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Pearl Jam - Black
Black is a song by American rock band Pearl Jam. The song is the fifth track on their 1991 debut album, Ten, and features lyrics written by vocalist Eddie Vedder and music written by guitarist Stone Gossard.
After Ten experienced major success in 1992, Pearl Jam's record label Epic Records urged the group to release the song as a single. The band refused, citing the song's personal nature. Despite the lack of a single release, the song managed to reach No. 3 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Remixed versions of the song were included on Pearl Jam's 2004 greatest hits album, Rearviewmirror, and the 2009 Ten reissue. "Black" remains one of the band's most popular songs, as well as a fan favorite.
In the 2011 book Pearl Jam Twenty, Vedder said the meaning of the song was "About first relationships.The song is about letting go. It's very rare for a relationship to withstand the Earth's gravitational pull and where it's going to take people and how they're going to grow. I've heard it said that you can't really have a true love unless it was a love unrequited. It's a harsh one, because then your truest one is the one you can't have forever."
Lyrics:
[Intro]
Hey-hey-hey
Yeah-ah
[Verse 1]
Sheets of empty canvas, untouched sheets of clay
Her lace spread out before me, as her body once did
All five horizons revolved around her soul, as the Earth to the Sun
Now the air I tasted and breathed has taken a turn
[Pre-Chorus]
Ooh-oh, and all I taught her was everything
Mmm, oh, I know she gave me all that she wore
[Chorus 1]
And now my bitter hands chafe beneath the clouds
Of what was everything
All the pictures have all been washed in black
Tattooed everything
[Verse 2]
I take a walk outside, I'm surrounded by some kids at play
I can feel their laughter, so why do I see her?
[Pre-Chorus]
Mmm-hmm, all the twisted thoughts that spin 'round my head
I'm spinnin', oh, I'm spinnin'
How quick the Sun can drop away
[Chorus 2]
And now my bitter hands cradle broken glass
Of what was everything
All the pictures have all been washed in black
Tattooed everything
[Post-Chorus]
All the love gone bad, turned my world to black
Tattooed all I see, all that I am, all that I'll be, yeah
Uh-huh
(Uh-huh, ooh)
[Bridge]
I know someday you'll have a beautiful life, I know you'll be a star
In somebody else's sky, but why? Why?
Why can't it be? Oh, can't it be mine?
(Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo)
Ooh, ah, yeah
Ah, ooh-ooh
[Outro]
(Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo)
Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo (Oh, oh-yeah)
Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo (Ah-ah)
Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo (Ah-ah)
Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo (Ah, yeah)
Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo (Ah-ah, yeah)
Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo (Yeah, ah)
Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo (Yeah-yeah-yeah)
Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo (Ooh-ooh)
Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh
Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo
Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh
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