15 Things Only Pearl Jam Fans Will Understand
12. Their Music Videos Are Always Epic
Watch the above video for Jeremy. Awesome, isn't it? The video, which shows a bullied teen resorting to gun violence at school, was controversial when it was first released. Still, while the subject matter hit a raw nerve with some, it was still celebrated and won four MTV Music Video Awards. Experimental, powerful and full of striking images, it's not hard to see why it made such an impact when it first began to receive airplay. The success of the video, however, bothered the band, who felt that music videos often overshadowed songs and prevented individual interpretation. Vedder once remarked that:
Before music videos first came out, youd listen to a song with headphones on, sitting in a beanbag chair with your eyes closed, and youd come up with your own visions, these things that came from within. Then all of a sudden, sometimes even the very first time you heard a song, it was with these visual images attached, and it robbed you of any form of self-expression.
After the huge success of Jeremy, the band refused to make any more music videos foe their songs, stepping away from the medium for a couple of years. They're back doing music videos these days and, thankfully, they're always interesting, arty and different.