Overplay it Again, Sam
Or…The Dragon finds an “old” gem from Pearl Jam to share today
(First, seriously, what is a yellow ledbetter? Isn’t it a car? Someone will have to comment and remind me.)
Yellow Ledbetter was released back in the ’90s and went into instant overplay on every radio station worth listening to in the Kansas City area where I lived. Strangely enough…I was thrilled by that. I loved the song then, and, apparently, still love the song. Pearl Jam is a group that I can enjoy, but I can’t find any of their albums on my shelves (bizarre…I think those went with the ex in the blessed dissolution of the marriage).
I never could understand exactly what Eddie Vedder was singing in those lyrics, and I’ve not taken the time to look it up. Anyone want to post it in the comments for us? But that didn’t matter to me. It was the feeling with which he sang that got me. (That and the kickin’ guitar solo.) I just love the song. I don’t have to know what he’s saying. It’s like listening to something lonely and heart-wrenching in another language in some parts…and I want to hear it again no matter how often I hear it.
You know how some songs get played 49 times a day on one station and 53 times a day on another station, and you hear them all 102 times? Thus you grow to despise the song. You hear it in your head when you close your eyes to sleep that night and you curse the silence for allowing the track to play. You try to drown it out by humming some nursery rhyme you learned as a child. Or you turn on the clock radio to replace it with whatever’s on only to discover Time #103 is in progress. When this was taking place for Pearl Jam’s Yellow Ledbetter, I was pleased. I was delighted each time a radio station pumped it across the airwaves. When it slowed in rotation, I was disappointed. Of course, I think that took about 14 or 16 months…
Fast forward to April 2010 and I’m in my car in Southwest Florida where most radio stations suck wind. (I feel moderately qualified to make such a statement because I’m a licensed DJ.) Luckily, there’s one station called “Bob” that plays a pretty wide variety of music with minimal talk and I can tolerate that. As soon as I can afford the upfront lump cost of Sirius, I’ll spring for it, but, geez, there are so many more important things to spend my money on right now. (Book marketing being at the top of the list. Hospital payments being second. Food being third. Priorities, folks. He he he.) So while listening to Bob on my way to a doctor appointment that was going to take money from that third priority category the other day, I heard Yellow Ledbetter. I was thrilled. I made a mental note to add it (for a whopping 99 cents) to my iTunes.
Now my birds are learning what “overplay” means.
Read more about my quirks at my dragon Web site.
“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”
Tags: book marketing, Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder, Yellow Ledbetter, overplay, Sirius
Or…The Dragon finds an “old” gem from Pearl Jam to share today
(First, seriously, what is a yellow ledbetter? Isn’t it a car? Someone will have to comment and remind me.)
Yellow Ledbetter was released back in the ’90s and went into instant overplay on every radio station worth listening to in the Kansas City area where I lived. Strangely enough…I was thrilled by that. I loved the song then, and, apparently, still love the song. Pearl Jam is a group that I can enjoy, but I can’t find any of their albums on my shelves (bizarre…I think those went with the ex in the blessed dissolution of the marriage).
I never could understand exactly what Eddie Vedder was singing in those lyrics, and I’ve not taken the time to look it up. Anyone want to post it in the comments for us? But that didn’t matter to me. It was the feeling with which he sang that got me. (That and the kickin’ guitar solo.) I just love the song. I don’t have to know what he’s saying. It’s like listening to something lonely and heart-wrenching in another language in some parts…and I want to hear it again no matter how often I hear it.
You know how some songs get played 49 times a day on one station and 53 times a day on another station, and you hear them all 102 times? Thus you grow to despise the song. You hear it in your head when you close your eyes to sleep that night and you curse the silence for allowing the track to play. You try to drown it out by humming some nursery rhyme you learned as a child. Or you turn on the clock radio to replace it with whatever’s on only to discover Time #103 is in progress. When this was taking place for Pearl Jam’s Yellow Ledbetter, I was pleased. I was delighted each time a radio station pumped it across the airwaves. When it slowed in rotation, I was disappointed. Of course, I think that took about 14 or 16 months…
Fast forward to April 2010 and I’m in my car in Southwest Florida where most radio stations suck wind. (I feel moderately qualified to make such a statement because I’m a licensed DJ.) Luckily, there’s one station called “Bob” that plays a pretty wide variety of music with minimal talk and I can tolerate that. As soon as I can afford the upfront lump cost of Sirius, I’ll spring for it, but, geez, there are so many more important things to spend my money on right now. (Book marketing being at the top of the list. Hospital payments being second. Food being third. Priorities, folks. He he he.) So while listening to Bob on my way to a doctor appointment that was going to take money from that third priority category the other day, I heard Yellow Ledbetter. I was thrilled. I made a mental note to add it (for a whopping 99 cents) to my iTunes.
Now my birds are learning what “overplay” means.
Read more about my quirks at my dragon Web site.
“Some days, you just want the dragon to win.”
Tags: book marketing, Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder, Yellow Ledbetter, overplay, Sirius
Labels: book marketing, dragon, Pearl Jam
posted by Sandy Lender | 5:10 PM
2 Comments:
According to the Urban Dictionary when you get a song stuck in your head like that it’s called a brain splinter.
And according to Wikipedia, “The song title "Yellow Ledbetter" is derived from the actual name of an old friend of Vedder from Chicago, named Tim Ledbetter.”
Now I need to quit procrastinating and start writing!)
A brain splinter. Ugh. Well, that happens a lot...
I guess I should look up the lyrics and then the "friend" concept might make more sense, but then the mystery of the song would be solved. I don't think I want to know what he's singing...you know? I think I want it to remain Bob-Dylanish in its garble and incomprehension. I like it that way and if I suddenly understand what he's singing, the song might lose something...
:)
These are the things that keep me awake at night. Mwuahahahaha.
From Sandy Lender
"Some days, you just want the dragon to win."
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