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Jeremy (song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Jeremy" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Single by Pearl Jam from the album Ten |
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| B-side | "Footsteps" / "Yellow Ledbetter" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Released | 1992 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Format | CD single, Cassette, Vinyl | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Recorded | March 27, 1991 – April 26, 1991 at London Bridge Studios, Seattle, Washington | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre | Grunge | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 5:18 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Label | Epic Records | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Writer | Eddie Vedder, Jeff Ament | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Producer | Pearl Jam, Rick Parashar | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Certification | Gold (RIAA) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pearl Jam singles chronology | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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"Jeremy" is the third single from Pearl Jam's debut album, Ten. It was released as a single in 1992 with the B-sides "Footsteps" and "Yellow Ledbetter", both of which can also be found on Lost Dogs. "Jeremy" became one of Pearl Jam's best-known songs. The song managed to reach the #5 spot on both the Mainstream and Modern Rock Billboard charts. It received Grammy nominations for Best Rock Song and Best Hard Rock Performance in 1993.[1] "Jeremy" was included on Pearl Jam's greatest hits album, Rearviewmirror: Greatest Hits 1991-2003.
The song especially gained notoriety by the way of its music video (directed by Mark Pellington and released in 1992), which was put into heavy rotation by MTV and became a huge hit. In 1993, the "Jeremy" video was awarded four MTV Video Music Awards, including Best Video of the Year.[2]
A live performance of "Jeremy" can be found on the Live at the Gorge 05/06 box set. A performance of the song is also included on the DVD Touring Band 2000.
Contents |
"Jeremy" is based on two different true stories. The song takes its main inspiration from a newspaper article about a 15-year-old boy named Jeremy Wade Delle, born February 10, 1975, from Richardson, Texas who shot himself in front of his English class in Richardson High School on the morning of January 8, 1991 at about 9:45 am. Delle was described by schoolmates as "real quiet" and known for "acting sad." After coming in late to class that morning, Delle was told to get an admittance slip from the school office. He left the classroom, and returned with a .357 Magnum revolver. Delle walked to the front of the classroom, announced "Miss, I got what I really went for", put the barrel of the firearm in his mouth, and pulled the trigger before his teacher or classmates could react. A girl named Lisa Moore knew Jeremy from the in-school suspension program: "He and I would pass notes back and forth and he would talk about life and stuff," she said. "He signed all of his notes, 'Write back.' But on Monday he wrote, 'Later days.' I didn't know what to make of it. But I never thought this would happen."
When asked about the song, Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder explained:
| “ | It came from a small paragraph in a paper which means you kill yourself and you make a big old sacrifice and try to get your revenge. That all you're gonna end up with is a paragraph in a newspaper. Sixty-three degrees and cloudy in a suburban neighborhood. That's the beginning of the video and that's the same thing is that in the end, it does nothing … nothing changes. The world goes on and you're gone. The best revenge is to live on and prove yourself. Be stronger than those people. And then you can come back.[3] | ” |
The other story that the song is based on involved a student that Vedder knew from his junior high school. He elaborated further in a 1991 interview:
| “ | I actually knew somebody in junior high school, in San Diego, California, that did the same thing, just about, didn't take his life but ended up shooting up an oceanography room. I remember being in the halls and hearing it and I had actually had altercations with this kid in the past. I was kind of a rebellious fifth-grader and I think we got in fights and stuff. So it's a bit about this kid named Jeremy and it's also a bit about a kid named Brian that I knew and I don't know...the song, I think it says a lot. I think it goes somewhere...and a lot of people interpret it different ways and it's just been recently that I've been talking about the true meaning behind it and I hope no one's offended and believe me, I think of Jeremy when I sing it.[4] | ” |
The song is in the key of A, and intertwines the parallel modes of major and minor frequently. It features prominent usage of Jeff Ament's 12-string Hamer bass guitar, which is pivotal to the sound of the introduction and end of the recording. The song starts off with the bassline and quiet harmonic notes also on the 12 string bass, and continues in a sedate vein until after the second chorus, when densely layered guitars and vocals gradually enter. At the end the instruments gradually fade out until all that is audible is clean guitar and 12-string bass, like the intro. Both instruments play a descending minor key melody, fading out with one single note. Guitarist Mike McCready did not play on the song.[5]
In July 1991, Vedder became acquainted with photographer Chris Cuffaro. They hit it off immediately, and Vedder suggested Cuffaro film a video for the band. On Vedder's insistence, Epic gave Cuffaro permission to use any song off Ten. He decided on "Jeremy", which was not intended to be released as a single at the time.[6] Epic refused to fund the clip, forcing Cuffaro to finance it himself.[7]
Cuffaro raised the money by taking out a loan and selling all of his furniture and half his guitar collection. He first shot several scenes of a young actor Eric Schubert playing the part of Jeremy. Cuffaro and his crew spent a day filming Eric playing the part of Jeremy. The scenes with Pearl Jam were shot in a warehouse on Pico Boulevard on October 4, 1991. A revolving platform was rigged at the center of the set, and the members of the band climbed on it individually to give the illusion of the song being performed as a crew member spun the giant turntable by hand. Vedder appeared with black gaffer's tape around his bicep as a mourning band for the real Jeremy.
To save money, Cuffaro did all the post-production himself. He finished the video after six months, but it was ultimately rejected by Epic. Cuffaro's version was never broadcast, and lived on only in bootlegs. It is currently available on his website.
By the time Cuffaro finished his video, Epic had warmed up to the idea of releasing "Jeremy" as a single. Veteran music video director Mark Pellington was brought in to handle the project. Pellington and Pearl Jam convened in London in June 1992 to film a new version of the "Jeremy" video.
Working with veteran editor Bruce Ashley, Pellington's high-budget video incorporated rapid-fire editing and juxtaposition of sound, still images, graphics and text elements with live action sequences to create a collage effect. Actor Trevor Wilson portrayed Jeremy. Wilson filmed his classroom scenes as Jeremy at Bayonne High School in New Jersey.[8] The video also featured many close-ups of Vedder performing the song, with the other members of Pearl Jam shown only briefly. Some of the stock imagery was similar to the original video, but when it came to the band Pellington focused on Vedder.
The video premiered on August 1, 1992,[9] and quickly found its way into heavy rotation on MTV. The success of the "Jeremy" video helped catapult Pearl Jam to fame. The video won four MTV Video Music Awards in 1993, including Best Video of the Year, Best Group Video, Best Metal/Hard Rock Video and Best Direction.[2]
In Pellington's video, Jeremy is shown being taunted by classmates at school, running through a forest, and screaming at his parents at a dinner table. Shots of words such as "problem", "peer", "harmless", "bored", and "child" frequently appear onscreen. Also, the phrase Genesis 3:6 appears, which references the creation of sin, specifically Eve eating from the tree of knowledge and giving some of the fruit to Adam. As the song becomes more dense and frenetic, Jeremy's behavior becomes increasingly agitated. Strobe lighting adds to the anxious atmosphere. Jeremy is shown standing, arms raised in a V (as described in the lyrics at the beginning of the song), in front of a wall of billowing flames. Jeremy is later shown staring at the camera while wrapped in a US flag, surrounded by fire.
The final scene of the video shows Jeremy striding into class, tossing a crumpled up late slip to the teacher and standing before his classmates. He reaches down and draws back his arm as he takes a gun out of his pocket. The gun does not actually appear onscreen, but Jeremy's shoulder visibly drops from its weight. The video cuts to an extreme close-up of Jeremy's face as he closes his eyes. After a flash of light the screen turns black. The next shot is a pan across the classroom, showing Jeremy's blood-spattered classmates, all completely still, recoiling in horror.
MTV restrictions on violent imagery prevented Mark Pellington from showing Jeremy putting the gun in his mouth and pulling the trigger at the climax of the video. Ironically, the ambiguous close-up of Jeremy at the end of the edited video, combined with the defensive posture of Jeremy's classmates and the large amount of blood, led many viewers to believe that the video ended with Jeremy shooting his classmates, not himself.
Pellington himself dismisses this interpretation of the video.[10] He had filmed a scene where Jeremy is shown putting the gun in his mouth, but this footage was edited with a zoom effect for the MTV version of the video so the gun was not visible. Pellington also shot a slightly different take of the classroom Pledge of Allegiance sequence. In the MTV version of the video there is a brief shot of Jeremy's classmates making a gesture that could be either the American Bellamy salute or the Nazi Hitler salute, but the original footage shows a Nazi flag with a swastika in the background of the classroom.
After "Jeremy", Pearl Jam backed away from making music videos. The band did not release another video until 1998's "Do the Evolution", which was entirely animated.
In 1996, a shooting occurred at Frontier Junior High School in Moses Lake, Washington that left 3 dead and a fourth injured. The shooter, Barry Loukaitis stated that he was influenced by the song.
After the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, the video was banned for a time. Since then, MTV and VH1 have rarely aired the video, and mention of it has been omitted in retro-documentaries such as I Love the '90s. It is still available on the internet, on websites such as YouTube. It can also occasionally be seen playing at Hard Rock Cafe locations. The video has been getting airtime on VH1 Classic and MTV Hits programing as of 2006. This video was included in MuchMusic's list of the 12 most controversial videos. The reason was because of the topic of suicide, and recent school shootings. The scenes of Jeremy with the gun in his mouth and the scenes with the Nazi Flag were not shown.
Pearl Jam performed "Jeremy" at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1992. The band had intended to perform the Dead Boys song "Sonic Reducer", but MTV insisted that they play "Jeremy" since its video was already in heavy rotation. (It had been released after the deadline for that year's awards.) At the end of the intense performance, Eddie Vedder managed to sneak in a reference to the Dead Boys song by singing the first line of "Sonic Reducer", "I don't need no ... I don't need no mom and dad."[11]
All information taken from various sources.[12][13][14][15][16]
- "Jeremy" (Eddie Vedder, Jeff Ament) – 4:49
- "Footsteps" (Stone Gossard, Vedder) – 3:53
- "Yellow Ledbetter" (Ament, Mike McCready, Vedder) – 5:04
- Previously Unreleased
- "Jeremy" (single version) (Vedder, Ament) – 4:46
- "Yellow Ledbetter" (Ament, McCready, Vedder) – 5:04
- Previously Unreleased
- "Alive" (live) (Vedder, Gossard) – 4:55
- Recorded live on August 3, 1991 at RKCNDY in Seattle, Washington.
- "Jeremy" (single version) (Vedder, Ament) – 4:46
- "Alive" (live) (Vedder, Gossard) – 4:55
- Recorded live on August 3, 1991 at RKCNDY in Seattle, Washington.
- "Jeremy" (Vedder, Ament) – 4:49
- "Footsteps" (Gossard, Vedder) – 3:53
- "Jeremy" (single version) (Vedder, Ament) – 5:18
- "Alive" (Vedder, Gossard) – 5:40
- "Jeremy" (Vedder, Ament) – 4:46
- "Footsteps" (Gossard, Vedder) – 3:53
- "Alive" (live) (Vedder, Gossard) – 4:55
- "Jeremy" (single version) (Vedder, Ament) – 4:46
- "Alive" (live) (Vedder, Gossard) – 4:55
- Recorded live on August 3, 1991 at RKCNDY in Seattle, Washington.
- "Jeremy" (Vedder, Ament) – 4:49
- "Footsteps" (Gossard, Vedder) – 3:53
- "Yellow Ledbetter" (Ament, McCready, Vedder) – 5:04
- Previously Unreleased
All information taken from various sources.[17][18][19][20][21][22]
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | US Mainstream Rock Tracks | 5 |
| US Modern Rock Tracks | 5 | |
| Irish Singles Chart | 10 | |
| UK Singles Chart | 15 | |
| German Singles Chart | 93 | |
| 1995 | New Zealand Singles Chart | 38 |
| US The Billboard Hot 100 | 79 |
- ^ 35th Grammy Awards. Rockonthenet. Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
- ^ a b 1993 MTV Video Music Awards. Rockonthenet. Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
- ^ Vedder, Eddie. "Rockline Interview". KISW-FM, Seattle, Washington. October 18, 1993.
- ^ Vedder, Eddie. "Interview with David Sadoff." KLOL FM, Houston, Texas. December 1991.
- ^ Black, Johnny. "The Greatest Songs Ever! Jeremy". Blender. September 2002.
- ^ Neely, Kim. Five Against One. Diane Publishing Company, 1999. ISBN 0-7567-7409-8
- ^ "Pearl Jam Chronology: October 1991". PearlJam10YearsAgo.no.sapo.pt. September 19, 2001.
- ^ Paul, Mary. "Time after time Jersey produces talent in entertainment". Bayonne Journal. July 5, 2007.
- ^ Pearl Jam: Timeline. Pearljam.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-27.
- ^ Weisbard, Eric, et al. "Ten Past Ten" Spin Online. August 2001.
- ^ Bruns, Jean and Caryn Rose. "Jeremy: 64 Degrees and Cloudy". fivehorizons.com. August 1999.
- ^ Jeremy [Australia Single]. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
- ^ Jeremy [UK]. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
- ^ Haney, Shawn. Jeremy [US]. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
- ^ Jeremy Single. Lukin.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
- ^ pjcollectors.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
- ^ EveryHit.com. Retrieved on 2007-02-16.
- ^ Pearl Jam Artist Chart History. Billboard. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
- ^ Pearl Jam – Billboard Singles. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-06-11.
- ^ The Irish Charts - All there is to know. Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved on 2007-04-29.
- ^ Chartverfolgung / Pearl Jam / Single. musicline.de. Retrieved on 2007-06-11.
- ^ PEARL JAM - JEREMY (SONG). New Zealand-charts.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-17.
- Classroom activity
- Full story behind the song
- Music video for "Jeremy" (Censored Version) at YouTube
- Music video for "Jeremy" (Alternate Version) on Chris Cuffaro's homepage (QuickTime, 31 MB)
- Lyrics
- All Music Guide review of "Jeremy"