Black, by Pearl Jam: analysis and meaning of the lyrics
Black is a song from the first album of the American band Pearl Jam, called Have and launched on the market in 1991. It was composed by Eddie Vedder and talks about the breakdown of a love relationship. According to some testimonies, the singer showed intense emotions when he sang this song in his early years.
Lyrics of the song Black
Hey oh
Sheets of empty canvas
Untouched sheets of clay
Were laid spread out before me
As her body de ella once did
All five horizons
Revolved around her soul
As the earth to the sun
Now the air I tasted and breathed
She has taken a turn
Oh and all I taught her was everything
Oh I know she gave me all that she wore
And now my bitter hands
Chafe beneath the clouds
Of what was everything
Oh the pictures have
All been washed in black
Tattooed everything
I take a walk outside
I'm surrounded by
Some kids at play
I can feel their laughter
So why do I sear
Oh, and twisted thoughts that spin
Round my head
I'm spinning
Oh i'm spinning
How quick the sun can, drop away
And now my bitter hands
Cradle broken glass
Of what was everything
All the pictures had
All been washed in black
Tattooed everything
All the love gone bad
Turned my world to black
Tattooed all I see
All that I am
All I'll be
Yeah
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
Translation of the song Black
Hey
Sheets like blank canvases
Sheets of clay untouched,
they lay stretched out in front of me,
like his body once did.
All the five horizons,
rotating around his soul,
like the Earth around the Sun.
Now the air that I tasted and breathed,
has turned around.
Oh and what I taught her was everything
Oh I know that she gave me everything that she wore
And now my rough hands
they shake in the clouds
of what it was all
Oh the pictures
have been washed black
all tattooed
I take a walk outside
I am surrounded by
some children who play
I can feel their laughter
So why do I wither?
Oh confused thoughts that spin
around my head
i'm spinning
Oh i'm spinning
As fast as the sun can go down
And now my bitter hands
plunge into broken glass
than it once was
All images were
washed in black
all tattoo
All love got sick
turned my world to darkness
He tattooed everything I see
All i am
All that I will be
I know one day you'll have a beautiful life
I know you will be a star
in someone else's sky,
but why,
why,
Because it can not be...
It can't be mine, mine
See also Song Smells like Teen Spirit
Song analysis
The lyrics of the song have a strong emotional charge that is enhanced by the guitar and by the lead voice of Eddie Vedder. The set gives a melancholic tone to the subject, whose central axis is the end of a love relationship.
The first stanza it is about the abandonment that the interpreter feels with the departure of his beloved. Canvases and clay, which were previously used for artistic creation, remain unused as static objects in the life of the sufferer. Loneliness is symbolized as something sterile and inanimate.
Hey
Sheets like blank canvases
Sheets of clay untouched,
they lay stretched out in front of me,
like his body once did.
All the five horizons,
rotating around his soul,
like the Earth around the Sun.
Now the air that I tasted and breathed,
has turned around.
Loss is an important element: having tasted "the air" that has now changed course is largely a cause for sadness after abandonment. Mainly when the loved one is the object of devotion, around which the lover orbited as the center of his universe. How to get back to what you were before is the big question in this segment.
The exchange as a constant element of the love relationship appears in the second stanza. It is shown as a positive element in the relationship, and the loss of it supposes one more suffering, since the lover's life gained meaning in this mutual exchange.
Oh and what I taught her was everything
Oh I know that she gave me everything that she wore
And now my rough hands
they shake in the clouds
of what it was all
Oh the pictures
have been washed black
all tattooed
I take a walk outside
I am surrounded by
some children who play
I can feel their laughter
So why do I wither?
Oh confused thoughts that spin
around my head
i'm spinning
Oh i'm spinning
As fast as the sun can go down
What follows is one of the deepest images in the song: "rough hands." The figure shows us a repetitive, obsessive behavior. The clouds take us to a higher place, which is above the lover, like a place from the past, where the images of what once was everything reside. Only the black remains that veils the good memories, as if the pain tattooed black on a day that was colorful and happy.
The lover is aware of his sadness, but he does not understand it. He manages to perceive that the world around him has good moments, but he cannot allow himself to be touched by joy, as happens when he sees children laughing. The lover feels confused by the sadness that moves him.
The theme of darkness that surrounds the life of the lover after the loss of love is taken up in the song. His hands pick up the broken glass as a metaphor of the shattered heart, in the third stanza.
And now my bitter hands
plunge into broken glass
than it once was
All images were
washed in black
all tattoo
All love got sick
turned my world to darkness
He tattooed everything I see
All i am
All that I will be
In the fourth and last stanza the intensity rises, and the verses are sung in sequence with long vowels interspersed with the words. It is the last regret for the loss of love. The lover (singer) recognizes the qualities of her beloved and believes that all her dreams will come true, but not with him.
I know one day you'll have a beautiful life
I know you will be a star
in someone else's sky,
but why,
why,
Because it can not be...
It can't be mine, mine
Meaning of the letter
The lyrics of the song tell the story of the suffering caused by a love breakup. The tone is melancholic and the most recurrent image is that of the darkness that surrounds the person. The recognition of the value of the person who has left is also decisive and generates a kind of mourning in the composer.
Loss and mourning are central elements of the lyrics. Lost love is represented as if it were the death of the loved one. The final verses that refer to the star in the sky reinforce that image as someone who dies and goes to heaven.
Listen to the song live at the following link:
Stone Gossard Demos '91
The lyrics of the song were called first E Ballad (Ballad in Mi). This track was one of the first five songs recorded for a demo known as Stone Gossard Demos '91. The goal of the recording was to find a drummer and a vocalist for the band.
Eddie Vedder, who was an activist in San Diego at the time, recorded his voice on three songs and was called up to be the lead singer for Pearl Jam. Vedder composed the lyrics for the song on the way to Seattle and later called it Black.
Movement grunge
The grunge is a subgenus of rock emerged in the 1980s in Seattle. The style quickly became popular in the early 90's with the release of the album. Have Pearl Jam, as well as Nevermind of Nirvana. Visually, the movement was identified with the use of simple and stripped clothes, jeans or ripped jeans and flannels.
Inspired by the hard rock, the punk and music folk protest, such as Neil Young, the grunge it was presented as a counterculture movement that criticized the consumerist and empty society of the late twentieth century. Another important characteristic is apathy and a certain level of nihilism in his lyrics.
In the early 1990s, there was a kind of feeling of emptiness caused by the rise of the consumer society. New generations were pressured to achieve financial success and continue the wave of optimism brought about by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the stock market.
Much of the new generation was dissatisfied with this false optimism and with social pressures. The grunge It emerged as a form of escape and criticism of the situation, mainly from mass culture and the entertainment industry.
Musically the movement is very broad, and encompasses a great variety of compositions. the use of the distorted guitar is a common characteristic that derives in turn from the punk, from which it differs by its slower rhythms.
