Pearl Jam and Philosophy

Description

The first scholarly discussion on the band, Pearl Jam and Philosophy examines both the songs (music and lyrics) and the activities (live performances, political commitments) of one of the most celebrated and charismatic rock bands of the last 30 years. The book investigates the philosophical aspects of their music at various levels: existential, spiritual, ethical, political, metaphysical and aesthetic. This philosophical interpretation is also dependent on the application of textual and poetic analysis: the interdisciplinary volume puts philosophical aspects of the band’s lyrics in close dialogue with 19th- and 20th-century European and American poetry. Through this widespread philosophical examination, the book further looks into the band’s immense popularity and commercial success, their deeply loyal fanbase and genuine sense of community surrounding their music, and the pivotal place the band holds within popular music and contemporary culture. Cover Halftitle page Title page Copyright page Contents Foreword Theodore Gracyk Introduction Stefano Marino and Andrea Schembari 1 Contingency, (In)significance, and the All-Encompassing Trip: Pearl Jam and the Question of the Meaning of Life Introduction: Interpretations and constellations The all-encompassing trip: Existential, historical, and metaphysical implications Questions rise, answers fall: The primacy of questioning The meaning of living in the present tense Metaphysically redeemed: Contingency, finitude, and (in)significance Never stop trying to make a difference: The primacy of responsibility and action 2 “Just Like Innocence”: Pearl Jam and the (Re)Discovery of Hope Introduction Escape is never the safest path I still remember, why don’t you? Won’t someone save the world? Should’ve known, so fragile 3 Who’s the Elderly Band Behind the Counter in a Small Town? Things were different then, is all different now? Yield: Metaphysics and social ontology ahead Theseus, the love boat captain Hear my name, take a good look All those yesterdays Last exit Eddie Vedder: Can’t find a better man? Prance of the clairvoyants Implications arrive like butterflies 4 Making a Choice When There Is No “Better Man” Introduction Song and story Compromises, moral and artistic Comforting the afflicted 5 That’s Where We’re Living: Determinism and Free Will in “Unthought Known” Introduction The letter from nowhere Ordinary thought and scientific knowledge The future can be changed So what you giving? The ontology of “Unthought Known” 6 No Code Aesthetics Introduction The end of art: Starting remarks Ambiguities of No Code Codes for after the end of art 7 Can Truth Be Found in the Wild? 8 “They Can Buy, But Can’t Put On My Clothes”: Pearl Jam, Grunge, and Subcultural Authenticity in a Postmodern Fashion Climate 9 Pearl Jam’s Ghosts: The Ethical Claim Made From the Exiled Space(s) of Homelessness and War—An Aesthetic Response-Ability Exordium A contemporary question of urgency The uncanny—Home and war How to live—Ethics and ghosts War on terror—Consensus and aesthetics In denouement—Borders and mourning 10 Pearl Jam: Responsible Music or the Tragedy of Culture? Introduction Responsible music versus popular music? Music and the real content: Popular music as a social cement Identity thinking/critical thinking: Pearl Jamas a critique of culture? Structural listening/easy listening: How to listen to Vitalogy, Pearl Jam, or Riot Act? Conclusion. The two faces of musical postmodernity: The dark side of grunge, also called radical popular music 11 Pearl Jam/Nirvana: A Dialectical Vortex that Revolves Around the Void 12 The Tide on the Shell: Pearl Jam and the Aquatic Allegories of Existence Introduction To sail, to live (to live, perchance to shipwreck) “The river is within us, the sea is all about us”: A matter of time The hollow of the seashell as the end of the voyage (and of this essay too) Notes on Contributors Copyright Notices Index