump into uh, bush leaguer? Um, you know the band utilized music videos when it comes to do the evolution, to be a political statement. Do the evolution is a hundred percent it from beginning to end of what they believe is wrong with things. You know, todd McFarland did an excellent job designing and implementing that music video to really make you feel a certain way and it's and it really is is an excellent way of looking into that. I think all the gigaton music videos that were put out, where they had the environmental causes behind them, was a really good way and it's a storytelling and it's informal and it's educating you. I think one of the biggest things, too, that I want to talk about when it's putting your money where your mouth is in 2016,. Once again, whether you agree with it or disagree with it, that's not the case of this evening. The evening is to talk about how a band believes in something, they fight for it and they do what they're supposed to in their eyes In 2016,.
Speaker 1:If you went to the Hampton Virginia Pearl Jam show, you were in line. The 90% of the people that were in line were also going to the Raleigh North Carolina show, which was the very next day, and the show, while we were about to go into the venue, was canceled. And it was because of a law that was put in place by the at that time, the governor or the mayor of North Carolina, about having a unisex bathroom, that it should be anyone to be able to use the bathroom wherever they want to. Um, and the? Uh. So north carolina said no, that's not allowed, you it's, you can't do that, it's illegal. And um. So pearl jam felt in a way such that they that they, that people shouldn't be, um, I guess uh, get in trouble for utilizing a bathroom in the way they feel. Um, and they shouldn't get in trouble and get a fine or go to jail.
Speaker 1:And then a lot of artists Springsteen was another one at the time they said we're not playing North Carolina until you guys get your shit together. And Pearl Jam canceled the show. And it wasn't until this year that they went back to North Carolina, which you're talking about, almost nine years later. But Pearl Jam gave up all of that financial money from that show. They lost money on the show when it came to merchandise, when it came to the overall ticket cost everything because it's something they believed in. Now I would like for you besides Springsteen I just gave you an example of give me an artist that's willing to take that much of financial loss because of something they believed in. It's hard to do, yeah, that's what makes this band special.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, it came out today. There's an artist I follow named Dan Mangans and he made a post today and he said did you know that Live Nation gave half a million dollars to the Trump campaign? It just came out. It was under like four or five different layers of donations. You have to think about going to see a Live Nation show. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:When everyone talks about Shut Up and Sing, all the fans are like, hey, man, I didn't come here to talk about this, that and the others ain't coming and saying, well, it's the same thing. On the back end, you know it's, it's who's who's supporting who. You know, um, it's uh, yeah, that's something else. Anyway, I, when you ask the question about who's willing to take a stand, you know Neil Young. You mentioned Crosby, stills, nash and Young, but Neil's always been at the forefront of standing 1000% behind his beliefs. Know, he didn't have his music on streaming platforms for a long time because you didn't feel that. You know you were, they were getting paid fairly, um, and they're they're not getting paid fairly, I mean. But when it comes down to the matter of convenience, people are always going to choose convenience over, uh, how it makes them feel correct. I guess you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:You're like ah, it's, whatever it is. You know it is, it's almost.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean. You're like ah, it's whatever it is, you know it is. It's almost like it is what it is. It doesn't affect me, right, yeah, but you know it does affect you. It does affect you and that artist like ah, fuck it, I can't do this anymore. You.