Something happened to me at the recent Pearl Jam shows… I really got into the band. I mean, I’ve seen them live on and off since Lollapalooza in 1992, and thought they always put on a show, but they were always sort of a band where I just sort of thought they played their singles and lot of "other" stuff, which albeit nice, never led me to the archive to learn more of the back catalog.

But this time, something clicked. I’ve probably listened to the "bootlegs" of the two shows I attended at least 4-5 times each, ripped their back catalog into iTunes, and am really reconnecting (actually, to be honest, in large part connecting for the first time) with a lot of their tunes.

The songs I can’t stop playing the most are "Do The Evolution," and "Present Tense." Present Tense is just poetry, beauty, and inspiration in a perfect package. I can’t imagine I ever played it and gave it an adequate listen, because it seems impossible for that song to not seep into your pores and make you want to breathe in life more fully.

Oh well, I’m just happy I finally found it now. It would make no sense to beat myself up over not knowing this beautiful song I’ve owned for years, when its own lyrics are:

you can spend your time alone, redigesting past regrets, oh
or you can come to terms and realize
you’re the only one who can’t forgive yourself, oh
makes much more sense to live in the present tense

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 2nd, 2006 at 4:51 pm and is filed under diary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.