World Wide Suicide

I felt the earth on Monday. It moved beneath my feet
in the form of a morning paper. Laid out for me to see.

Saw his face in a corner picture. I recognized the name.
Could not stop staring at the. Face I'd never see again.

It's a shame to awake in a world of pain
What does it mean when a war has taken over

It's the same everyday in a hell manmade
What can be saved, and who will be left to hold her?

The whole world,... world over.
It's a worldwide suicide.

The whole world,... world over.
It's a worldwide suicide.

Medals on a wooden mantle. Next to a handsome face.
That the president took for granted.
Writing checks that others pay.

And in all the madness. Thought becomes numb and naive.
So much to talk about there's. Nothing for to say.

It's the same everyday and the wave won't break
Tell you to pray, while the devil's on their shoulder

Laying claim to the take our soldiers save
Does not equate, and the truth's already out there

The whole world,... world over.
It's a worldwide suicide.

The whole world,... world over.
It's a worldwide suicide.

Looking in the eyes of the fallen
You got to know there's another, another, another, another
Another way

It's a shame to awake in a world of pain
What does it mean when a war has taken over

It's the same everyday and the wave won't break
Tell you to pray, while the devil's on their shoulder

The whole world,... world over.
It's a worldwide suicide.

The whole world,... world over.
It's a worldwide suicide...




Previous Songs of the Moment
In My Tree
Red Mosquito
Porch
I Got Id
Release
Do The Evolution
Breath
Corduroy
Elderly Woman...
Leash
Hail Hail
Grievance
Love Boat Captain
Even Flow
Black Red Yellow
In Hiding
Can't Keep
Indifference
Insignificance
Whipping
Black
Smile
Push Me Pull Me
Rats
God's Dice
All or None
Yellow Ledbetter
Last Exit
Who You Are
Rearview Mirror
Hold On
Present Tense
Light Years
Alive
Brain of J
Thumbing My Way
Hard to Imagine
Tremor Christ
Rival
Animal
Lukin
You Are
betterman
Given to Fly
Once
Low Light
Parting Ways
Off He Goes
Go
get right

I don’t think there was ever a Pearl Jam song I loved as much upon first listen as much as I did world wide suicide, and I still love it, after well over 100 listens. It is one of the catchiest songs Pearl Jam has ever written, but it still has depth and substance. You can have a hook and not be a disposable pop song, and like Betterman, WWS pulls it off. Musically the song is deceptively simple. The basic riff that propels the song along is pretty basic, but there is always something interesting happening underneath that main riff (I especially love whatever it is that stone is doing at the start of the final verse). Eddie’s voice, especially in the chorus and bridge, has the bite and snarl that was missing from basically all of Riot Act. It gives the song a cocky swagger while still managing to say something important at the same time (a la DTE—the song I think WWS has the most in common with, even if it sounds a bit more like undone)

Since I'm pressed for time today I’m just going to lift this next bit from my avocado walkthrough, so please forgive the double post.

From the begining I've seen World Wide Suicide as a sequel to Last Soldier. Here is that soldier’s fate. Now it is up to the living to figure out how they are going to cope. There are some brutal lines in here. In particular “who will be left to hold her”. This could be about the wife, or a daughter (both appear in Army Reserve), but either way someone has been left behind and they are going to have to come to grips with the senselessness of war and its very real consequences. In this particular song the main character lashes out through rage, rage at the war, rage at the people responsible, and rage at the rest of us for allowing something like this to happen. There is a sense of futility in the song (the wave won’t break—things won’t get any better—but at the same time there are moments of strength alive with the promise of action.

I don’t think narratives are eddie’s strong suite as a writer, but this is a really good one. Like I said above I see it as a sequel to Last Solider. In LS the man is saying goodbye to his family, telling them not to worry despite his own doubts about the way a very big world threatens to overwhelm him. WWS is the end of that story. It starts out with a fantastic opening image—a great understated visual (seeing the picture as part of an obituary or a larger piece on the war dead) that brings the gravity of the situation home without overselling it. “could not stop staring at the face I’ll never see again” is a heavy line. The enormity of that kind of loss is almost too big to put into words. You get the impression that she’s already found out he’s dead. The song is about figuring out why, and coping with the loss (especially the daughter left behind with no one left to hold her).

But the song doesn’t wallow in sadness. Instead it deals in frustration and anger. There is no reason he had to die. The hell is man-made, artificial and that is what really makes it appalling (they’ll be a nice call back to this later in Army Reserve). And she realizes that things are only going to get worse until we realize what exactly we’re engaged in. War is the destruction of love, peace, security, happiness—pretty much everything that matters to us. And it has a life and logic of its own that folds everything into it. It’s a world wide suicide.

There is one more break from the anger at the start of the second verse, which opens with an even more provocative image—the medals on the wooden mantle next to the picture. The attack on Bush is masterfully done. It brings to mind the smiling irresponsible frat boy whose daddy always gets him out of trouble and has never been held accountable for anything—taking lives for granted, writing checks that other people have to pay. There is a reason that almost every review quotes that line. It’s one of Eddie’s best. Then it’s quickly back to the rage—the hypocrisy of invoking God in the cause of slaughter (and both sides hope that God smites their enemies and blesses them—as any number of yellow ribbons, USA stickers, and country songs can attest to) and the never ending madness of it. In the hysteria war whips up it is impossible to sit down and really reason your way through your problems—again it has a life and logic of its own that sweeps everyone up into a wave that shows no signs of breaking. And the only thing that can stand up to that wave is righteous anger at the way things are and the conviction that they can be better (embodied by the bridge)

WWS is a protest song, and that’s what is ultimately important to take away from it. The fact that it is important to protest, to resist, to look into the eyes of the fallen and find another way. That’s why the anger is more important than the sadness. Anger can be powerful if its directed at the right people and focused the right way. And I leave WWS feeling that this is what the subject of the song wants. It’s why the music is catchy despite the subject matter. You leave Bushleaguer feeling angry and powerless. You leave the song feeling animated and engaged, and that’s what makes it a superior protest song.


My one critique is with the 'nothing for to say' line. What the hell does that mean Eddie? Edit your god damned songs.

It’s a 4.5 star song for me, but it is closer to 5 than 4 so it gets the nod.

Being the first single this song got a little played out for me initially. However, after seeing it live a few times it popped right back up to one of the top tier songs on the avocado. It is phenomenal live and, as stip says, it's so damn catchy. Solid 4 for me right now.

This is definately pearl jams best song in years. I cant really add much to it. This song, like most on the album when looking at the lyrics one might think how depressing and angering the song could be...but the way the band delivers the song and the way ed sings, leaves youwith a sense of hope.

This song has life, energy, its catchy, it rocks, its poppy, its intense, beautifully melodic all in one.

That verse is the catchiest fucking thing ive ever heard from them. A great chorus to boot. great mccready licks, the band is using three guitars in a positive fashion finally instead of all just playing the same goddamn chords.

I love how the pre chorus just slides right into the chorus. Man alive tihs is agood song.

I was pretty concerned when I heard that there was a song called World Wide Suicide and pretty much hoped it was environmentalist and not about the war. But it works pretty well.

The lyrics aren't overly deep, and there's not much to read into them due to the delivery, except whose thoughts Eddie is voicing. I like to think of it as a quick vignette, part of the series of stories that ties the album together. Coming out from Life Wasted, we're taken along the narrative to what is most likely the family home of the dead soldier, whether his wife or parents. An identifiable sense of loss creates empathy/sympathy with the character and paves the way for later songs like Army Reserve. There are other possibilities, of course, and I'm not saying this is the only interpretation or even the only likely one, but it's what I think works best with the album theme. It's a fairly short song at about three and a half minutes, and this just gives time to open up the ideas explored later in the album, not to mention reinforce the ideas of Life Wasted.

Running with the idea of the album as a whole, I think it was a smart move to put it as the second track. If you look at the other second tracks; Even Flow; Animal; Spin The Black Circle; Hail, Hail; Faithfull; God's Dice and Save You, most of them were singles, many are people's favourite song of the album (let's keep this on topic and not give God's Dice any shit, cheers ) and except Spin The Black Circle they're mid tempo. The second track also tends to be a good example of the record's sound or themes - Animal contains the 5 against 1 line that nearly gave Vs. its title, Spin The Black Circle both illustrates the punkier leanings of Vitalogy and the muso quality of the album as a whole, not to mention the falling apart at the seams feel that's part of the Vitalogy experience. Hail, Hail and Faithfull are two excellent, excellent songs that provide a great entrance into some of the ideas and sounds of the albums and Save You offers a glimmer of hope in an otherwise rather dark Riot Act.

I guess it was maybe a wee bit predictable that the first single would be a broadside against the war, although I was expecting something more all guns blazing. I think I like the song more because of that, the fact that it's a mid tempo rocker with a hooky chorus, just like the kind of songs they wrote last time there was a Bush in office fucking about in the Middle East. It's something they still do very well, and it's a song I'm looking forward to hearing live a lot. Hopefully about nine times

Just on the lyrics, I particularly like

Medals on a wooden mantle. Next to a handsome face.
That the president took for granted.
Writing checks that others pay.

and how it ties the war, the wastage, the establishent (linking the President and the medals with the aforementioned wastage) but beyond that I'll not delve too much into the lyrics since I don't think there's much to argue, it's more a case of keeping the idea going while propelling the album forward. Something which WWS does awesomely.

A very strong song, even for PJ, but not quite a masterpiece. 4

I gave it a 5... the best first single for an album that PJ has put out ever. Great to scream to in concert as well.

Also, did I mention that it's catchy as fuck and awesome fun to sing/scream/dance/shout/play/jump/nod along to?

I gave it a three....but that's a round-down from about 3.4.

Haven't seen it live yet....once I do, I'm sure it'll bump up to 4 stars.

I like a handful of other songs from the new record better. And I like Even Flow better.

I've come down from the initial obsession that occurs when any of my favorite bands releases an initial single/new album so I can see things clearly with this song now. I think we have an attempt at a good message atop a decent set of lyrics here (save for the chorus, which I'm even on the fulcrum over), and a great in-studio/on album performance. However, I'm beginning to become more and more disappointed when I listen to the bootlegs. As with most songs I'm sure that this song is great when you're actually experiencing at the show, but Ed' vocals and the rushed pace kill the song live for me. It sounds like they're overly excited when they play it live. I really do like the studio version though. I also like how it relates to other songs on Avocado. I like the bridge and I love Ed's vocals on the final verse. I'll give this four stars.

4 stars - Very good but not great song. Hasn't gotten old yet, which is a great sign. Eddie really nailed the lyrics on this one - with this lead single, he single-handedly righted the lyrical wrongs of Riot Act - a palate-cleanser to be sure.

And I love the Who/Ramones riffage.

5-stars, really put PJ back on the map in the modern rock radio. Really catchy, loved it on its first listen, still love it, even though I've listened to it a billion times.

it really is hit or miss live. When it is one it is great, but there are times eddie falls behind in the verses and a lot of times his pronounciation in the chorus is off. He sings world ovah instead of world over. Some of the problem might be that matt's backing vocals are too high in the mix

I am glad to see people are still excited about this song after several months. It's a great rock song and PJ's best pick for the first single since GTF, and Alive before that.

Although I love how it rocks, I think the opening music is too crowded. I am not sure if a different production would have helped it but Eddie's part isn't really needed, especially live. I like how Stone's part sneaks in but the raking sound is annoying.

The rest of the song is great. Makes me want to jump and head bang and dance and since. And do that Ed dance when he jumps side to side.

4/5

I love the fact that Matt's vocals are high in the mix, makes it much better.

I'll give the song a 2 on the Pearl Jam scale. Not a bad song, but by Pearl Jam standards, below average. Also, the chorus is always stuck in my head, due to them playing it everywhere + its catchiness. That makes me dislike it. Also, I dislike the intro.
I really loved this song, until I heard Unemployable, and the NEW SONG OMG! factor wore off.

I liked this song immediately, and it gave me high hopes for the album. I think that this was the perfect first single, I give this song 4 stars.

You got to know that there's another ANOTHER ANOTHER WAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!!! <---scream that part EVERYTIME I hear it. If a song makes me wanna do that EVERYTIME, then it's great. You can tell Eddie really 'feels' the song. 4 stars though, it's not a masterpiece, that award belongs to 'Inside Job'.

A great song and already a classic to me, and also a good pick for a first single. 5

I think we can all agree that this part of the song is fucking amazing.

I love the way WWS opens, with the three different guitar sounds and then Jeff comes in but his bass line isn’t lost in the wall of sound, Jeff's bass lick has it's own place and breathing room in the song. Having all these instruments playing and fitting so well shows how much time the band spent in writing the song.

I think Pearl Jam is beginning to really acquire a unique understanding of the three-guitar sound and the added layers give the song a longer life span I think.

I wasn't all that impressed at first but WWS definitely grew on me. Not quite upper shelf but a solid 4 and a great addition to the live set.