A song that means so little yet so much

As I've come to enjoy the JamsBio experience, I've tried my best to articulate memories and feeling that are forever bound to a particular song.

One song just runs deeper in my heart and mind than most others. I first became aware of Yellow Ledbetter in my formative teenage years. My friends and I had been taken ahold of by Pearl Jam's Ten. We'd really jumped in head first. This was "our" band, not your band. This is not for you! For whatever reason, Pearl Jam had struck a tremendous chord with us and those of us who were together that summer of discovery in 1992 will always be bound by it.

But we needed more. Music had meant a lot to us all before but that was our parents music. A local (now defunct) CD shop was a favorite destination for us. This was the first store I'd ever been to that had imports. We found some Pearl Jam imports that introduced us to the solemn Footsteps, the odd Dirty Frank and the mysterious Yellow Ledbetter.

Yellow Ledbetter became an anthem of sorts for us which is really odd because the lyrics are almost undistinguishable and still doesn't make sense when you know the words but there was something in the melody, the signature hook (no it's not Little Wing) and the passion in Vedder's voice. Of all Pearl Jam's songs, this one became my personal favorite and still is despite an unknowing amount of listens.

More than any other song, this one takes me back to a special time in my life, perhaps the most special. It was those last years before career pursuits and marriage. The last before responsibility meant more than cleaning your room. It was about wandering car rides without destinations, living on flights of fancy and beginining into our final metamophasis into adulthood.

These were the best times of our lives and this song always brings them back.