Ed wrote the song when he was fifteen years old. Weren't we all pandering narcissists back then?
The song is about an abusive Stepdad that Eddie Had.
The protagonist is his mum and she's too afraid to end the relationship.
Bradley hit the nail on the head.
He's not the better man, he want's his mother to find a better man.
I guess you read into the lyrics "wrong" buddy.
do you actually read any of the lyrics to pearl jam songs? go back to listening simple plan and leave pearl jam out of your mouth
also, ed took his mothers maiden name........ why dont you look into the charity shows pearl jam does..watch single video theory and see how great this band is... better than any band you listen too
your a total dick-weed!!!you havent a fucking clue what your talking about in regards to interpeting eddie's lyrics.go to the next band please and leave pearl jam off your page!!!
well if your gonna bash something please know what you are talking about! Abused Driver for RVM haha for someone who is bashing lyrics I would think you would have a clue. RVM is about getting out of a bad/abusive relationship, as for betterman its already been spoken about. Sure you got your right to bash, and so do I... but next time make sure you know what your talking about so you dont look like a duesche.
Good to see you only open your mouth when you know what you are talking about. You will find that all the songs you refer to are from personal experiences Ed has had. You are obviously incredably ignorant. The world has a domestic violence problem because woman feel vulnerable and unable to exit relationships. For whatever reason the subject of Betterman is scared to leave the relationship (Fear of violence, being alone, the only life she knows)? Please open your eyes past your perfect white middle class existence into the problems of others.
I bet Eddie Vedder has a big cock.
You obviously have no clue what Betterman or any other Pearl Jam song is about. Why did you wait until now to bash a song that came out in the 90s and for that fact why bash a perfectly good song when there were plenty of meaningless crappy ones like a Creed song for instance. Why don't you go back to the rock that you have crawled out under and spare us all from your uninformed ranting.
hahahahahahahahahahaha! that made me chuckle. ignorance makes me chuckle.
Man,
I just don't know what to say, you know I was so young when I wrote that song, I forgot that my phsycic abilities ,(you know with my GIRLFRIEND model and all that) would someday make someone like you question my motives in writing that song, make sense>? Neither does your post!
wow. who knew pearl jam had such a loyal following?!
yes he wrote the song when he was 15,and it shows!
i think the piont of what ben is trying to say was most of the songs sound alike, clearly you all cannot take critism but im sure eddie can (you know the guy who actually wrote the crap you defend)
you dont get the point of what what hes writing! the point is the song sucks! just because he wrote it when he was 15 and its from personal experience doesnt make the song great, clean your ears people, you all ignorant because you cannot respect his opinion or anyone who doesnt praise any music you like at least give some points to why the song is good
SHANNON SAYS FUCK PEARL JAM
(just because the fans are snots)
as for the simple plan comment maybe you need to read the rest of the site before making judgements,
im sorry to tell you all this but YOU LISTEN TO PEARL JAM, expand your mind and stop listening to music writen by a 15 year olds its not good for you! it makes you all snobby
also, why isnt anyone aloud to interpret a song differently?
do we all have to think the same things?
There isn't another interpretation to the song because everybody pretty much KNOWS WHAT THE SONG IS ABOUT.
And the author's rant isn't a rant about the quality of the song, but a rant against its content, of which he is misinformed or didn't bother to research.
When you post such crap on the internet, EXPECT PEOPLE TO SEE IT.
It's nice to see that you have done your reasearch...NOT...Go listen to Creed , you stupit shit.
is this the song about one fine virgin and a pelican?
i like that song!
Oh, i get it. u2 fan.
Prick.
shut the fuck up
Do us all a favor then....don't be a pearl jam fan. Stop complaining about someone elses music. Just shut the fuck up and find something else to listen to. You're annoying
pj is the and if that makes me a "snot" then so be it, though according to any of vedders beleifs which draws in many of the fans it wuoldnt appear so
uh...a little harsh on the critisism guys.....c'mon, you know us PJ fans are better than that! :D
i agree, i wouldn't interpret the song in that way what-so-ever and i dont believe that is what eddie meant when he was writing it...but, it was....interesting? to read another view 
...but im sure we've all misinterpreted something in our lives, no?
i also don't believe you can say you know what someone's life is like because of their name, or who their partner is. as nice as it would be to have a great life if you have a fancy name, and a great girlfriend, unfortunatly it's not that simple....please correct me if im wrong!
anyway....just wanted to share a little pj LOVE! this band to me is about respect, love and compassion for this world and all in it....so....yep......im a snot, and loving it.
Hey, do you just have no respect for women or anything? Ed's mother was in an abusive relationship and she didnt leave because she wouldn't be able to support her son. And if you werent a complete dipshit you would know it is a very serious disorder in abusive relationships where the women doesnt know anything else and she is true to her husband unlike his prick dad was. Your a major dickhead. Hey I guess you are what you eat.
Just shut the f%^$ up. You must be a devout Creed fan. Give it up......Scott will never measure up to Ed!!!! Oh, by the way.....Pearl Jam fans rock!!!!!And yes, Pearl Jam is the most freakin awesome band of all time.
im not even a pearl jam fan and i know what this song is about, weirdo
Hey dumbass.
Don't try to interpret that song, when you obviously have no clue what Eddie Vedder has been through and what his thoughts were when he wrote it.
And if you wanna know what the PJ-fans think of you have a look here:
http://forums.pearljam.com/showt...ad.php?
t=150568
Hey Dane, way to go, send him over to the Jamily's place!
You are a fucking idiot. Why bitch about a song written 25 years ago about Eddie's mother?
Grrr. Like, fuck. Ya got me outta bed at six in duh evenin cozza this shit, man. Like I ain't got up dis early tah complain bout somefunn since Dinosaur Junior changed his wahhhhh to wuhhhh-hurrrghhh in the MTV remake of that video with the chick with the green shit on her face. And dat was 1992, dude.
Don't slag off Eddie Vedder, man. He's like duh shit. And ya know it. Duh Buzzcocks know it. Any cock knows it. And dat's dat.
Um
A. It was written in the early 80's
B. It was about Eddies Mother
C. Way before the whole online craze
i dont care if you dont like it but fucking know what your talking about if your going to insult someone
fuck you
i bet your parents are divorced and they blamed it all on you...dumb fuck, get a life
A few points:
- If the listener has no possible way of knowing what a song's about from the lyrics (his mother), it's open game for other intepretations. This is an elementary point about all forms of art standing alone from context.
- I'd just like to clarify that I don't listen to Creed, Simple Plan or whatever other crap bands were named. Pearl Jam is not the only alternative to bad music. There are hundreds of brilliant bands you people have probably never heard of because you think Pearl Jam's primadonna bid for wilful obscurity masks the fact that they're major label corporate rock as much as any hair-metal band.
All I've ever cherished from PJ is Do The Evolution (thanks Todd for the vid). Ben got a whole lotta clicks, that has to be good =)
Cyber-rage loses.
From reading your little banter I can obviously tell that your just a huge Creed fan and in love with their former singer cause you have no clue about Eddie Vedder's music, song writing and subject matter he deals with. Stick with being a moron cause you excel at it and don't forget to listen to your favorite Ashlee Simpson song you putz.
Gee, I wish my man was like you, so I could beat the shit out of him for writing such a dumb post.
Why does a song have to mean the same thing for everyone? Even for me this song has different meanings. It once gave me the strength to leave a guy who just didn't make me happy for someone that I thought would. Someone that I thought was a "Better an." When I realized that he wasn't it gave me the courage to leave the abusive asshole that I ended up with... Now I won't settle for either and have ended up with a "Betterman." Someone who treats me good and makes me happy.
If someone else doesn't like it, oh well. It doesn't have to take away my appreciation for the song or from Pearl Jam's musical genius.
It's not a matter of people reading different things into different songs. The fact is, Ed wrote it about a topic, years ago and that's all there is to it, end of story!
As for the article in whole...Why the hell are you so pissed off about it? Its not as though you hear the songs on the radio, 500 times a day, or they are shoved down your throat on mtv. If you don't want to hear it, don't buy the cd's! I guarentee you, you won't hear it again! (unless you listen to mainstream radio 24/7, which you most likely do)
ROCK ON PEARL JAM!
this fella is a tosser, fuckin dickhead
i can't believe i wasted these lines even replying to your fuckhead of a rant ..Mc FUCK.
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