Introduction
The song black is one of Pearl Jam’s most iconic songs. It was the fifth song in their debut album which was known as ten. The album was recorded in 1991 and was a commercial and critical success in the year 1992. Till date, the song black is among pearl Jam’s most remembered song. It is perhaps the most touching song that the band has even composed and recorded. There have been many rumours about the meaning of the song black. Some rumours implied that that the song was about a pregnant girl who had an abortion without consulting her lover. Other rumours indicated that the song revolved around a dead girl whom the vocalist loved. But Eddie Vedder dispelled all these rumours and said that the song black was about lost love. It is about a person’s first love – which is said to have a permanent impression on the person’s heart and mind. The song has an intriguing feel to it. It has been written in the soliloquy style, this indicates that the protagonist of the song is overwhelmed by the emotion of lost love and is mumbling to himself.
History
The birth of the song black is as dramatic as the song itself. The song was originally an instrumental and was called ‘E Ballad’. It was composed by guitarist Stone Gossard. Gossard was in search of a drummer and a vocalist for the band and thus he circulated 5 songs which had been put together as ‘Stone Gossard Demos’. The demos reached Eddie Vebber who worked at a gas station in San Diego. Vebber liked the demos and he recorded the vocals for three of the five songs and mailed the recorded versions back to Stone who lived in Seattle. Stone was quite impressed by Eddie Vebber’s work and thus he invited him to Seattle. Vebber wrote the lyrics of the song black on his way to Seattle – this is how the song was born.
Features
In the song black, Vebber compares his lost love to the Sun while he compares himself to the earth. He says that the canvas of his life lay before him – he could have painted the canvas with anything he liked. But unfortunately, his love was lost and the canvas became black. Eddie also says that all the 5 horizons revolved around his ex girlfriend’s soul. This means that for Vebber, the girl symbolised eternity. The lyrics move on to a scene where Vebber is taking a walk and he comes across some children who are playing. Their joy is unable to touch his hear as he is still burning with remorse and pain. It seems as if the sun has stopped shining on him.
Tips and comments
At the end of the song black, Vebber wishes his ex girlfriend to have a wonderful life. He hopes that she would go on to become the Sun of somebody else’s world. But at the same time – he is in pain at the knowledge of the fact that he will never again be with his girl. Just before the song ends – Stone plays a stunning piece of music on the guitar. The music encapsulates the abandon, sorrow and the incoherent thoughts and the trance-like state of the protagonist.
