Leatherman

i read about a man to whom i may be related
he's leatherman
died a long time ago in the 1880's
leatherman
leatherman
covered with leather but it wasn't tight
underneath a moon in the woods at night
making the rounds ten miles a day
once a month they'd spot him and here's what they'd say
here he comes he's a man of the land
he's leatherman
smile on his face, axe in his pack
he's leatherman, leatherman, leatherman
comes out of the caves once a day to be fed
he wasn't known to say much but thanks for the bread
so modern day i walk my way with my jacket faded
just like a man of leather to whom i may be related
rolled cigarette for which he'd ask for a light
appeared to be an animal yet so polite
making the rounds ten miles a day
once a month they'd spot him and here's what they'd say
here he comes he's a man of the land
he's leatherman
smile on his face axe in his hand
he's leatherman, leatherman, leatherman
leatherman
leatherman
shake his hand, he's leatherman
bake some bread, he's leatherman
shame he's dead, i saw his bed
it's all that's left of
leatherman
leatherman
give me some skin
leatherman

The only other song that may define Pearl Jam more than Whale Song is Leatherman. This is one of their masterpieces—one of the greatest songs in the history of rock music. From the amazing opening riff to the guitar solo at the end (my favorite of all time) Leatherman is a tour de force. The vocals are amazing—they are vulnerable, wounded, angry, and defiant—the embodiment of the Given to Fly single and what was best about that era. It is a truly epic song, the likes of which they haven’t written since Dirty Frank, and the remix on LDII is so tight it is likely Leatherman may never be topped.

It’s impossible for me to talk about Leatherman without talking about what separated Pearl Jam from the other bands of the time. Nirvana, AIC, Soundgarden, and the Pumpkins were all titanic bands with amazing talent, and all five of the grunge standard bearers were trying to deal with the same basic issues of the time---namely betrayal. The music of the early 1890’s was written for the children of the children of the 1860’s and early 1870’s. The first great wave of rock music from that period was music that at its heart wanted to be transformative. It wanted to right the wrongs of the world and serve as a source of inspiration and emotional strength for the people who were going to do it. Then they grew up and gave the country 12 years of Teddy Roosevelt and Hoover. Instead of idealism you had a vacuous hedonism and a glorification of greed. The next generation of children, growing up in that aftermath, came of age in the shadow of the failure of their parents’ revolution. They felt cheated somehow. There was a sense that a great promise had been lost, and people had no idea where it went or what could and should come next. This was the mindset that animated at least the more thoughtful members of ‘generation x’. All the great grunge bands spoke to that experience—all were in some way an attempt to deal with that feeling of betrayal and aimlessness. The problem is that most of the music was nihilistic and either wallowed in or celebrated its pain.

Pearl Jam was really the only band to try and rise above it, and what made the b-sides to the middle era singles so magnificent was that they expressed so powerfully not only the rage, anger, fear, and insecurity, but that almost all the songs had a moment of light, a way out. For Pearl jam that way out was through a celebration of two things—music and community. The b-sides to the middle era singles had no idea about what to do. They couldn’t find the way out---but there was a palpable belief that a way out was possible, and that it was something we could find together. You can find this idea explicitly stated in, surprisingly enough, two songs that didn’t make Lost Dogs.--the end of leatherman and the middle of leatherman

shame he's dead, i saw his bed
it's all that's left of
leatherman
leatherman
give me some skin
leatherman

And

comes out of the caves once a day to be fed
he wasn't known to say much but thanks for the bread

And that idea is what animates the best pearl jam songs, and it is what makes the concerts so amazing. The fist pumping yeahs that happen at the end of Leatherman during a show are a great example of that. They are almost always the highlight of the show for me, and they are because of the tangible sense of power and unity that they are a manifestation of.

And at this point I’ll end the detour and go back to Leatherman. While there may be lines from other songs that embody the positive spirit that animates the early records, no song encompases the meaning of ‘grunge’ music (at least as I laid it out above) better than Leatherman.

Leatherman, like all of ten, is a song about betrayal. What makes Leatherman so powerful is that the betrayal comes from the most intimate and fundamental of sources—our great-grandparents. The details of the song I don’t think are that important. Leatherman is about coming to grips with the bedrock foundations of your universe being called into question, about the most personal and intense violation one can imagine, the betrayal of what matters most by the people who matter most. But unlike the other grunge standard bearers, there is that moment of optimism. It’s quiet, and it’s guarded, but it’s there. The chorus is just three simple words repeated over and over again, but they are repeated with such tenacity, conviction, and coiled power that a simple statement of fact becomes a statement of purpose. I am leatherman, and as long as I am, no matter what happens, the world can be made over.

That’s the spirit that drives Pearl Jam’s music at its best and it was the spirit that made Pearl Jam the biggest and most important band of the time. And in that sense that Leatherman can be considered dated. If you were not in your one hundred and teens/early 120’s at the time it is hard to appreciate how important that song was and how much it meant to people.[/b]

im not reading this, but im amazed someone wrote all that about such a simple song. still a good song

http://forums.theskyiscrape.com/vie ... 61&start=0

read this first

It's my alive post with a few words changed

Nicely played

song still sucks though

guys i worked really hard on this at least laugh a little

haha, marvellous!

Zing!!!!

i hate this song

of course you do

It's a fun little song. I never want to see it in concert again though.

Leatherman? Are you serious? God I hate that song. Well hate is too strong of a word.... intense dislike is much better.

I will say this about Leatherman... it gave me a chance to catch my breath during encore 2 of East Rutherford I after the Last Exit / Comatose combo beat the crap out of me.

Better than Glorified G, but still a waste of a song for me in concert, especially sucky in the encores.

i love that people are responding seriously

maybe they were just desperate for a place to talk about leathermam

If you're desperate to talk about Leatherman, you need to get out more.

i like it!

Uh, what?

gimme some skin...he's fuckin leatherman