J. Colapinto Resources

Colapinto, J. (1996, November 28). Who are You? Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder has Reinvented Himself as the Voice of an Alienated Generation. Rolling Stone, pp. 50-54, 57, 146-148.

Much of the currently popular alternative music plays heavily on themes of alienation and isolation. Outsider status becomes something favorable, even desirable.

How much of this alienation is authentic on the part of musicians, and how much is simply for dramatic effect? There is significant reason to believe that for Eddie Vedder, the lead singer of Pearl Jam, much of the angst which he sings of in his lyrics is simply a persona developed for songwriting.

The article suggests that Pearl Jam, arguably the most popular alternative band in America, is run in dictatorial fashion by Vedder, the architect behind the band’s many social agendas. However, it also intimates that these agendas of Vedder’s are largely an attempt to establish "his alternative bona fides."

There is a brief biographical sketch of Vedder which shows significant differences between how Vedder has portrayed his childhood in interviews and how his childhood friends remember it:

Declining even to name his high school or to discuss his fellow students [in an interview], he said, ‘They didn’t treat me well.’ But classmates from San Dueguito High School, which Vedder attended after his family’s migration to San Diego in the mid-‘70s, paint a picture that stands in stark contrast to the singer’s recollections. ‘He was very popular,’...‘He was outgoing. He’d go out of his way to be nice to everyone.’...‘He was so nice to everyone and took the time to chat. That’s why I don’t understand this stuff about him being miserable.’...‘All the girls had a major crush on him.’

Vedder was active in theater during high school, and he had leading roles in at least four different plays. During his senior year, he was voted "Most Talented" for his acting skills. The only significant emotional blow which was apparent to his classmates occurred in his senior year, when he broke up with his girlfriend of over one year. According to a classmate, " ‘He dropped out of the theater production, and someone else had to take over, so I know it had to have been serious, because he took the theater really seriously.’ "

Another discussion with one of Vedder’s peers is also revealing: "One former schoolmate surmises that Vedder is ‘embellishing’ his past as a part of a ‘persona’ he’s developed as spokesman for the alienated and dysfunctional X Generation. " ‘I don’t think it means he’s being untruthful’," she says. " ‘I just think people don’t understand that you don’t have to be this miserable character in real life.’ "

After high school, Vedder spent five years in San Diego, being as heavily involved in the music scene as he could. He worked at clubs, questioned anyone involved in the music industry about how to break in, and eventually joined a band called Bad Radio. One San Diego native says of Vedder, " ‘He was the best networker in the biz.’ "

Vedder’s girlfriend, Beth Liebling (to whom he is now married), began working for Virgin Records in 1989; Vedder moved with her to Los Angeles. He became a fixture at Virgin’s offices. Soon after, the other members of Pearl Jam (who lived in Seattle) contacted Vedder about auditioning for the lead singer position. They had been given his name by a musician who had met Vedder in the San Diego scene.

Vedder joined the band and they released their first album, Ten, in August 1991. It did not make any early impact on the charts. However, Nirvana’s album, Nevermind, climbed to number one on the charts by January 1992, and virtually all bands from Seattle became popular. According to the article, "From the start, Pearl Jam were dogged by skeptics who saw the band as little more than a cuddlier, more MTV-friendly version of the geniunely anarchic and dangerous Nirvana.

However, the band became commercially successful. Criticism increased from other Seattle bands, who did not see Pearl Jam as truly "alternative," but simply hard rock for the 1990s. Seemingly in response to this criticism, Pearl Jam began to take public stands geared to prove their "alternative" status. They have refused to make videos for MTV since that time, have attempted to circumvent ticketing giant Ticketmaster, and have refused to give interviews.

The article concludes that Vedder seems to be trapped in this alternative, alienated persona, but it is unclear what got him there. He seems to want, on the one hand, to be a rock star; yet, on the other hand, Vedder tries to portray that the rock star of the 1990s is, instead, an anti-star.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

1. What new information have you learned about Pearl Jam through this article?
2. How do you think that commercial pressures affect the purity of "art" in rock music?
3. Do your students listen to Pearl Jam? How do they perceive the band?
4. If Pearl Jam’s image of being outsiders and alienated is not authentic, do you think that their audience is aware of this? Does it matter?

IMPLICATIONS

1. If a band markets an image in order to sell more albums, they may be persuading their audience to adopt that image, in spite of the fact that the image does not reflect the band members’ actual lives.
2. Such an effort might make an undesirable image—such as being alienated or feeling unlovable—seem a worthwhile pursuit.