Hi everyone...I'm a longtime PJ fan that just registered here to ask a question. A question that only the most hardcore of hardcore Pearl Jam fanatics could possibly be qualified to answer, and even amongst them, I don't think it's likely I'll get an answer. But there is nowhere else to turn, so here it goes...

I recall reading an article at some point in the band's early years. Yes, there were thousands of articles written about them, but one particular point stood out to me.

There was a passage about how intense and personal Eddie's words and performances were, and specifically they were talking about the song BLACK. (Naturally.) It was speculated in this article that the song was written about a lost love, which doesn't require a journalism degree to figure out. But the main thing that really got to me was the author mentioning that at the concert before singing the song, Eddie said "It's her birthday today...." indicating that however many years had passed since he'd written the song, he still remembered her.

Now I'm not here to get into personal details of Ed's life or anything like that...but I just want to know...has anyone ever actually HEARD this live performance of Black?? Does a recording exist of him saying that phrase before the song?

I've wanted to hear it for YEARS...simply cause Black is and will always be one of the greasest testaments to heartbreak ever written, and I think that little sentence added to it would illustrate such poignancy. I know I've been there several times in my life, and it would be nice to hear those emotions expressed before and during the song.

So...does anyone think this exists? Did the article exist? Am I totally imagining things, or remembering it all wrong? Was the article really about Guns N Roses and I'm way off base here? I don't know...but I figured if anyone at all knew, it would be the obsessive fans here that manage to collect all known recordings...maybe someone else here read that same article and half remembers it....all my Googling has been fruitless...

I tried to ask this question once before...YEARS ago...maybe even on this same forum. I was blasted by regular posters telling me to get lost. I don't know why, I'm a fan just like everyone else. Some people really seemed to take offence to the question though, but I don't think it's really that unusual.

Anyway, thanks for reading...and if someone is looking for an excuse to listen to the first several years worth of "Black" performances...here's your chance!

alright....i will take a stab at this.


eddie was with beth leibling since the mid 80s, so it's very unlikely he wrote the song aboit anybody else, assuming it was writing about a specific person and relationship. eddie and beth were together around the time black was written and continued to be in a relationship throughout the 90s, but its speculated that he wrote black (and possibly i'm still here) about a brief period when they were temporarily broken up.

sooooo...if you can figure out beth's birthday, which shouldn't be too hard since i'm sure she's on wikipedia, and then find recordings of black played on that date, you may have a shot here.

This sounds familiar to me. You might want to check out the 3-12-92 Frankfurt, Germany show. That's all I'll say on the subject.

No, I don't have a copy, but I believe I have heard it once in my deep past.

indeed, a quick wikipedia search reveals that the aforementioned ex-wife was born March 12, 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. I believe we have a match.


RM took care of that mystery pretty quick, eh?

That version of Black was from Newcastle 1992-02-22. Eddie whispers that at the very beginning.

Here it is: http://www.sendspace.com/file/a7cwtb

Ooh, so who's birthday is THAT, I wonder?...

No idea but that's when it was played.....I think it's one of Eddie's little mysteries

No wonder she broke up with him. He couldn't remember her birthday.

I'd assume he wrote it later, and it was a love of his teens. I know I've read more about this but I don't know where.

groetjes,
Mirella

Incredible!!! In a matter of hours, not only have you guys solved the mystery, but the actual recording is posted too!! Amazing!! I should have come here sooner!! And to think, all this time I had a bootleg that had "Hunger Strike" on it that faded out with the opening chords of "Black"....I had a piece of the show the whole time, but it cut off seconds before the part I wanted to hear!!

Very cool...you guys are awesome!

I'm of the opinion that he's referring to the girl the song was written about and that it was NOT Beth. As for "I'm Still Here," well that's debatable. It could be about Beth since it seems it would fit the timeframe that they were together, but it could very well be about the girl from "Black" or even someone else entirely.

So obviously in 1992 when this was performed, Eddie was dating Beth and had been for several years, yet he still takes a moment before the song to reminisce about the mystery girl. I think it's only fitting, since the song probably brings up her memory for him, and it's not really an indication that he's still "pining for her" or not over her, and certainly doesn't indicate that he's not happy at the time with Beth, but I just think it speaks a lot about the powerful nature of a personal song; how it still conjures up those feelings and memories. To me that snippet represents a bittersweet backwards glance at the past, and the joys and sorrows of it all.

A similar example would be the Jane's Addiction song "I Would For You"...in the song, Perry Farrell clearly sings his devotion to his girlfriend at the time, Casey. When I saw him perform the song almost a decade after they split, he still sang her name, despite the fact that he'd married someone else and moved on. Her name and all those feelings are just a part of the song, whether he still feels them anymore or not. I thought it was really cool that he didn't change it to a different girl or omit it entirely.

Anyway, just my ramblings on the matter...thanks so much for solving this long-standing mystery for me...now I can listen over and over!!

I always find it incredibly moving when Ed sings "oh, Beth" in the outro of Oceans live - I sort of miss it now.

When was the last version in which he sung that, I wonder?

I don't think he's done it since 1998, but I could be wrong. It makes me wonder though, maybe Black is about someone else. Because Ed's "We belong together" line pretty much disappeared from Black during the period that he an Beth were together during the 90's, and then it made a few appearances again after they were done. Hmmm...

Anyway, onto Neil Young. Neil's painful love was with Carrie Snodgress in the 70's and many of his saddest love songs were about her. From "A Man Needs A Maid" and "Harvest", to "Motion Pictures" and "Pardon My Heart", to "Peace of Mind" and "Already One". Those are just teh explicit ones, not even mentioning all of the songs of loneliness that grew out of the failure of their relationship.

But Neil has been married to his wife Pegi since 1978 or 79, and still some of these songs occassionally come up in his live shows. Hell, he sang Peace Of Mind on every show in 2000 with Pegi singing backing vocals!! I can't confirm it, but I've always had teh impression that "You and Me" from 1992's Harvest Moon might even be about Carrie.

i think he did it in one of the 2000 shows (tampa, maybe?) but i could be wrong too.
i had no idea what "i'm still here" was until i read this and googled it. where is it from?

I think that's still a matter of debate, isn't it?

It appeared around the time of Lost Dogs and was rumoured to have originated from a Lost Dogs promo CD but I'm certain that rumour was debunked - I think it was suggested that story was a bit of a red herring to disguise the real source.

I've heard this definitely and as far as i remember it was a radio broadcast show from 92ish..i could be wrong on both counts but thats rung loadsa bells in my head..he did a little preamble just before saying "It's her birthday today...."
again i could be wrong but i remember this from somewhere...

'...i will be there for you...beth'

that's spoken somewhere..wow..great thread..

When Lost Dogs leaked on teh internet in teh fall of 2003, this song was included in teh place of "4-20-02" as a "secret song". That's really about as much as anyone knows about it. In my opinion, this is not an early recording, but something from more like 2000 or so.

Cool version of Black here w/ we belong together tag and it is from 07

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... D=17934012

How cool would it have been to be in that bar!!!