A Lazy day before the road.

Having woken up late after our socialisings, we slowly wander towards the centre of town in order that we can find some way of getting home by public transport. This is a nice walk from the East of Glasgow to the Centre, so you get to slowly walk from a really rough area, to the area everyone else sees:



We are going to head back down to Ayrshire after we've been to The Cadet's house for some more changes of clothes; we are planning to launch the first of our Roadtrips from Ayrshire early tomorrow morning.

While we are shopping, we notice a poster advertising an Evan Dando concert on Hogmannay. After a few phone calls and visits to ticket outlets, it appears that the concert is completely sold out. It's a shame, as Mowgli and I really loved the Lemonheads:



Dando's a great simple song writer. Goody catchy numbers, a touch of humour and some nice chords etc. He likes Glasgow, so Mowgli and I have met him in various bars around glasgow. I think I've seen him play live about 7 times or something, and it's a pleasure every time. He rocks out, but he's a chilled hippy at the same time.

Anyway.....

Apart from a horrible and cold experience of the joys of public transport when we are waiting for a bus in Kilmarnock, this day passes without event. We make it home and relax on couches while wasting time and watching telly, ready to hit the road tomorrow.

Boxing day

I wake up late on boxing day. It's good to be this relaxed. I've not thought about work in days which is a pretty good achievement for me. I used to love boxing day, because when you were a kid you spent the day realising what presents you got after the euphoria of the previous day when it all went back in a blur.

It's a day to build the lego, to read the books, and make a start on the big bucket of sweets. By the time I was a teenager it was the day to listen to soem classic album you;d ask for and tattoo it on your brain as you build into a fully fledged music fan. I try to recreate all this which is pretty easy, as my body has no problem with lying on a couch and watching DVD's, flicking through books, and eating sweets.

If there's one thing better than Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, it's leftover christmas dinner on boxing day. Chewy bits of stuffing! Cold Chipolatas, Honey roast ham sandwiches with great british condiments such as Chutney and Piccalilli:





Eventually, my mother suggests a walk around the country roads of my home town. This sounds like a good plan, as I'm looking to kill time until about 3pm when I know that Mowgli, Luke and the Cadet are definitely out their beds. Although to be completely fair, The Cadet would probably be up.

The walk we do is a common one, which gives you a nice view of the village and also a nice view over the rolling hills of Ayrshire.

I head off with my mother and grandmother. Its a nice winter walk, although it's not nearly as cold as it should be at this kind of year, so we have none of the atmospheric weather that we had on Ayr pier. Maybe I'll have to get up a mountain again to find that. The sun is setting slowly in mid afternoon, so the light is really nice:









Hardly a Munro, but nice nonetheless and a good leisurely wander for boxing day. I also get the troops on the phone, and we have formulated a plan for the night. We are heading up to Glasgow to meet the Similarski Sisters and go for some drinks in Glasgow. The good news is that Luke is going to drive, so I can drink a few pints of foaming ale.

By the time we've made it to Partick it's early evening. We are going to head out in the West end since we haven't been in town for so long. For want of a better decision, we head to Curlers:



It's a good night of laughs, hilarity and silliness, and I wish I still lived in this street across the road from such fun drinking sessions - but studying for exams comes along with that, so maybe not.

When last orders is called we decide to commandeer Mowgli's brother's flat in oder that we can continue the fun and games over some drinks.

His flat is in the East end of Glasgow near the Barrowlands and the Barras market. :



The Barrowlands is the best medium sized music venue in Glasgow(And possibly Britain), it's where I saw nine inch nails a few blogs ago. It's in a dodgy area of glagsow but it manages to drip with atmosphere when a good band plays in it. Next door is the Barras market:



The Barras market is a Glasgow institution. It's a open market which sells just about everything. It's not as good as it once was due to such interruptions as the law, customs and excise and copyright law, but it's still a great slice of Glasgow. It's not for the faint hearted but, if you are street wise enough to keep your mouth shut and your head down, it's a must for anyone who wants to step off the beaten tourist path.

Anyway, via a pakora shop which is flanked by bars named after highlights in the history of Celtic Football club, we get to the flat.

We've managed to buy some red wine for an inflated price from across a bar and we have enough pakora to feed an army. This allows us to sit about and talk bollocks until the early hours, where eventually we all fall asleep among the mess and dream our little dreams....

Christmas day

Christmas was a good day - nice and relaxed xcahnging of gifts, no pressure. Some nice books, the usual bundle of sweets, and the best of the best - Star Wars Monopoly. I can't wait to get started on Monopoly nights in Amsterdam with Obi Wan.

As always we eat too much, and then at night we settle down to a game of Star wars Monopoly.

Short post, but it was an uneventful relaxing day - just as it should be.

Christmas Eve

Having wasted some time in my home town getting relaxed, realising that none of could answer questions in the 1987 version of Trivial pursuit, discovering that Monty Python's flying circus isn't as amusing to a Russians and generally getting used to home comforts. The Space Cadet and I even manage to have a spontaneous jam session. We knocked out a few classics, had a blues jam and even had Luke SkyeTrekker joining on the spoons.

... but now I wind up needing to complete my Christmas shopping on Christmas eve.

Before we head off, we have a good Scottish Breakfast of Bacon Rolls, Porridge and Irn Bru. The Space Cadet is now reluctantly having a glass of Irn Bru in the morning to kick start the day.

Normally this would be a bad idea, but I reallly don't mind, I am very chilled, so I really don't mind, and it tunrs out that we manage to be in Glasgow in no time.

It's strnge being back in the UK. There is veryy little comercialisation of Christmas(Which offically the don't celebrate) in the Netherlands, so the tacky music and lights and tinsel actually still holds some romance for me. Our shopping troop is The Space Cadet, Mowgli and me. I only a have a few things to buy, so we can continue to be chilled wandering about the town centre:



We are in Border's when Mowgli gets a phone call. His brother has been in another Motorbike acccident. He appear to be okay, but we now have to make a trip to the Southern General Hospital on the other side of the river. Since we need to go through the Clyde Tunnel anyway, we drop off the Space Cadet, who hasn't been home for three days.

We get to the hospital, which is never a great thing, but luckily we know that there seems to be no life threatening damage and we can just be pissed off that he thinks he's Evil Keneval.

It turns out that apart from a sore leg, travelling through the Air at 70 mph and landing on the road hasn't done him much harm.

We head back to Space Cadet's flat and listen/play/perform/mangle some musical rendiditions. There's guitar, keybpard, bad vocals etc, but it's great fun cos it;s been a while. I love playing music just for a laugh, but I always feel bad for not having practiced more.

By 10.30, I decide that I have to get home and wrap some Christmas presents for tomorrow. We head down the road to the sounds of Green day dookie:



Then it's home to bed, before I get up for Christmas. This is always bizarre. It was such an exciting night when I was a kid, but now I just associatte it with being at home in Scotland and relaxing. CHristmas day is a family day - no interuptions. Probably the only day of the year that it's Guaranteed to happen. With these thoughts, and my adventures snce touching down in Glasgow, I drift off to sleep, before I even get to watch out for Santa.

Cognac and home

We wake up at about 9am.

To Mowgli's dismay, I'm still on European time, and 10 am is late enough to get started when I have so much Scotland to see. I'm like a little boy bouncing up and down. I drag Mwogli off his sofa cushions and we phone the Space Cadet. The Similarski sisters are going to head down to Ayrshire with us too see another perspective of Scotland. Oringinally we were meant to meet them at Centrall Station, but their mother and Grandmother are viisiting from russia and we have been invited for Breakfast.

We met the Space Cadet's father briefly the previous evening. I usually find russians to be very quiet an manly and quite imposing, but either becuase of the time he's spent in Glasgow or becuase my stereotype is completely wrong, I was pleasantly surprised that he was very welcomng.

As we arrived at 9.30am his hospitality continued:

"Morning Cognac???"

Breakfast was brandy, pancakes and caviar:









It actually makes for a really tasty breakfast. I love salty things so really enjoy the caviar. I only have one brandy with my coffee, as I plan to drive later, which is a pretty good job, because on the second round of brandies, the Space Cadet seems to think that Brandy is served in similar measures to red wine.

After we are full of pancakes, I get the smelling salts out to bring Mowgli round before we head off to Ayr on the Train. Before we get on the train, we have Scottish breakfast:



I can't believe it, but it appears that despite living in Glasgow for almost 5 years, the SPace Cadet isn't ure if she's tasted Irn Bru before. We give her a hit, it's good to see the tears welll up in her eyes as the E numbers hit her retinas. She doesn't like it.

It feels good to be going on the Glasgow seaside holiday down the coast to Ayr. I get to watch the views and point out all the sites as I get to re-discover them.

We roll into Ayr and Mowgli heads off to get clothes and a shower. I take the Similarski sisters off to see Ayr. This doesn't take very long, as its getting reallly run down so I have little passion for the place:





We find ourselves down by the bridge which crosses the river Ayr. It isn't very warm - in fact it is absolutely baltic, or as the French say "Tres Baltique". There is a good tranditional cure for this which exisits in ayr; The Coffee Boat:



The Coffee Boat is a little greasy spoon wagon which has exisited in the same spot(In one form or another) as long as I can remember. I treat the Similarski sisters to teas and coffees, and they also get to try my cup of Mushy Peas:



From wikipedia:

"Mushy peas are dried marrowfat peas which are first soaked overnight and then simmered until they form a bright green paste. Sodium bicarbonate is often added to soften the peas and to inhibit fermentation during soaking which reduces later flatulence. They are a very traditional northern English accompaniment to Fish and Chips and appear placed to remain a part of traditional British cuisine."

I like them with a lot of vinegar and I eat them as we head long the river ayr towards the Harbour:



As we get closer and closer to the sea, the wind is starting to batter off our faces. Its become a brisk winter walk to blow away the cob-webs.

My Mother is near Ayr, so we are killing time until she is heading to my home, and she will take us along. This gives us time to head out along the pier:



The photo above is pulled off the internet. The island's you can see in the background is Arran, where I made a trip to in the summer. When we there(Hopefully I'll get pictures of it from the Space cadet tonight), you couldn't see any of this, all you could see was wind and spray. It was WILD:













There are rocks on either side which are a very scarey black. You can literally see the water flly about in the air. It's really dramatic and feels like the eye of the storm or something like that. We mess about and take a few photos, and then eventually, thourgh the mist annd spray, I see a Beetle arrive along the sea front, and we run back to the warmth of my mum's car.

I make the introductions and then we head in coast a bit via Mowgli's house to finally make it to my home.

It's good to be back. See the cats, have a fridge full of scottish munchies etc. etc. etc.

We chill out for a little while, and I enjoy that feeling o f relaxation that home brings with it. I've worked so hard for a few weeks that it's tempting to just go to my room and sleep for two weeks, but luckily socialising and roadtripping is too tempting too.

By this point Luke SkyeTrekker(Of Scottish Road tripping Blog fame) has arrived to join the party. He has a good thick Ayrshire accent which I'm enjoying watching the Similarski sister's faces as they get used to it.

Space Cadet's sister has to be back up in Glasgow, so we hit the road again - this time I'm driving the Beetle. It feels good to be behind the wheel with a car full of friends again heading up the M77 to Glasgow. We have connected a powerbook to the car with a tapemachine(The iTrip and iPod combination ran out of battery), and Mowgli is chief DJ.

Before long, we are zooming through the Clyde Tunnel to reach Partick.

We drop one Similarski sister off in Partick and then head off to look for some fish and Chips. I've not had fish and chips yet in this country and we plan to get some on the way home. We are at around Kilmarnock when I decide I'd rather head home and get Chinese in my village.

Theres a dish you can get in Ayrshire chinese takeaways callled "Smoked Shredded Chicken" which is just so good, and I've never seen anywhere else. We get a pile of dishes and take them back home before vegetating in front of the Television - finally spending a night in my own bed......

Home to Scotland

I've neglected the blog for a wee whle, because I was tying up lots of loose ends at work before I headed off to Scotland for Christmas.

There were various drinking sessions and meals to see people before heading away for Christmas - Obi Wan's Birthday, Photo session dinner with Marilyn - but nothing to merit setting aside the time to write some blogs. After Prague, I was pretty much on autopilot until Scotland; ignoring the minging Amsterdam winter and working away.

Now, my tired bones are on a plane to Glasgow. I'm really not in the mood for KLM air travel, and everything seems to be stacked against me. The trams, the automatic checkin, long security queues, kids spewing into sickbags before the plane has left the runway, the plane sitting on the runway for an hour before take off, greetin' weans, long wait for luggage.... you get the picture.

Eventually, I'm greeting my parents in the departure lounge, and I'm back home once more. They bear gifts of Daily records, Irn Bru and decent crisps.

We head into Glasgow for coffee with my brother and catch up on various stories and gossip. It's a new coffeeshop(well new to me) on woodlands road. It's replaced a cafe that was called cafe insomnia, it used to be a common haunt on the way home from clubs on Sauchiehall street, now it is a beanscene coffeeshop, but it's far removed from the small beanscene which I used to frequent on Cresswell lane. It was a small coffeeshop with good music, kind of a grunge version of Starbucks - this one has just become another starbucks. It instantly reminds me one of the differences between home and away. For some reason coffeeshop owners in the UK insist on playing Coldplay as easy listening. The problem is I find it whiney and depressing. Coldplay has it's place, I just keep on hearing the whiney intro to one of the songs - you have to know the one "oh no.... not me...." and thats what I think every time I hear it.



Anyway - that was a bit of a rant, but my take on Glaswegian coffeeshops makes a difference to my take on bars and beers.

After making a few phone calls, I'm heading into town to meet Mowgli and the Similarova sisters. They are eating on a bar on George Square:

Woodlands road to George Square is quite a walk in Glasgow standards, and there are several ways to get there by public transport, but I want to make the 15 minute walk, and see how the cities changed since I was last here.

As always as I walk along Suchiehallstreet, a few of the pubs and clubs have changed hands and changed names, or in the case of the Shack and Trash, they have been completely removed after a fire. The shopping streets are much the same, but it's good to see the Christmas shoppers again - the glasgow patter and the glasgow fashion(or lack of fashion).

Before long, I make it down to George Square. It is full of christmas lights. I remember we always used to take a detour from Christmas shopping as kids to see the Christmas lights:



The troops are in the counting house. It's a Witherspoons pub on George Square:



It's a commercialised bar just like all the other Witherspoons, but they have cheap food and plenty room. The place is really really busy with people having a drink after last minute Christmas shopping. It gives us the chance to catch up on various stories and adventures. Mowgli has only been back from Prague for about 4 days, and he is still getting used to the 400% increase in the price of beer, which coupled with an 800% reduction in flavour makes for a sobering return home.

The day has dissappeared in a haail of mindless conversation. "The boys are back in town" is playing repeatedly in our heads as we head out to the The Space Cadet's flat in Partick via a quick wander down memory lane, or to give it its correct term - Byres Road. I lived her for about 2 years, and it's also the main student street in Glasgow. I could probably walk down it blinfolded(I say this given my experience of walking down it blind drunk):









It's really nice to be back. The place is full of memories, and even just seeing the picturesque university makes me proud to be an allumni(Jesus I sound American):





It is however, a memory that I visit every now and again. I have no wish to return to my student days. I always feel very old and get frustrated with studetns pretty quickly. Maybe its just jelousy, but the wacky, zany comedy and lifestyle grates on you after a while.

Once in Partick, we settle down to relax for a little while, playing various music and cracking open a bottle of red and generally chilling out.

I've spoken to Иine inch Иiña. She's moving house today, and Mowgli and I are going to head along to help her lift stuff. She stays out on Argyll street in the West end. It's basically the other side of Kelvingrove park from the University. There are various memories in this end of town too. There used to be(Maybe still is) a halls of residence callled caircross house. The first of my school mates that went to uni stayed here, so I used to sleep on the floor here in the mid nineties when I went to various concerts and parties. It was my first experience of the student lifestyle when we still got so wired up and excited when we were going to concerts. Maybe it's just that the bands were better in those days.

I've been to so many student parties that this end of glasgow has various flashbacks from house parties I've been to. I can't rememebr who's flat it used to be, or who I was there with for what occasion, but every now and again you look at a door or an intercom buzzer and rememeber stnading there in the cold wondering which flat the party is in with a plastic bag full of warm Tennants lager in your hand.

Ah..... The memories.

Anyway..... We find Иiña's flat and head up the stairs with a box each to be greeted with the now customary bear hug. It's lucky she is wee, cos it would do my back in picking anyone else up in a bear hug for that long. The flat is a very nice West end flat. They all look the same, but this one is nice and cleans and tastefully decorated. The similar lay out of so many fllats plays havoc with your memory when you have been drunk in so many of them.

We settle in and crack open a bottle of Red. Various visitors come and go and eventuallly we are left catching up on life with Иiña and Ms. Diddley(Of Amsterdam red painting fame), tucking into a Curry and showing off photos from our various adventures.

It's a good relaxing night and by 2am Mowlgi and I are asleep on our assigned couches....

I've been back in the country about 12 hours and already spent about 8 hours drinking an socialising. It could be a long two weeks.

Rearviewmirror - Pearl Jam´s Greatest Hits

Last Christmas, Pearl Jam released a contractually obliged greatest hits album:



Most people who know me, know that I am relgiously devoted to Pearl Jam, and I have been sicne I was about 12, so as a Christmas gift, I dished out loads of copies of this album which included an inlay booklet which I wrote - outlining my personal perspective to a lot of the songs. I fished it out to send to The Space Cadet, and decided that it would be quite fitting if I uploaded it to the blog.

The descriptions were written ina rush, and are shirt enough to include in an Inlay booklet, but they tell a few stories if anybodies interested.

1. Once from Ten
This is how the first Album started. What a start. Heavier than usual from Pearl Jam, but bursting with the power.
This was song two on the demo tape that Stone Gossard (Rhythm Guitarist) sent to the then unknown Eddie Vedder. Eddie then overdubbed the vocals to create a three track mini opera similar to his hero Pete Townsend of the who. The opera (Known as the mamasan trilogy), tells the story of a boy who find out his father is actually his step father and that his real father was a family friend who died when he was young. (See track 2.) He is confused, so goes on a killing spree (This track), then ends up on death row (Footsteps, and early B-side)

2. Alive from Ten




An absolute classic, and their first single. Usually in the top ten of greatest rock songs of all time, greatest guitar solos
etc. It deserves every merit, but as a result, it's hardly ever played by Pearl Jam (Although it was resurrected in the Vote
for Change tour)

This is Act 1 of the Mini Opera, and tells the story of Eddie Vedder's childhood. He hated his step father and didn't discover he knew his real father until after he was dead. The solo is unbelievable and single handedly sealed Pearl Jam a place in rock history. Mike McCready (Who was a heavy drug user throughout much of their early career), can be heard playing almost the same solo on track 2 of disc 2

3.Evenflow from Ten



Pearl Jam's third single. Another classic that MTV overplay to this day. One killer riff in a foot to the floor rocker makes sure that Ten (Their first album) still sells around 5,000 copies a week in the US alone. This is still a live staple. Along with Track 17 on Disc 2, this is an opportunity for Mike McCready to show off. It's an ongoing challenge to him to see how fast he can play the solo, any of the live bootlegs with this on will prove that he hits the mark most nights. (Glasgow being an exceptional example). In the Last live DVD he is in physical muscle pain afterwards.

4. Jeremy from Ten



A song destroyed by MTV. To this day(13 years after it's release) it is still played at least twice a day on American MTV. This is probably the least played live song in Pearl Jam's canon. This tells the true story of a school kid that was bullied and walked into school one day and shot himself in front of the class. Pre-Columbine, this proved from the onset that Pearl Jam were going to be political. The song sounds out of place now, but it did make sure that they never made a video ever again, to ensure that MTV couldn't get their music

5. State Of Love and Trust
One of the many songs not good enough to make it onto the first album, this is a favourite among many fans, mainly because it's the opening track to their MTV Unplugged performance, if not considered to be their best ever performance, certainly they're best ever videoed performance. MTV still refuse to release the DVD. This version finally surfaced in Cameron Crowe's (Of Jerry McGuire fame) “singles” movie. This was probably the first song I ever played live on the guitar. Unfortunately to many grandmother's horrors it was at a school Brass Band concert.

6.Animal from VS



The second single from their second album, this was actually a left over riff from even before Eddie was in the band. Eddie Vedder wanted the call this album “5 against 1”, but Sony thought it was too confrontational. (He didn't have enough clout in those days). Instead he wrote the lyrics to this song.

7. Go from VS



The first single from their second album, this did two things. It confirmed that the second album was going to be as powerful
and radio friendly as the first. It also showed the start of Pearl Jam's ongoing with the Music Industry, the single was released as a CD, a 7” Vinyl, a Tape and a 12” vinyl with free gift, ensuring that it wasn't eligible for the singles charts. In the UK, it came with a sticker which said:

“This release is not eligible for the Charts”


8. Dissident from VS



Fourth single from the second album, a fairly standard rocker. Pearl Jam wanted to release a live album, but Sony advised against it. Their contract allowed them to choose their B-sides, so the single came in four different versions (Ensuring that it couldn't get into the charts), each version had 8 B-sides to make up an entire concert. (Fox theatre Atlanta Georgia: April 4th 1994) Fox theatre is a classic concert which showcased much of the material from Vitalogy and Marked a turning point in Pearl Jam's career.

9 Rearviewmirror from VS
Another Classic, possibly my favourite rocker in their canon. The song is one riff played over and over again, yet the tension of the song builds and builds. Pearl Jam are very good at this, but its very difficult to achieve. (See also Track 1 Disc 2) The song also marks the departure of Pearl Jam's second drummer (They go through more drummers than Spinal Tap). The drum stick sound at the end of the track is his frustration after an argument with Eddie Vedder about how the drums should sound in the performance. I think the performance is fine! He refused to do another take.
“Saw things...clearer...once you...were in my...rearviewmirror!”


10. Spin the Black Circle from Vitalogy



I remember getting this single on the day it came out. We were in deep shock. Suddenly Pearl Jam had allowed Eddie Vedder to play guitar, and they had become a punk new wave band. I was forced to move my devotions from 70's rock to punk over night. It required reacquainting myself with my Who collection. This is the 3rd album, and possibly the greatest 3rd album since Led Zep III. This transformed the band from Radio friendly High Quality rockers to something altogether different. This halfed their fanbase, and provided them with Major longevity. Some fans call this their first album.


11. Corduroy from Vitalogy
Another Vedder penned live staple. How they get from haunting intro to angry shouting is quite bizarre. It shouldn't work but
for some reason it does. This is possibly due to long time producer and friend Brandan O'Brien. This was played almost every nigt on the tour. Eddie loves it but Mike is bored with it. Its an ongoing joke in the band.
Mike's only allowed to play Yellow Ledbetter if Eddies allowed to play corduroy.

12. Not for You from Vitalogy



“Restless souls enjoy your youth” This is from the bible. I remember once the school chaplain quoted it in assembly, a lot of good it did, cos at the same time Eddie was telling me it was not for me. Sony got this as the single. They wanted Nothingman and Betterman. If they thought the second album was too confrontational then they must have given up by this point. This is Eddie's message to the press and media, who were getting on his back a little.

13. I got Shit



Now we're talking. This is the result of a drunken night between Ed and Neil Young during the recording of Neil Young's mirrorball album, it was released as a double B-Side (as opposed to a double A side), called Merkinball. The song, as with many, is made up as they go along. Neil Young's guitar, is just phenomenal, the passion, the power, you can almost smell the dust on this very old guitar. Eddies lyrics are some of the best ever. (Could be the Brandy)
“If just once I could feel love stare back at me.”

14. Hail Hail from No Code
A rare heavy number from No Code. The album is actually full of Code. An in joke in the Pearl Jam camp. It contains Morse
code of Pearl Jam, Polaroid photos on the cover which come together to make a huge “No Code Logo” Backwards singing overlaid on the track. The CD has some ouja board style coding system etc. Following the tradition laid down by Led Zeppelin, the cover doesn't contain the name Pearl Jam, except in various coded forms.

15. Do the Evolution from Yield
Another rocker, from the fifth album, and the second Pearl Jam song to have a video(This time it was a controversial video by famous cartoonist Todd McFarlane, so MTV couldn't play it) Here Eddie takes the persona of a Dumb white American.
“I'm the first mammal to wet my pants, Its evolution baby”

16. Save You from Riot Act



This is one of only two songs from their seventh Album. Most of the album is a tribute to Eddie's favourite Politician George
W. Bush, but this is him working out some frustration after his wife left him. He manages to quote himself on this song, possibly a reference to how times have changed:
“don't go on me now”
See Track 7 Disc 1.


1. Black
If Alive put them in rock history, Black ensured they're longevity. Black is a contender for greatest song of lost love ever
recorded. The song remains as heart felt and fresh today as it always has.
The song like rearviewmirror(Track 9. Disc 1.) is a slow build with very little song. The money shot within the beautiful lyrics is:

“i know someday you'll have a beautiful life, i know you'll be a star, in somebody else's sky, but why
why, why can't it be, why can't it be mine? “

OUCH!!!

2. Breath
This song wasn't goods enough to make it onto Ten. It was used on the “singles” soundtrack instead. The killer line is:
“oh, if i knew where it was i would take you there”
The intro to the song is so difficult that Stone Gossard won't play it live. As Eddie once said
“He hasthe balls to wear plaid trousers and a cowboy hat, but won't play Breath live”

3. Daughter from Versus



A great quiet number from the second album, this is a live staple, played at almost every full show.
The outro becomes a Jam every night, where Eddie improvises words, sings words to a cover or uses it as a political platform, possibly the most bizarre being War by Edwin Starr.

4. Elderly Woman behind the counter in a small Town from VS
This waltz in 3/4 time is probably the first purely acoustic song that Pearl Jam wrote. The song was made up as they went along while Stone Gossard was playing the chords to tune up. It was the start of the songs, like much of No Code and the later albums where Eddie is lost in some small town, not sure who he is anymore or who he knows. Its also officially the longest title in the pearl jam song book.

5. Immortality from Vitalogy



A wonderful acoustic number in an album which only a die hard fan can listen to all the way through. This was possibly the
first time we had rootsy acoustic soloing from Mike McCready which would resurface on the later albums. When played live, especially acoustic, the outro is extended and is absolute genius. The lyrics tell of Eddie's frustration at life in the public eye and the death of Kust Cobain, ironically, this was the album that took them out of the public eye:
“as privileged as a whore...victims in demand for public show “


6. Betterman from Vitalogy
This was written in 1988, when Eddie was a teenager fighting with his wife-beating step father. The song has since become a classic. Its first performance was at the famous Fox Theatre Atlanta show, (See Track 8, Disc 1.) where it was introduced as:
“This is a new song….., but eh, it was written a long time ago. This is dedicated to the bastard that married my mother”


7. Nothingman from Vitalogy
Word and music written by Jeff Ament( Bass Player), this is everything a beautiful song should be. Simple, wonderful lyrics,
rousing chorus. I think song tells the story of Andy Wood who was the singer of Mother Love Bone (Jeff and Stones previous band), who died of a heroin overdose.
“walks on his own...with thoughts he can't help thinking... “
This is another one Sony wanted to be a single.


8. Who you are from No Code
Another first single. This one was another shock, after the change of style that was Vitalogy, this single gave us the rootsy acousticness that would be most of the fourth album.This song has never been played live, possibly because of it's reliance on harmonized vocals.

9. Off he Goes from No Code
Second single from NoCode, their fourth album. This is Eddie in Neil Young mode.
No Code is probably my favourite Pearl Jam album, its the least accessible and that may be why, its the most bare and honest. This style of song has become standard Vedder fare, around the campfire, beautiful songs about being lost somewhere on a road.

10. Given to Fly from Yield
First single from the 5th album, and the first song I managed to get on mp3 before it was released. This marked the beginning of Pearl Jam's relaxed adult stage. The music is supposed to be like a wave. I remember this vividly live, jumping up and down at the correct times etc, Eddie made sure we were okay:
“Everybody up, no one down”, then managed to forget the words. 27 days later 9 people died in Denmark during the same tour. The intro is almost a direct homage (French for rip off) of “Going to California” by Led Zeppelin

11.Wishlist from Yield



The second single from the 5th album. Another bizarre song from Eddie, this is now used a political platform. At the time I couldn't really work out what point there was in wishlist, but you learn to trust Pearl Jam. The song now usually contains ad lib about the president.
“I wish I was the president, I would stand down”
“I wish I was the president, I would bring the troops home”

12. Last Kiss



Eddie Vedder and Jeff Ament found the original (Written by Wayne Cochran) on a 45” in a jumble sale. He decided it was such a heart felt song that PJ covered it and released it for Kosovan Refugees.It tells the story of the Last Kiss between a teenager and his dying girlfriend, and how he will have to be good, so that he can meet his baby in heaven.Despite being the least Pearl Jam song of all time, this is Pearl Jam's best selling single of all time. (Selling even more than Alive)


13. Nothing as it seems



The first single from Binaural (Album 6.). This is one of the few songs written solely by the Bass player Jeff Ament.
The song sounds like dirge to me, the muddy production doesn't help. I was studying hard in third year when this first came
out, and I played it over and over till I liked it. Its only got two chords, but the string bending mastery of Mike McCready
would even make B.B. King jealous.
WARNING! PINK FLOYD MOMENT: To the naysayers of Binaural technology, listen to this on head phones. The solo's are placed in the centre of your head.


14. Light Year from Binaural



This was the second single from pearl Jam's sixth album. Binaural was the worst received album that Pearl Jam made, and the
hardcore fans continue to discus what is “Wrong” with it. The answer is that it was recorded binaurally, so should be
listened to on headphones. When it is listen to on speakers it sounds a little muddy. I don't have a problem with muddy, they
are a grunge band after all.This is a pretty standard Stone Gossard written slow number, it contains the wonderful line:
“we were but stones, your light made us stars”


15. I am mine from Riot Act



Eddie Vedder's first response to 9/11, and the first single from their 7th album. This returns to the sentiments of Alive (Track 2 Disc 1). The only thing that we own is our mind, and no one has any rights to change it. As always with the first hint of a new album, this took a while to grow on me, but now I love it. Yet again it's a new style for Pearl Jam, who manage to grow with every album. It approaches Irish Drinking song in places and is the most radio friendly they've been in years, but the profound subject matter proves that the same Pearl Jam is never far away.

16. Man of the hour



The newest track on the whole compilation, this was written for Eddie's friend Tim Burton after seeing the last mix of his film “Big Fish” It should be apparent by now that Eddie has “father issues”. It's a pretty nice song, and was the first material released outside of the Sony Label. Pearl Jam at time of writing don't have a record contract, so watch this space.

17. Yellow Ledbetter
Probably Pearl Jam's most popular song. Eddie Vedder couldn't finish the lyrics in time to put it on the first album. This recorded version had only ever been released as a B-side until this year. Despite not existing in Mainstream release, this
song has been requested at almost every performance Pearl Jam have ever made, usually closing the show. The version played in Glasgow in 2000 last about 12 minutes.
The song is loosely based/stolen from Little wing by Hendrix, who is Mike McCready's (Lead Guitar) hero. Eddie Vedder still
hasn't finished the words, they are constantly changing, recently they have included the line:
“You don't know if your sons and daughters are coming home in a box or in a bag” - A reference to Iraq.