October 11, 2004

Pearl Jam perform "Masters of War" (originally written and recorded by Bob Dylan in 1963) on "The Late Show" with David Letterman (32MB .mov file). File hosted by Michael Moore, of course.
posted by Jerry Garcia 20 years ago
  • Woah. Vedder's cheek are quite full these days.
  • To say I dislike Pearl Jam is an extreme understatement, but that's excellent, both the interpretation of the song, and the very fact that they did it.
  • I'm with you, JKF. That was pretty stunning... and I'm as dedicated a PJ detractor as you'll meet.
  • Vedder did Masters of War at the Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Concert ages ago, as well. He's got it down. Excellent.
  • eddie vedder and mike mccready also played masters of war at the bob dylan 30th anniversary tribute thing in 1993. i don't know if it's better or worse or different than this one, cos i'm still downloading the sonofabitch. /thought it was worth mentioning
  • uhh... or whatever rustcellar said...
  • I saw that Michael Moore had put together a "soundrack" (really one of those "inspired by" deals) to his movie. This song is from that compiliation. Pearl Jam is playing it now to promote the Moore CD. Not surprisingly, there are three Dylan songs onthe compilations. It would be impossible for me to recommend "With God On Our Side" with anymore conviction than I do. It seems to be more relevant to me now than at any other time. I am sure that I can count on JG to link to the lyrics or to the song itself.
  • Dude the last verse is about how he hopes the President dies. How the hell did they let him get away with that on CBS or whatever?
  • So who was the president in 1963?
  • According to Dylan the song isn't anti-war or about political leadership but rather about the threat of the military-industrial complex as laid out by Eisenhower in 1961, e.g. today Halliburton, Lockheed/Martin, Raytheon and all the others. With God on Our Side is indeed a great tune from the same period in Dylan's career (here performed with Joan Baez live in '64 - 5.7MB). :-)
  • Let's be clear -- the lyrics point the finger at those who profit from war. He's hoping the vice president dies.
  • hush hush i dream you dream you everywhere through howl and spittle on a half-closed hand without a wrist i dream i only dream you shattering a rock i dream i flinch you quickly toward a well i dream you dream of home then chose an unfamiliar tryst i dream of footprints lined across a waste i dream of people running hard through scab and salt i'd dream of bone my dear if bone could only draw us back from drying on the sand and the poison in the walls i dream a dream of hanging crescent in the sky our prison stripes our broken stars
  • Okay, that's pretty cool. That made me pissed off. That's pretty cool. "Even Jesus would never forgive what you do."
  • Did Eddie Vedder stop Bush from charging the Iraqis ridiculous ticket surcharges yet?
  • No. That's why even Jesus wouldn't forgive him.