Give yourself a few minutes of respite and listen to the song before or while reading this post. Jeremy by Pearl Jam
It Takes Love to Save the World
Each person is a complete and unique universe. Dreams, yearnings, goals, strengths, weaknesses, conflicts, problems and everything that makes us different coexist within us in an amalgam of experiences that makes us who we are, makes us an individual miracle in an extraordinary way.
Even in this messy and gargantuan thing we call life we feel that we are the protagonist of our own book. And just like the hero of the story, we must face conflicts. Our conflicts, the worst kind that exists because they weigh only on us, without regard or considerations. This weight we have to carry is as unique as our existence. Even so, we push as hard as we can, hoping to claim victory over mountaintops with arms raised in a V.
But being unique doesn’t mean that the life we are given, and the life we choose, is going to be pleasant. We all have been introduced to sadness. In different ways, we all share grief, we all have cried tears of sorrow. We are all wicked kings and queens who rule our world.
We must remember that every single soul is dealing with its own kind of problems and not everyone can cope with that fight the same way we do. The road ahead is long and unforgiving, so we must stand tall, we must stand together.
It’s hard, taking care of others when we are taking care of ourselves; extend a helping hand to one another when we are using both to build the life we want; aid carry each other’s weight when we have so much over our shoulders and feel empathy with the sad when we are the happy.
But we have to remember! Just like we are worth it, so is the person next to us! Every soul cries out loud for love, for recognition, for friendship, for empathy, for the promise of a brighter tomorrow. We have to care for the next soul as much as we care for our own. These things, we cannot forget them, we cannot erase them from the blackboard.
We have to appreciate the struggle that everyone lives in silence. We have to learn how to listen, not with our ears, but with our heart. Beyond our eyes lies what we truly feel and the same applies to everyone else. He who saves a life saves the entire world. Listen, be empathic, be human and you may find yourself saving a unique kind of universe.
"Jeremy" is one of my favorites songs from the iconic American grunge band Pearl Jam. In 1992, after some controversy, it was released as the third single from their debut album Ten. The song was nominated and reward with the following awards:
- Grammy Award for Best Rock Song 1993 (nominated).
- Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Interpretation 1993 (nominated).
- MTV Video Music Award for Viewer's Choice 1993 (nominated).
- MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video 1993 (winner).
- MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year 1993 (winner).
- MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction 1993 (winner).
- MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video 1993 (winner).
"Jeremy" became a very popular song for its video and the source of inspiration for the lyrics. A first video was directed, and produced, by Chris Cuffaro; the video showed the band playing in a rotating platform with images of an actor portraying Jeremy. The video was dismissed by Epic records and MTV. Later, a second video was made (and announced as the official one). It was directed by Mark Pellington.
This is where things get deep. The lyrics for the song were inspired by the suicide of Jeremy Wede Delle. a 16 years old kid who shot himself with a .357 magnum in front of his English teacher and 30 classmates. I really don't want to go into much detail here out of respect for his soul, but feel free to check the press realese that inspired Eddie Vedder to write the lyrics as a form of tribute.
When asked about the inspiration for the song this is what Pearl Jam's vocalist and frontman, Eddie Vedder had to say:
It came from a small paragraph in a paper which means you kill yourself and you make a big old sacrifice and try to get your revenge. That all you're gonna end up with is a paragraph in a newspaper.
- Eddie Vedder
The lyrics took inspiration from another person as well. A student Vedder knew when he was younger. This is what he had to say about it in a 1991 interview:
I actually knew somebody in junior high school, in San Diego, California, that did the same thing, just about, didn't take his life but ended up shooting up an oceanography room. I remember being in the halls and hearing it and I had actually had altercations with this kid in the past. I was kind of a rebellious fifth-grader and I think we got in fights and stuff. So it's a bit about this kid named Jeremy and it's also a bit about a kid named Brian that I knew and I don't know... the song, I think it says a lot. I think it goes somewhere...and a lot of people interpret it different ways and it's just been recently that I've been talking about the true meaning behind it and I hope no one's offended and believe me, I think of Jeremy when I sing it.
- Eddie Vedder
I think it takes a great amount of courage and sadness to take our own lives. No one should walk alone and suffer silently until they choose to suffer no more. We can all help relieve people from their grief simply by listening, by being a friend. Please let empathy and love be the only things that rule how you interact with everyone around you.
I really really really REALLY love music, so I figure out I'd write something that came out of listening to some of my favorites tunes. When I came up with this idea I was listening to "Jeremy" I knew the story behind it from a long time ago but never thought about writing about it until now, it fell right to start this initiative with this song. I'm letting this post go live before the lesser Diego plants doubts in my mind, please enjoy and take care of yourselves!
P.S.: I'm not that sure about posting links to youtube videos, please let me know if this violates any copyright laws and if it doesn't fall under Fair Use agreements.