New Pearl Jam (!&%*&#!!!): Parachutes

Oh, I can't see straight. Oh my gosh. I am blinded by this song. I will try to pare down the dramatics, but my heart is racing in the manner of really good music and what it does to you inside. There is a new top finisher in the race for Heather's favorite Pearl Jam song. If you thought you didn't like Pearl Jam (Clea, I'm talking to you) just listen to this:

"Parachutes" - Pearl Jam (link expired)

Here's a short recounting of how I came to buckle on my moral standards regarding leaked PJ tracks: I was looking for information on the second leg of the Pearl Jam tour, which is rumored to be released early this week, and came across a thread on the message board about Parachutes. WAAF in Boston apparently started playing at least 4 leaked tracks from the new album last week, and they have been steadily making their rounds on the net since then.

People who had heard Parachutes were posting what it reminded them of: "I was thinking the Beatles, namely Ob La Di, Ob La Da..." - "similar to the Harvest Moon MOOD during the Canadian Tour" - "the riff at the end is definitely the same as Bowie's on his song All The Young Dudes" - "It reminds me heaps of the Radiohead song 'No Surprises'" - "Definitely Beatles, White Album." Wow, I had to hear this one.

Parachutes was written by Stone Gossard, the other god-like guitarist, and was described in Rolling Stone as being "an island-flavored beauty with acoustic guitars," but I'll echo everyone else on the Pearl Jam boards and agree that I hear straight-up Beatlesesque pop. It's got a quirky time signature and really lovely vocal tone from Vedder.

Listen closely at the end, right at 3:09, for the build and the sweet electric guitar to kick in. Aahhh. I really lack words. I love you, Stone.


I thought I was strong. I thought I was noble. Turns out I am just as easily swayed as the next gal. But this is it, a moratorium starts from here on out, I will not listen to any more leaked tracks until the album comes out May 2. No, I'm serious. Stop chuckling.

And for pete's sake, just pre-order the new album already
a) so that I don't feel as bad about buckling and leaking the one awesome track and
b) because you get a really rad bonus CD included - circa 1992, with the Vedder angst & The Scream.