Pearl Jam – Porch

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  General Comment:**Obvious, not oblivious. I forget where I copy/pasted that monologue from but whoever typed that up was a dumbass

  Flag Tig45on December 23, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:Speech given by Eddie during the bridge of Porch at Randall's Island 1996:
  "If you trust me at all, if you want to listen to me at all...
  Which you certainly don’t have to
  Speaking from experience I can tell you that things change
  You can believe me, you don’t have to
  They probably won’t change unless you make them
  The best way to change something around you, something you don’t like, is to change
  yourself
  And I don’t think you want other people changing you, I think the only person who can change you is yourself
  So if you ain’t happy, if you’re reading magazines about generation-X and thinking yeah I’m one of them, well fuck that.
  Don’t let anybody tell you who you are!
  No no!
  Nobody can tell me who I am.
  I can tell you who I am, but that would be a long story.
  I can tell you who I am, it wouldn’t fit in a Rolling Stone.
  It wouldn’t fit in a video.
  It’s my life...
  It’s your life...
  You’re the only one who knows who you.
  I hope you know who you are.
  If you don’t know who you are, figure it out.
  'Cause you are somebody
  and I’m probably stating the oblivious.
  But I just thought I’d do it anyway .
  So if you feel like you got a piece of duct tape on your mouth,
  if you feel like you can’t speak,
  take it off...
  Speak up...
  Speak your mind...
  Shout it out...
  Let ‘em hear...
  Shout it out...
  YEAH!"
  That and the 11-minute Atlanta '95 version on the Dissident album are the best

  Flag Tig45on December 23, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:I think the titular "Porch" refers to Middle America: the kind of dutiful, patriotic flag-hoisting folk who sit on their front porch and watch the world decline, but who never actively protest, or seek to enable positive change. They blindly accept what they're told by government (or like to complain about moral decay) but don't personally DO anything about it.
  
  When Eddie sings "left the porch / hear my name / take a good look / this could be the day" he's proclaiming his intentions to be a political activist, rather than a passive observer.

  Flag Lantaon November 22, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:I interpret this piece to be about the relationship between God and man. Specifically Jesus, as He's rejected and betrayed by mankind as a whole. The title "Porch" is a reference to when He first reveals Himself, on King Solomon's Porch, to mankind of His unity with God the Father. And they want to stone Him for it. onsolomonsporch.org/
  Would you hit me, would you hit me? ohhhh, woe, woe.
  
  Hold my hand, walk beside me - is God's invitation and plea to mankind but many will refuse and be forever separated from Him by man's own choice which grieves God as a man losing his lover.
  
  And I see the correlation of Eddie's pro-choice demonstration during the unplugged performance as not a literal statement of abortion but as a metaphor for mankind's (symbolized as the bride of Christ in the Bible)right to choose death and separation from God by free will. Giving the right to choose is necessary for true love, but having you lover freely choose death and oblivion is a source of great anguish.
  
  I just need to say...that I'll let you go because I love you, but it really f@ckin hurts.
  
  Thank you Pearl Jam.

  Flag requiuson September 21, 2011   Link

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  Song Meaning:I went to PJ 20 yesterday and he commented that this song began as a missed phone call that got deep.

  Flag bconway21on September 04, 2011   Link

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  My Opinion:Back in '91 I went with some friends to an "Alice in Chains" show at "The Bacchanal" in San Diego. The opening band, "Mookie Blaylock" stole the show. My friends and I were mesmerized. I got goosebumps many times during that performance, but especially during a particular song that I didn't know the name of. For months we searched magazines and stores, looking for anything by them, but it didn't exist. When I heard that they had changed their name to "Pearl Jam" and were going to release an album soon, I counted down the days. When I bought it, I had finally found that song that gave me the goosebumps. It was "Porch". But I was intrigued by the words now that I saw them in print, because I had no idea what they could possibly have been about. Then I saw the "Pro-Choice on the arm" appearance on TV and made that same connection that everyone else makes that this song was about pro choice...and I believed it. Maybe I forced the idea upon the song because I was convinced that it was true. But looking at it now, I do think it fits. Think about the words from the perspective of a guy imagining how scary it would be if an "initiative" became a "bill" and then passed into law, overturning roe v. wade, making abortion illegal. It's like he was saying that if abortion was illegal, then young love would be a "daily minefield", always worrying that "this could be the day" that they might discover that they have to bring an unwanted/unplanned child into the world. And he's pondering that maybe he couldn't handle that and instead he "would not ever touch her, hold her, feel her...never again". Sure, birth control could solve that problem, but we all know how over-dramatic Eddie can be. I think not only is it a "pro choice" song, it's a "get out and vote so women will keep the choice" song.

  Flag pjporchon April 30, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:Everyone says that there is a song on Ten with a hidden double meaning about abortion. This is it, folks. During the MTV Unplugged version, Eddie stands up on his chair and writes "PRO-CHOICE" down his arm with a Sharpie.
  
  Great song, I must say. I love the version on the Live from Pittsburg album. It's like a 9-minute full band jam.

  Flag Tig45on November 24, 2010   Link

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  My Interpretation:I know I'm a little late to the party here, but I interpreted this song to be about a guy who just had a friend commit suicide, and he finds himself to be overwhelmed by the non-important minutia stress of daily life, a sense of falling behind where he feels he should be socio-economically, and a self pondering of what if he himself were to die? I think the song's main character is thinking about shifting values of capturing what is important versus what isn't.
  
  The first four lines strongly seem to me to be about anger towards a friend ending his life. I've had several friends commit suicide from all walks of life, and I know I personally get really angry about it. This captures that sentiment for me. Like dabaville said in the comment on 5/12/06 above, this is how this song works for ME personally. It reminds me everytime I hear it about my deceased friends, how perhaps if I'd paid more attention to what was really important (life, friends, family, etc), perhaps they would have been more engaged and still be around. I don't feel responsible for their deaths, but this song reminds me that there are other things to focus on in life beyond stress sources like work, bills, etc, and that succumbing to that overwhelming feeling by taking your own life really doesn't do anything but hurt the people around you.
  
  Having said that, which seems to be way off of how other people interpret the lyrics, I think it's an awesome song & an awesome band.

  Flag Smorgasborgason October 30, 2010   Link

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  General Comment:the song could be about a break up due to the fact that the woman wanted to have an abortion, and the man didn't.
  there ain't gonna be a middle anymore could refer the fetus that the woman wants aborted.
  Hear my name, take a good look
  This could be the day
  Hold my hand, lie beside me
  I just need to say
  I could not take a-just one day
  I know when I would not ever touch you
  Hold you...feel you...ever hold...never again...
  Yeah (12x)
  could be when the man is called in to hold his lady's hand while she lyes beside him.
  the last part could be about the man never being able to hold his child since it got aborted and/or about how he will leave when the abortion is over.

  Flag tenclub07on May 09, 2010   Link

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  My Interpretation:This song's definitely not about abortion. The entire basis for that argument was the MTV unplugged edition. IMO he was making a statement about a topic at the time, but Porch just happened to be the guitar solo he chose to do it around. Nothing I've ever seen Eddie Vedder say, and nothing I see in the lyrics, lead me to believe the actual song is about abortion.
  
  IMO the lyrics are clearly about the unexpected loss of a loved one. "at least I coulda learned your voice one last time" (losing someone close). "daily minefield" (his life blowing up). "this could be the day" (meaning, you could lose it at any time).
  
  It's definitely about the loss of a loved one, the only question (to me) is whether it's a breakup or a tragedy. I tend to think it's about a tragedy, and that we should cherish the time we do have together before it's over.

  Flag dbodneron March 08, 2010   Link

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