Skip to main content

September 12, 2018: Rearviewmirror (Read on SPT Episode 60)

Hi Brad and Brad,

I greatly appreciate you reading my email in Episode 58.  Just like you had read my email during Episode 53, you managed to make me laugh through a 5-minute tangent the first being about cheese-filled hot dogs and the recent being Brad B's dislike for that movie...wait give him a few minutes...what movie was that?  Oh the one with the red-headed kid who has a face you want to punch.  Ah right, the Sandlot!  I actually am halfway through Episode 37, where Brad B spent an exorbitant amount of time trying to tie Harry Nielson, Seinfeld, Jon Voight and a movie with the title containing "Cowboy" in it (Midnight Cowboy). 

My email this week is with regard to Rearviewmirror.  It's a track I have gravitated toward recently and find it to be one of the most well-rounded tracks in both music and lyrics in the entire catalog.  I've always enjoyed the song greatly, but have now found it to become a metaphor for what I am trying to do with my 2018.  Brad L. has said several times that he tries to avoid knowing the meaning of the lyric from whomever in the band wrote it.  Finding out what the intention behind the lyric may diminish one's perception on the meaning of the song.  I do believe I know the meaning behind Eddie's words on Rearviewmirror, but I have still been able to find my own interpretation.  The trauma I experienced in January and February continues to occupy my thoughts constantly.  I continue to become further removed from the early experiences that were by far the most difficult I've dealt with in my life.  I am trying to put these in my Rearviewmirror and hope someday I can.  I am seeing things so much clearer as now that I understand that's where they need to be, then once and for all when I'm far away I can finally begin my own healing process mentally and emotionally.  I hope every one through their traumatic experience(s) can find a way to put those into their Rearviewmirror.  I believe we all are likely to face something traumatic in our life and have to be there for one another to help define the trauma while enmity is gauged, we all united by fear can endure what we could not forgive. 

I've also included my top 10 studio tracks, which took me quite a while to sort out.  My list is in a screenshot from a playlist I made from Spotify.  Yes I stream like the kids do nowadays.  If you notice, I was listening to Rearviewmirror as i was taking the screenshot.  Just to illustrate how you guys have changed my perception on some of their music while listening to your podcast, Rearviewmirror, In My Tree and W.M.A. would not have been on my list beforehand.



Thank you guys again for sharing my emails with the rest of the listeners and making me feel like a part of the Single Podcast Theory community.  It has meant a lot to me.

Regards,

Chris

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

October 17, 2010: RIP Mozart for Guitar

Hi Brad and Brad, I first want to mention that I can't remember the last time I laughed as hard as I did while listening to you two and Clint Wells go on about spoonfuls of flour and uncooked spaghetti.  I almost had to pull my car over as I was driving home during that part of the episode!   Since Eddie Van Halen passed away on October 6th, I've been listening to a lot of Van Halen.  I didn't really get into them until 10-15 years ago, but I consider them to be one of my favorite bands of all-time.  Eddie was truly an innovator on shredding guitar solos and may be my favorite lead guitarist ever.  I saw Mike's comment on Pearl Jam's Twitter feed referencing how he began playing guitar shortly after their first record came out.  He goes so far to say "it sounded like Eddie was from another planet" and "Eddie was like Mozart for guitar.  Changed everything and he played with Soul." I know the guys have covered Van Halen here-and-there and I looked

December 26, 2020: Someday at Christmas

Hi Brad and Brad, First, I hope you guys have had a Happy Holidays.  Secondly, I really enjoy your solo episodes.  They have a deejay format to them which also feels personable in getting to know each of your lives and what has influenced you to be who you are now. I hadn't taken the time to get to know Someday at Christmas until after listening to BradB's recent episode.  Pearl Jam does a great job in covering the song, and I prefer Stevie Wonder's version over the Jackson 5.  Especially, after reading the lyrics and reading some interpretations of the song.  At the time the song was released, the Vietnam War was still underway.  The lyrics seem to voice opposition to the war itself, but also express the hope for racial and economic equality.  Unfortunately, that message still resonates strongly.   Stevie Wonder was one of the artists that shaped my musical interests when I was a teenager.  I'm very glad the guys chose to cover this song for a Christmas single and have

December 31, 2020: Low Light

Hi Jessi and Kate, I have been way behind on my podcasts the last several weeks.  The main reason is because myself and a friend started our own podcast!  It's not Pearl Jam themed , however it's consumed a decent amount of my week preparing for each recording.  So we now have a hit on the Dink-O-Meter for both of you.  First Jessi and now Kate!  I can't remember if I have proposed the Dink-O-Meter to you yet, but I have it as a three-tiered system: Dinky: Just your average dinky, will only skip if streaming Rinky-Dinky: Automatic skipper, even when listening to vinyl Stinky-Dinky: It's like nails on a chalkboard to you Based on Jessi's response to Parachutes, I have that somewhere between Rinky-Dinky and Stinky-Dinky.  I would have to let Jessi be the final judge on that.  For Kate's remarks to Low Light, I have it somewhere between Dinky and Rinky-Dinky, however I'm inclined to believe it's closer to Dinky because I wasn't able to note as many hot