Force of Nature

Understand she’s a force of nature
Contraband hiding deep inside her soul
Exorcising her will to lose control
She lets go

A common man, he don’t stand a chance, no
Wonderland pulling Alice in the hole
No way to save someone who won't take the rope
And just let’s go

One man stands the edge of the ocean
A beacon on dry land
Eyes upon the horizon
In the dark before the dawn

Hurricane has the trade winds blowing
A gale force shaking windows in the storm
Shipwreck on the rock that he calls home
With one light on

Somewhere there’s a siren singing
A song only he hears
All the strength that you might think
Would disappear,.. Resolving

One man stands alone, Awaiting
For her to come home
Eyes upon the horizon
In dark before the darkness meets the dawn.

Makes me ache,... Makes me shake,...
Is it so wrong to think that love can keep us safe?

Last I saw, he was out there waiting
A silhouette in the black light, full moon glow
In the sand there he stands upon the shore
Forevermore

Somewhere there’s a siren singing
A song only he hears
All the strength that you might think
Would disappear, resolving

One man stands along, Awaiting
For her to come home
Eyes are closed,.. You cannot know
But his heart don’t seem to roam.


This is my favorite song off Backspacer, and one of Eddie’s best lyrics in a long time. It’s a deceptive song, because the music is not particularly striking, and there are a few questionable choices. Nor is it Eddie’s best vocal performance on the record. But for some reason everything works, and the overall package is really compelling. This is one of the finest love songs in their catalogue.

Musically Force of Nature sounds like it could have been on Binaural, not because it sounds like those songs (it doesn’t), but because musically one thing Binaural does extremely well is produce soundscapes that just fit the prevailing mood and emotion of the song (think of Rival, Nothing As It Seems, Sleight of Hand, Parting Ways, and Insignificance). And the entirety of Force of Nature sounds like a person standing, grimly defiant and stubbornly hopeful, on a widow’s walk or on a shoreline looking upon the horizon, battered and soaked by a storm, but refusing to give up. You can hear the rain and feel the wind slashing through the song, and you can hear the resistance. Force of Nature sounds DETERMINED, which is not a particularly flashy emotion, and one that may be hard to appreciate until you get swept up into the song itself.

Musically part of me wants a bigger entrance than the song gets, something more explosive in the vein of Deep, but that might have made this song a little too dramatic, and there is an understated toughness to the main riff and the music that fits really well. It churns along, battered and pushed but unerring (although why it has that whiney guitar part running through the main riff in the beginning is beyond me—I am not sure what it adds). There are lots of great flourishes throughout the mix that are buried a little deeper than I might preferred, but they’re striking when they fade in and out of your hearing, and it means that every time you hear the song there is something new you’re picking up. The brighter guitar parts pushing through the wind and rain right before the choruses are well done—rays of light peeking through a storm, moments of hope on a lonely vigil. They become more prominent with each chorus as the singer steels himself. Mike’s ‘leads’ in the bridge are great. They sound like flashes of lightning. The atmosphere in this song is terrific, especially because it is so subtle. And while some have called it cheesy , I think Mike’s outro is perfect, its bright chimes (echoes of U2?) coming through the murk, muted but no less diminished for it. It speaks of hope and optimism and new beginnings and the promised rewards of a lonely vigil. It’s simple, but so is the solo at the end of I am Mine, and both are powerful in their simplicity, and manage to convey so much with so little.

Lyrically there are no dud lines here, and its nice to see some literary allusions alongside the water and waves and shores that we’re so familiar with. They tell the story of a man who refuses to give up on a person too wild and uncontrollable to ever be conventionally safe and healthy. She continuously does things to hurt him (probably unintentional) due to the self destructive forces that rage inside of her, but he cares enough for her that he’s willing to endure it, and because he believes, in the end, that they’ll find level ground to sustain them—that love is the more powerful force of nature. The distance separating the two lovers in Oceans is physical. Even though Force of Nature maintains the image of the guy standing on the edge of a shore in the midst of a dark storm, patiently waiting the dawn, I imagine the distance here is metaphorical, the distance the space between love and safety and security and the wild uncontrollable places in her soul. The struggle is not fighting off the loneliness and isolation until the lover returns (again, Oceans) but maintain faith that love is strong enough to endure the very real challenges that arise from loving the wrong person, the person who is bad for you, the person who your friends and family tell you to let go, the person that you love in spite of, or maybe because of, all those things. This song doesn’t celebrate love, but the strength it can take to endure it.

Eddie also deserves credit for the “somewhere there is a siren singing a song only he hears/all the strength that you might think would disappear/resolving”. That verse encapsulates the song perfectly , and is one of my all time favorite lyrics he’s ever penned—surviving the pull of something dangerous and impossibly beautiful that only you can understand.

4.5 stars, but closer to 5 than 4 so I’ll give it 5.

I really don't care much for this song (gave it 2 stars), but I very much enjoyed the write-up.

4 stars, love it.

This is great. Second best song in Backspacer after The End, and Ed's strongest lyrics in a decade.

Stip, Platy, and Chud agree about a PJ song. [/Pearl Jam Chat]

It was fun while it lasted.

I'm curious to see what spenno has to say.

Stip, that was one of your better write ups. By that I mean I agree with it.

thing is i really love the lyrics. they are great. i can identify with being in love with a crazy self destructive whore.

lyrics dont make the song though. whoever mentioned the casio keyboard intro was dead on. this song is one step away from a keytar solo. sounds like lounge music.

2 stars.

For some reason this song just works. I would give it 5 stars if it had a little bit more balls to it. But instead, 4 stars.

I gave it a four, but Stip may have talked me into a five. Love this tune.

Great write up.
I really disliked the song on my couple of listens and skipped it all those times when I had Backspacer on the stereo. But listening to a couple of the boots I've discovered I disliked it less than I remembered. I haven't really paid attention to the lyrics but musically it has grown on me somewhat. At this point it would be unfair to give it a rating; I'll re-listen to the studio cut a few more times first.

I like it.

I've often felt quite conflicted over this tune, early on I felt as if the music was a little underwhelming and unimaginative, but the funniest thing always happens when I'm listening to it...I start rocking out. I don't think I've ever made it to the end of the song without thinking "shit, that was great!", despite any misgivings I had going in. It has one of my favourite Pearl Jam bridges too, it's almost impossible for me to resist singing along.

I'm not the sort of guy who places huge importance on lyrics (unless they're exceptionally bad), but I'll also agree with those that have pointed out these are some of Ed's best in a long, long time.

Four stars.

Exactly, whatever seems underwhelming at first actually really fits the song upon further listening.

I gave it 3 stars because I couldn't give it a 4 considering the other ones I've given 4's to. I really didnt like this song when I first heard the album, Speed of Sound and Force of Nature were the only 2 I didnt really like. I still felt this way until recently, I actually really like it now. I dont know if seeing it live had anything to do it because it wasnt a great live version, but I like the lyrics and melody alot now. It's jumped Supersonic, GSMF, and Johnny Guitar on my Backspacer rankings.

There was a little bit of healing in this thread I think

Shouldn't you be working on your Binaural guided tour?

i'm not trying to be difficult but i don't really get the love for this song

also i've been drinking so stip if i get out of hand you have preemptive permission to ban me

Loved this one from the beginning, Eddie's vocal melody really connects with me and the lyrics are some of his best.

Listening to the Boston 2010 version right now, after a shaky start turns out to be a pretty rockin version - possibly the first without major lyrical flubs.

man that would be crazy if i collaborated with stip on an academic paper one day