Eddie Vedder : Album of My Year
I don’t know what it is about the songs written by Eddie Vedder than make then last so long in terms of their sheer listenability. Having been a fan of Pearl Jam since the early 1990s it became habitual to watch films featuring PJ music. Singles, Dead Man Walking and of late Into the Wild.
There hasn’t been a week this year that I haven’t listened to at least one track from the Into the Wild soundtrack. I’ve pretty much learnt to play every song including the fantastic Guaranteed.
The link between music and film has always been prolifically strong. Film students refer to music overlay as non diegetic sound a rather scientific term to describe the sounds and music you not expect to find the depicted scene in reality. Used properly music can enhance the emotional strength of a film beyond anything that can be created visually.
There is a scene in ‘Vanilla Sky’ where Tom Cruise’s character is dealing is ‘falling out’ with a friend over the female lead. It is an emotion scene controlled completely by R.E.M.’s ‘Sweetness follows’ the same scene without the music barely stares any empathy with the audience, it is the music that completes the scene.
Into the Wild works in a similar fashion. A moving true story of Chris McCandless. The film is beautiful, moving and challenging. Eddie Vedder wrote the soundtrack. His ability to draw on his own upbringing and experience results in a soundtrack just as important as the moving image being watched.
The strength comes from the reality. Vedder’s tepid upbringing is not far from that of Chris McCandless and it is fair to say you can’t effectively write about pain until you’ve really felt it. The sheer emotion and sincere feeling oozes from every song. The title track is best listened to with the overdubbed lines from the film. (here). Vedder discusses the contribution his personal experiences bring to the music here.
I’ve listened to no less that fifty albums this year and I return to the Into the Wild soundtrack on a weekly basis. Each sound throwing up the image taken by Chris on his camera outside bus 142 (featured with this post) If you have not watched the film or listened to the music it really is worth watching. Film first, soundtrack for a long time after.
If you have listened to the music or seen the film please post what you thought of either below.
Links:
Soundtrack | Book | Film
I read the book and cried, I watched the film and cried again, I listened to the music and felt every second of Christopher McCandless’s pain. I admit I was never a Pearl Jam fan but the music in this film is not typical of what I expected from Pearl Jam. Totally amazing film.
A truly brilliant record from a man who has been my best friend since 1992 and always sounds like he is singing directly to you – even when you are stood in a crowd of thousands. Amazingly I still haven’t seen the movie, but your post has inspired me to watch it this weekend!
One of the most moving films I have ever seen. As someone with a similar family background I find the soundtrack a place of utter solace.
Rewatched – Reposted….. What a film, what a story, what a soundtrack.
[...] know Eddie Vedder was working on another film soundtrack alongside his work on the brilliant ‘Into the Wild‘. Very different from Into the Wild ‘Body of War’ tells the heart-wrenching tale [...]
No words can describe what i felt when i watched the movie.it is amazing .The way Chris expresses his feelings and tries to show people all the cruelity of the life we live in is impressionable and after this movie to be honest i began to think abt human beings…
as for me i think Eddie is a great person.he knew exectly what Chris felt when he walked into the wild…so the songs are just amazing…acording to a real life and the experiance Vedder wrote songs that will be left for good in our memories and in our hearts..