Speed of Sound


Yesterdays, how quick they change
All lost and long gone now

It's hard to remember any thing
Moving at the speed of sound
Moving with the speed of sound

And yet I’m still holding tight
To this dream of distant light
And that somehow I’ll survive

But this night has been a long one
Waiting on a sun,.. that just don’t come

Can I forgive what I
Cannot forget
And live a lie
I could give it one more try

Why deny this drive inside?
Just looking for some peace

Everytime I get me some
It gets the best of me
Not much left you see

And yet I’m still holding tight
to this dream of distant light
and that somehow I’ll survive

But this night has been a long one
Wiating on a word,.. that never comes

A whisper in the dark
Is that you or just my thoughts?
Wide awake & reaching out

It’s gone so quiet now
Could it be I’m farther out?
Moving faster than the speed of sound


I'm adapting most of this post from the guided tour entry, since I don't think I have much more to add.

I am not sure I’ve ever had as much trouble getting a handle on a Pearl Jam song as much as I do with Speed of Sound. The fact that the demo--so very different from the studio version-- was released first complicates things. People may prefer the Gone demo to the version on S/T (I prefer the S/T version myself, but I don’t enjoy either song all that much) but they are still basically the same song. The full band version fleshes out the logic of the demo—whether or not you like the final product it still makes sense. The full band version of speed of sound utterly transforms the mood and feel of the original.

Usually I talk about the music before the lyrics, as the music provides the background for the story the song tells, but I’m going to discuss the lyrics first. We need a clear sense of what Eddie was trying to do with Speed of Sound before we can figure out whether he was successful.

Lyrically this song is a gem—some of Eddie’s best writing in years (this song alongside Force of Nature is Eddie’s best 1-2 lyrical punch since Given to Fly -> Wishlist). It may help to think of Speed of Sound as an older, still unsettled but somehow more mature version of Off He Goes. Both songs are about trying to stay grounded in the middle of an oversized, overwrought life—the desire to hold onto the core of who you are against the howling pressures of the rest of the world. Off He Goes is not a song about fame. It’s autobiographical, but we all have to struggle to retain our integrity and our sense of self against what the world throws at us. We all fight the same war, even if our particular battles are different. But there’s a tentative quality to Off He Goes—not tentative in that he’s unsure of the outcome, but tentative as if he’s not necessarily comfortable raising the questions, or sure how to think about it. When I say that Off He Goes is immature I mean that it’s really a first attempt at coming to grips with how to survive in a world that really insists on making survival difficult, and it reflects the confusion, uncertainty, occasional overwroughtness and awkward hesitation that accompanies our first pass at these questions.

Speed of Sound approaches these same questions a decade later from an older, perhaps wiser, certainly more experienced and confident perspective (you can have confident uncertainty). Like Just Breathe, The End, and parts of Amongst the Waves and Force of Nature, it asks us to slow down and reflect. Much of Backspacer asks us to let go of the past and celebrate the moment of experience, something fairly unique in Pearl Jam’s catalog and the source of the album’s energy and abandon. But this is a Pearl Jam record, and Pearl Jam is far too self aware, too externally focused, to live in this moment forever. A song like Speed of Sound (and the others I mentioned) remind us that we will have to come down, and that if we want to hold onto part of the perfect immediacy of now we need to figure out how to make the present come to grips with the past and the future, to celebrate what we have now while recognizing how fragile, precious , and dependent that gift is. This is the story of Backspacer as a whole—no one song tries to capture that entire experience—and so Speed of Sound needs to be understood as playing a particular, concrete roll in the overall album arc. Inverting its name, it tries to slow us down. It warns us that if you only live right now you’ll lose sight of the things that made ‘now’ possible.

The song starts regretting how delicate and fragile the past is, how hard it is to find stability and permanency in a world that changes so fast and sweeps us up alongside it even as we change with it (moving at AND with the speed of sound—simultaneously subject and object). The chorus is hopeful and regretful at the same time. The singer keeps fixed in his mind his dream of distant light—of warmth, peace, illumination, belonging, and there’s no sense of surrender in the song (there is a certain sad sense of futility in Off He Goes—like we know how the story is going to end and so we might as well make our peace with it), but there IS a weariness to it. Not exhaustion, mind you—Backspacer is not Riot Act—but instead a grim awareness of just how long we sometimes have to float through dark empty spaces waiting for the sun.

The lyrics get a little urgent as he explores his inability to come to grips with his momentum. It’s an important verse: “Can I forgive what I cannot forget and live a lie. I could give it one more try.” There’s a sense in which his speed comes from his refusal to accept that the world he lives in is imperfect, and that it always will be. Acceptance is not the same thing as surrender (you can accept the way the world is while still trying to change it) but he cannot come to grips with that. It rings false. He feels guilty—like moments of serenity, calm, acceptance are unworthy of him—like he’s selling out a life long struggle. The problem is the hand wringing, the angst, the defiance, the anger fuel him but at the same time they push him further and further away from the peace he’s so desperate to find. The struggle for a perfect peace makes imperfect peace (all we’re probably capable of in an imperfect world) impossible.

The gravity of his situation, the way in which he feels trapped, the way in which he finds himself imprisoned by the same principles and commitments that are able to set him free, catches up with him in the final, confused verses. He hears a voice and reaches out to it, the promise of stability, fulfillment and security in an uncertain world, but he doesn’t know if what he’s trying to grab onto is real or not, whether he’s worthy of it or not, and in his own uncertainty, his reluctance to accept (not surrender, accept—again this is a key difference) he misses his window. He finds himself alone, isolated, moving too fast to commit to the rest of the world around him.

In the end Speed of Sound is a cautionary tale, and probably the darkest moment on the record. Speed of Sound warns us of what will happen if we cannot dial back our war against the world, if we cannot realize that we should change the things we can change and make our peace with what we cannot—even as we work to change the context that makes the possible impossible. We have to learn to accept that there are limits to what we are capable of (the wisdom of the old) even as we refuse to surrender the passion of youth that makes all things possible. The perfect cannot be the enemy of the good. Utopia cannot be the enemy of happiness. Ours is an imperfect world, a dark world, but not lacking in moments of light that are all the brighter for the surrounding darkness. To that end, Force of Nature probably has to follow Speed of Sound, since it affirms what Speed of Sound can only say through negation.

It’s a heady song, and captures in important ways the intellectual journey the band has been on for the last 17 years. It requires the previous records to give it context, but when that context is there Speed of Sound says a great deal. So let’s see how this vision translated.

The Demo:
Eddie sounds great here, his voice delicate, floating along on the ups and downs of the vocal melody. Although there is no water imagery here, the performance paints the picture of a man carried out to see by a tide he’s too tired to resist, but not so defeated that he cannot look backwards with longing towards where he came from. This is one of the most wistful songs Eddie’s ever written and it showcases the weathered quaver in his voice that he uses to replace the power he’s lost over the year. His Bruce Springsteen influence is on display here—not in the lyrics, but in the delivery and the melody. I can easily see this song appearing on Nebraska or Devils and Dust. The double tracked vocals, especially towards the end, give the song a sense of urgency during the climax, the high part sounding running away while the lower register keeps him grounded—straining for the shore even as he makes his peace with the tides that carry him away. There is a starkness to the music that is simultaneously cold and warm, stark and full—as if you’re floating through an empty space but you have old memories to keep you from freezing and fill the void (I hear space alongside water). The plaintive, straining guitar notes that punctuate the song give the song a mature sadness that comes from reflecting on the failures of a life lived. Most of Eddie’s demos that we’ve heard (think Man of the Hour, Small Town, Gone) feel, to a greater or lesser extent, incomplete. The Speed of Sound demo, on the other hand, is complete the way it is—in fact there’s a very real risk that weighing it down with more music will destroy the sense of starkness, distance, and cold warmth that the song depends on.

Full Band:
And oh man, do they add more music. I wonder if Speed of Sound was sacrificed so that The End might live. I said earlier that this song reminds of Springsteen’s Nebraska, which was a record of demos that Springsteen decided to release. He definitely brought this one in for the E-Street Band. The music is actually pretty interesting. The problem is that, even moreso than the Supersonic solo, it is really poorly matched up with the song they added it to. For people who want more experimental Pearl Jam, this IS experimental pearl jam. There’s an alt-country feel to this one that they rarely play with, guitar tones they don’t use, and I actually like how it sounds. It’s spacey, pretty, rich, and has a hidden sing-songy quality to it that they manage to keep hidden without ruining the appeal. But it doesn’t match up to the song. I don’t know whether it’s faster than the demo, but it feels faster, and way too crowded. This is a song that demands quiet spaces for reflection, and here Eddie (who sounds good here, even though this song showcases him less than almost any other song on Backspacer) is struggling to think over the noise and the clatter. It makes some sense as an approximation for the subdued and reluctant alienation in the lyrics—the purpose behind the speed of sound lyric is not to necessarily convey speed (as a fast song might) but a lack of focus—unable to get perspective because everything around you is out of focus, a blur. The music pulls that off, although it’s probably too pretty for the subject matter. But still, had I not heard the demo I suppose I’d be satisfied with this. It would be imperfect, the same way that Unthought Known and Amongst the Waves are imperfect, but the song would make sense. However, the original presentation of Speed of Sound, reflections in a void rather than straining against a pleasant sensory overload, is so much more powerful that I cannot help but feel disappointed.

I'd give this 3 stars. I've developed a bit of an attachment to Speed of Sound. Underneath the mess there's a really pretty song.

I could enjoy Speed of Sound more had I never heard the demo, and that probably goes for a lot of us. who among us ever thought we'd be sad to get a demo?
but as a stand alone, this song sometimes surprises me. it's placement so near The End does sort of weigh down this half of the record but it doesnt take anything away. I've never really resequenced Backspacer. if I did I'd probably put this one around track 5 surrounded by a bigger song and followed by FON.

an ok song. 2 or 3 stars for the album cut. 5 for the demo.

i was just writing about Out of Time in one of the REM threads and I was struck by how much Speed of Sound sounds like Half a World Away

for me when i listened to the demo i felt like yeah another ed acoustic tune...at the time i was listening a lot music from eddie solos tours and wanted something else...i wanted pearl jam....and that´s what i get with the backspacer version....and thats what i love it...i feel is such a great song...up there with off he goes, indifference , man of the hour,...great song.

a total failure, but at least they tried. still a total failure. unless they were trying to impress Meatloaf.

I was always kind of surprised that this was on Backspacer; it really does not fit either musically or lyrically. I see the lyrics as some of the more despondent lyrics Eddie has ever written, which is surprising on an album that stresses positivism as flagrantly as Backspacer does. Eddie rarely writes a song completely devoid of hope, and when he does, often the music will provide some type of contrast; it won’t make it an optimistic song, but it’ll at least complicate the message to make it more interesting (Insignificance is a great example of this). But Speed of Sound is a real downer. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing; I like a good downer as much as anyone, but when it comes between something like Supersonic and Force of Nature, it’s that much more striking. That coupled with the fact that I don’t find it a particularly strong song in the first place makes me wonder if there weren’t as many b-sides from the S/T and Backspacer period as I thought; maybe there wasn’t a more fitting/better song that could make the album. I agree with stip wholeheartedly regarding the demo version; sometimes demos we’ve heard from the band are missing that x-factor (that doesn’t necessarily always get captured in their studio counterparts), but this is an example of a demo that was good to go as is. I’m not usually a person who says a certain type of song should or should not go on a PJ record or Eddie/Stone/Jeff/Boom/whoever solo release, because I like that PJ works as a big tent, but this song may have made more sense on a more subdued solo record (or a different PJ record than Backspacer).

we know at the very least that of the earth was recorded during backspacer. It'll be interesting when that song surfaces to see if it would have made more sense on backspacer than some of the other choices.

1 star, because the demo isn't a total abomination, like the studio version. And i kind of like the lyrics.

This would be a 4 star song if I was just judging the demo, but the final arrangement knocks it down to 3 stars.

this was going to be a gift for ronnie wood too....im glad they kept it.
never listened to lucky man...

This is a five star song, but the album version is a three star presentation (if I'm being kind).

I'm torn as how to vote for it as I genuinely think it's one of the best songs Ed's ever written, so I guess I'll strike a balance and give it four (though that's not very satisfying either).

What a frustrating song.

I like Backspacer as a whole, but this song and Got Some are the only 2 I really can't even listen to...

I actually saw an episode of last season's 'Celebrity Apprentice' when Meat Loaf said he really loved this song.

Then he threw a wall clock at one of the Real Housewives of New Jersey while screaming obscene racial epithets.

I love that show. 4 stars for "Speed of Sound."

Sounds too chick-flick-credits for me :/
There are maybe like 5 Pearl Jam songs I dislike... there are some I don't love, but I can listen to most... never could on this one.

Why do you guys not like the final arrangement?

because it's so cheesy, it removes all gravitas from Ed's demo, because it could have been a masterpiece had they not wrapped it in some of my most hated sonic elements of the 80s and because it has some fucking castanets

basically, if you'd remove Eddie's voice from this i'm pretty sure that nobody could tell it sounds anything like Pearl Jam.

Also, fucking lasers!

I don't hate it, but it sounds very crowded without wanting to go for a crowded sound.

I like this song, and the arrangement. Particularly the last chorus, after the lasers. I can totally understand the hatred for the album version, there was definitely a WTF from me when I first heard it. But yeah, I like it. The only thing I don't like is the 'Soooouuund-UH' at the beginning. Apart from that, 3.5 stars.