Lyrics for Yellow Ledbetter as interpreted by Trent

Yellow Ledbetter Lyrics
Unsealed on a porch a letter sat.
Then you said, "I wanna leave it again."
Once I saw her on a beach of weathered sand. And on the sand I wanna leave it again. Yeah.
On a weekend I wanna wish it all away, yeah.
And they called and I said that "I want what I said" and then I call out again.
And the reason oughta' leave her calm, I know.
I said "I know what I wear not the boxer or the bag."

Ah yeah, can you see them out on the porch? Yeah, but they don't wave.
But I see them round the front way. Yeah.
And I know, and I know. I don't want to stay.
Make me cry...

I see... Ooh I don't know why there's something else.
I wanna drum it all away... [ ;-) ]
Oh, I said, "I don't, I don't know wheather I was the boxer or the bag."

Ah yeah, can you see them out on the porch? Yeah, but they don't wave.
But I see them round the front way. Yeah.
And I know, and I know. I don't wanna stay at all.
I don't wanna stay. Yeah.
I don't wanna stay. (x2)
I don't... Don't wanna, oh... Yeah. Ooh... Ohh...

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michael trigg
01-08-2002

Rated 0 
i think that it is talking about how his girlfriend/wife wants to leave him

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michael trigg
01-08-2002

Rated 0 
if you can come up with anything else tell me

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Matzy94
01-12-2002

Rated +3 
For the most part the lyrics in this song are irrelevant. The song was written by Mike McCready and Eddie just made up the words as he went along. Eddie's voice is supposed to be more of an instrument by using improvised words, the words are never the same in concert. Ledbetter refers to Eddie's friend from Chicago named Tim Ledbetter. If there is any meaning to the lyrics I think the letter in the beginning of the song refers to the telegrams that we sent to the families of soldiers KIA in WWII. The telegrams were so distinct that many families didn't have to open them to know what they said. In the song I see a family sitting on a porch when a man comes to deliver a telegram and the family is so devestated about their loss that they cannot even bear to open it.

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flaquito
01-23-2002

Rated 0 
man, that makes perfect sense! i never really knew what the words said, and it didn't matter, cause the song rocks. but your explaination makes alot of sense. thanx!

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Chinpokomon
03-11-2002

Rated 0 
Of course to say the song was written by Mike McCready is a stretch. I think Little Wing came before it. It is written as a tribute to Hendrix in that sense. But obviously the words are uniquely Eddie's.

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DrivenInHiFi
03-11-2002

Rated 0 
it is mccready's interpretation of little wing. the vocals, while great, are irrelevant.

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claires_advocate
04-17-2002

Rated 0 
it talks about some sorta relation ship he had with his girlfriend how she wrote and happy letters and he loved her alot but had to let her down. thats it

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Tbone732
04-19-2002

Rated 0 
matzy's interpretation is the correct one. How the families of soldiers would wait on their porch for the letters. Sounds good Claires advocate but not correct

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mulnix
04-29-2002

Rated 0 
the letter is opened "unsealed" and i think it is about a broken relationship or someone's death but he doesn't know if it was his fault or not "I don't, I don't know wheather I was the boxer or the bag"

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REDRUM158
05-12-2002

Rated 0 
This song was written during or around the time of the Gulf war. the letter is put out on the porch and the person inside the house is the brother of someone who was KIA in the gulf war. He knows what the letter is and doesnt need or want to open it. the people are out on the porch but they dont wave so he knows they don't bring pleasant news. the man is sad and wants to leave because he cannot deal with the pain of losing his brother. this is the true meaning of the song, as for the name it is just a joke between eddie and his friend with the last name ledbetter.

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rayswife96
05-12-2002

Rated 0 
i always wondered what this song was about. I like
Matzy94's interpretation!!

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pumpkingirl
05-23-2002

Rated +1 
lol, i could never understand just what he was saying never mind what it was actually about. for a little while there, i thought it wasn't even in english. but even then, i still thought it was a great song. i like the idea of eddie's voice being used as an instrument rather than for conveying the lyrics.

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1 Reply
Trent
06-05-2002

Rated 0 
Generally, the explanation about the letter being sent to a family/mother/whoever saying their son/brother/friend/whoever KIA is correct.

Yellow Ledbetter. Switch the 'L' and 'b' and you get Yellow Bedletter, which explains the song.

At this time, PJ was their most popular and they thought that the public would swollow up anything because of their pop status. They wrote this song inpromptly without any officila lyrics so kind of play with everyone. This song is one of their most popular yet the lyrics dont really make any sense and it is written very roughly.

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6 to 8
06-05-2002

Rated 0 
Actually this song was written around the time of the Gulf War, and the story behind it is really long, but all in all Eddie describes it as an anti-patriotic song


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DumpsterDave
06-07-2002

Rated 0 
Where do you people hear this stuff? This song was made up on the fly, it means nothing. Even some of the lyrics on this page are wrong. As far as being anti-patriotic, or making a song to screw with everyone is pretty idiotic. But he did name it after a friend named Tim Ledbetter. Lucky guy!

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6 to 8
06-07-2002

Rated 0 
dumpster dave you dick, it came straight from eddies mouth so blow me

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dimitri
06-10-2002

Rated 0 
i think matzy said it best, about the whole letter thing. For a while i thought he said "i don't know whether it was a box or a bag"..which i saw as 'he didnt know how they brought the body back over to the states'. But now i think the "boxer or the bag" makes sense, cuz its like, in any war..are you the victim or the aggressor? if you think this song means nothing, your ignorant because mr. vedder and pearl jam wouldnt attach their names to anything that is empty of meaning or thought.

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taylorfletcher
06-14-2002

Rated 0 
these lyrics seem to deep, seem like they have way too much meaning to be made up on the spot.... this song deffinetly means something, so far i cant buy into anything that you guys have said about it.

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futile
07-13-2002

Rated 0 
I agree with matzy; however, I have an additional spin on the interpretation (that may be complete bull). Could it be that the song is the observation of a deceased soldier who doesn't realize he's dead, doesn't realize what "the letter" is, and doens't understand why they don't recognize him when he sees them (on the front porch). Also, the reference to the wearing the "boxer or the bag" - could this mean being in a coffin or body bag? Finally, the phrase "I don't want to stay" meaning ready to move on (leaving the current life for the afterlife?).

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callyouout
08-01-2002

Rated 0 
I believe(my opinion)Eddie Vetter used this songs lyrics to launder his own more personal lyrics through. That is, I believe, the reason for his slurring of the original lyrics. His friend Tim Ledbetter is who this song talks about in the hidden lyrics. Since, the song isn't named Tim Ledbetter, it would bring attention to Yellow since Tim isn't of asian descent I don't think Eddie is talking about his complextion but, rather his personality, which yellow can be translated as-cowardly.
Here is what I believe to be the hidden lyrics:
I WANT TO SEE THAT
A VOICE THAT LET OUT SAID
LET ME SEE HIM
I WANT TO LEAVE IT AGAIN
ONCE I SAW HIM ON A BEACH OF WEATHERED SAND
I DON'T WANT TO SEE HIM, I WANT TO LEAVE HIM AGAIN
I WANT TO LEAVE HERE, I WANT TO GET WASTED ON THE-WAY
AND HE CALLED AND I SAID AND I KNOW WHAT I SAID AND I CALLED OUT AGAIN
AND THE REASON I'M GOING TO LEAVE HER GONE
I DON'T KNOW WHETHER TO LEAVE IT IN THE BOX OR THE BAG
CAN YOU SEE THEM OUT ON THE PORCH BUT THEY DON'T WAVE
I SEE THEM ROUND DIFFERENT WAYS
AND I KNOW AND I KNOW I DON'T WANT TO SAY

This I know is choppy but, if your sitting around thumbing your ass hole with nothing better to do listen to it again. I'm sure it makes more since to Vetter.

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budha
08-15-2002

Rated 0 
maybe this song is about a person named Tim, but then again pay attention how there's a "her" in the song. He could also be talking about a wishing a bad relationship or, i'll guess we will never really know and thats what makes this song great.

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RaymloR
09-10-2002

Rated 0 
Words from Mr Vedder himself: "it's an Anti-Patriotism song". Take from that what you will

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6 to 8
09-12-2002

Rated 0 
exactly what i stated far above

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Pearl_Jam
10-17-2002

Rated 0 
Some of you are correct, and some of you aren't. Those lyrics up above, they are not correct (for the studio version, that is). This song was recorded in one take. PJ went into the studio and recorded it as a b-side for the "Jeremy" single, in one simple take. Ed's voice in this song is meant to be left open for interpretation, not to be pidgeonholed by all of you to say what he's saying and what he's not. When performed live in concert, the "lyrics" are completely improv. Honestly, it really doesn't matter what Ed is saying. The song is beautiful, and should, like all art, be left open for interpretation.

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Muzzy
03-07-2003

Rated 0 
Yeah, in concert he just makes stuff up as he goes along. Most of the time not even words, just mumbling.

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