Formed after the demise of Gossard and Ament's previous band, Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam broke into the mainstream with their debut album, Ten, in 1991. Ten stayed on the Billboard 200 chart for nearly five years, and has gone on to become one of the highest-selling rock records ever, going 13× platinum in the United States. Released in 1993, Pearl Jam's second album, Vs., sold over 950,000 copies in its first week of release, setting the record for most copies of an album sold in its first week of release at the time. Their third album, Vitalogy (1994), became the second-fastest-selling CD in history at the time, with more than 877,000 units sold in its first week.
One of the key bands in the grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam's members often shunned popular music industry practices such as making music videos or participating in interviews. The band also sued Ticketmaster, claiming it had monopolized the concert-ticket market. In 2006, Rolling Stone described the band as having "spent much of the past decade deliberately tearing apart their own fame."
Pearl Jam had sold more than 85 million albums worldwide by 2018, including nearly 32 million albums in the United States by 2012, making them one of the best-selling bands of all time. Pearl Jam was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 in its first year of eligibility. They were ranked eighth in a readers' poll by Rolling Stone magazine in its "Top Ten Live Acts of All Time" issue. Throughout its career, the band has also promoted wider social and political issues, from pro-abortion rights sentiments to opposition to George W. Bush's presidency. Vedder acts as the band's spokesman on these issues.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Jam
Studio albums
Ten (1991)
Vs. (1993)
Vitalogy (1994)
No Code (1996)
Yield (1998)
Binaural (2000)
Riot Act (2002)
Pearl Jam (2006)
Backspacer (2009)
Lightning Bolt (2013)
Gigaton (2020)
Times of Trouble
Pearl Jam Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the needles sharp
And you drift away
I can hear you say
That the world in black
Is upon your back
And your body shakes
So you ditch away
Don't try to do it
Don't try to kill your time
You might do it
Then you cant change your mind
You've got a hold on to your time
Till your break through these
Times of trouble
When you try to talk
And the words get hard
And they put you down
Don't you stay
Don't you ditch away
I saw you swinging
Swinging your mothers sword
I know you're playing but
Sometimes the rules get hard
But if somebody left you out on a ledge
If somebody pushed you over the edge
If somebody loved you and left you for dead
You got to hold on to your time till you break
Through these times of trouble
The lyrics of Pearl Jam's song Trouble, from the album 'Vs', are about the struggle with addiction and mental health issues. The opening lines refer to drug use, with the "spoon" and "needles." When the singer drifts away, he can hear the world in black, which signifies a bleak outlook on life. The physical shakes suggest withdrawal symptoms from drug use, which is a way of coping with deeper emotional or psychological issues. The singer tries to escape by closing the shades, indicating a desire to hide from the world and avoid confronting the problems.
The chorus urges the singer not to give up and not to try to kill time in destructive ways, as he might not be able to change his mind later. The need to hold on to time suggests a sense of urgency and the importance of making the most of life, despite difficulties. The song acknowledges that talking about problems can be challenging, and people may put you down, but the solution is not to ditch away but to hold on and push through tough times.
The verse about swinging your mother's sword may refer to fantasy or escape from reality, but sometimes the rules get hard, suggesting that the singer cannot evade problems by pretending they do not exist. The final lines express empathy for the singer, who may feel abandoned, betrayed or hurt by someone, but despite it all, he must hold on to his time till he breaks through these times of trouble.
Overall, the song suggests an understanding of the difficulties of battling addiction and mental health issues, and it provides a message of hope and resilience, urging the singer to hold on to his time and push through challenges.
Line by Line Meaning
When the spoon is hot
When you're using drugs or doing something that's considered dangerous
And the needles sharp
And you're injecting drugs into your body
And you drift away
And you become disconnected from reality
I can hear you say
Your mind is telling you that
That the world in black is upon your back
You feel depressed and burdened by your problems
And your body shakes
Your physical and emotional state is unstable
So you ditch away
You retreat and isolate yourself from others
And you close the shades
You shut yourself off from the outside world
Don't try to do it
Don't try to escape your problems by turning to drugs or other harmful habits
Don't try to kill your time
Don't waste your time engaging in meaningless activities that won't help you in the long run
You might do it
You might fall into the trap of addiction and find yourself unable to change your situation
Then you cant change your mind
You'll be stuck in this negative cycle and won't be able to turn your life around
You've got a hold on to your time
You need to take control of your life and use your time wisely to work towards a better future
Till your break through these times of trouble
Until you overcome your struggles and hardships
When you try to talk
When you attempt to express yourself
And the words get hard
And you struggle to find the right words to say
And they put you down
And others criticize or belittle you
Don't you stay
Don't let their words and actions get to you and bring you down
Don't you ditch away
Don't give up and run away from your problems
I saw you swinging
I saw you acting recklessly
Swinging your mother's sword
Engaging in behavior that is reminiscent of your family's dysfunction and trauma
I know you're playing but
I know you're trying to cope with your pain and struggles in an unhealthy way, but
Sometimes the rules get hard
Sometimes life is difficult and you feel like you're being held back or restricted
But if somebody left you out on a ledge
But if someone put you in a dangerous or precarious position
If somebody pushed you over the edge
If someone caused you to reach your breaking point
If somebody loved you and left you for dead
If someone you cared about betrayed or abandoned you and left you feeling hopeless and alone
You got to hold on to your time till you break
You need to continue to persevere and work towards a better life, even when things seem bleak
Through these times of trouble
Despite the challenges and difficulties you face
Lyrics © HIPGNOSIS SONGS GROUP, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Stone C. Gossard, Christopher J. Cornell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@scottnapier943
This is great to sing along to, it'll always be Footsteps to me! TOTD live forever! RIP Andrew
@denisefreitas6727
Same to me, Footsteps.
@musicloverforever8475
Also love the instrument, beautifully played
@mariejimpo
The voice of Chris Cornell!
@musicloverforever8475
Beautiful footsteps, my parents, God Bless
@domrafones
In this demo you can feel the dueling atmosphere, almost a western, that Gossard maybe proposed ...
So the effects, the piano, the harmonica solo and all the aesthetics.
Sensational.
@MARSELIMADHE
this song from Temple of Dog is very similar to some Alice in Chains track from "Jar of Flies"
@diptarshis
Rotten Apple ?
@domrafones
Harmonic intention does resemble yes ... but these are two very different proposals.
Just a grunge lover to make this beautiful comparison.
Brazilian greetings.
@thesecondYouTube
No.87 on Greatest Grunge/ Washington state tracks.