Rock Poetry Line by Line

"Jeremy"

“Jeremy” by Pearl Jam, 1992, from Ten.

Lyrics by Eddie Vedder, Music by Jeff Ament.

“Jeremy”

At home
Drawing pictures
Of mountain tops
With him on top
Lemon yellow sun
Arms raised in a V
Dead lay in pools of maroon below

Daddy didn't give attention
To the fact that mommy didn't care
King Jeremy the wicked
Ruled his world

Jeremy spoke in class today
Jeremy spoke in class today

Clearly I remember
Pickin' on the boy
Seemed a harmless little f***
But we unleashed a lion
Gnashed his teeth
And bit the recess lady's breast

How could I forget
He hit me with a surprise left
My jaw left hurting
Dropped wide open
Just like the day
Like the day I heard

Daddy didn't give affection
And the boy was something

that mommy wouldn't wear

King Jeremy the wicked
Ruled his world

Jeremy spoke in class today
Jeremy spoke in class today
Try to forget this...
Try to erase this...
From the blackboard.

.

“Jeremy” made an impact on me, clung to the convolutions

of my mind like few others.  The song raised controversy,

and has been both applauded and criticized for addressing the

topics of teenage suicide, bullying, and violence.  The music

video, which I have included for your listening and viewing,

I think is brilliantly done; indeed, it earned numerous awards.

It has also been downed for putting ideas in kids’ heads, blamed

for the Columbine, among other school shootings, and Pearl

Jam’s exploitation of a tragedy for the purpose of financial gain.

Lyricist and vocalist, Eddie Vedder spoke about the song’s meaning.

It’s based on a newspaper article he read about a Texas fifteen year

 old boy named Jeremy, who put a gun in his mouth and killed himself

in front of his high school English class.  Vedder stated that the song

is also about a boy he knew in school who was a bully.  He acknowledges

that there are several ways that “Jeremy” can be interpreted.

It is my sad pleasure and challenge to look at this evocative poetry in song

line by line.

.

At home
Drawing pictures
Of mountain tops
With him on top
Lemon yellow sun
Arms raised in a V
Dead lay in pools of maroon below

.

Jeremy is alone, building a fantasy world in which he is the victor,

 visions of the dead “lay in pools of maroon below.”

.

Daddy didn't give attention
To the fact that mommy didn't care
King Jeremy the wicked
Ruled his world
Jeremy spoke in class today  (chorus)
Jeremy spoke in class today

.

He feels that his father pays no attention to him, and his mother

 doesn’t care about him.  Jeremy sees himself as a wicked king who

rules his own world.  “Jeremy spoke in class today” is difficult to

understand in the song, due to Vedder’s slurred  enunciation.  I have

thought it was “calling” or “falling,” and I couldn’t quite make out the

“in class today.”  Others have thought the line was “Jeremy’s bowling to

 pass the day. “  This all important line places us in the classroom.

.

Clearly I remember
Pickin' on the boy
Seemed a harmless little f***
But we unleashed a lion
Gnashed his teeth
And bit the recess lady's breast

.

This verse speaks to the fact that this boy was picked on, bullied

 in school.  At first Jeremy seemed “harmless,” but violence begets

violence, and now they “unleashed a lion.”  The boy “bit the recess

lady’s breast.”   This shocking line tells me that Jeremy has targeted

a woman, someone smaller and weaker than himself, and in a perverse

manner.

.

How could I forget
He hit me with a surprise left
My jaw left hurting
Dropped wide open
Just like the day I heard

.

Jeremy is now fighting back at the kids who have bullied

him.  He attacks them by surprise, leaving the bully hurting

and shocked; his jaw “dropped wide open.”

.

Daddy didn't give affection

And the boy was something mommy wouldn't wear

King Jeremy the wicked

Ruled his world

.

These lines are so sad that I blink back tears as I hear them.

His father does not show love for him, and “the boy was something

 mommy wouldn’t wear,” I feel is an unusual way of saying that

his mother doesn’t want him around, doesn’t even care to be seen

with him.  Jeremy sees himself as the wicked ruler of his own world.

.

Jeremy spoke in class today
Jeremy spoke in class today
Try to forget this...
Try to erase this...
From the blackboard

.

The last verse tells us that something unforgettable happened

 in class that day, something that cannot ever, nor should ever be

forgotten.  “Try to erase this…from the blackboard.” The music video

shows the horrified faces of the children splattered in Jeremy’s blood,

as he retaliated against his pain by taking his own life.

.

I do love this beautiful, tragic song, as difficult as it is to think about its

meaning.  Musically, it may not be every listener’s cup of tea, but the

poetry therein speaks to us as adults, parents and teachers of the

monumental importance of our roles in shaping the characters and

futures of our children.