I'll Take The Varmint's Path

"Corduroy" is the greatest rock song of the '90's, and the second greatest live rock and roll song ever. Written and recorded by Pearl Jam, originally released on the album Vitalogy, "Cordoroy" represents everything that is good and right about '90's music.

Why is it, specifically, the greatest rock song of the '90's? It perfectly encapsulates the era - lyrics dealing with alienation, want and desire, a need to mean something, and fear of a controlling media; liquid, ethereal guitar-work that explodes into a powerful, pounding, riff, that turns into a hypnotic rhythm, and takes you for a ride the entire song; great rhythm section along with great lead work that is understated and yet perfect for the moment; great album artwork, even just for this song (though the entire Vitalogy album artwork is legendary); and, finally, it got better with age, and turned into Pearl Jam's greatest live song (and the second great live rock song ever).

From the eerie picture of a dental x-ray of Ed Vedder's teeth, to the shout of "I'll take the varmint's path!," the song is a salvo against media intrustion, a cry for being oneself and keeping oneself amidst turmoil. It is both furious and calm, reflective and pensive, open and closed off.

It struck me, listening to the live version from the 2006 New York show (2nd night), as the band described the feeling of the stage shaking the night before when they played the song, that "Corduroy" had become more than just a mission statement for survival and a "piss off" rallying cry to intrusion and invasion of privacy - it had become an anthem of a bygone era when youth was confused, and our heroes from Seattle didn't promise answers. They delivered comfort. Admitted they were confused, too. And as we've grown up, they've grown up with us... but we can always take comfort in that shared moment of youthful confusion, of energy, of lost-in-the-woods-but-don't-give-a-fuck bliss.

And, having experienced several Pearl Jam shows myself - and having felt a balcony shake, in the Fox Theatre in St. Louis, as the band played the song and crowd went insane with joy, pain, old confusion and musical connection - I can say without a doubt, that it is Pearl Jam's best live song (consistently, anyway), it's the best song of the 1990's and the era of Seattle rock (alternative, grunge, whatever you want to call it), and it is the second greatest live rock and roll song of all time.

As for the first greatest rock and roll song of all time... well, that's a story for another day.

Anyway, in closing, here is what I wrote on my old blog, back in September of 2005, in an article where I discussed how Vitalogy is the defining album of the '90's:

The booklet for the next song featured an x-ray of teeth - instead of a lyric sheet. "It is about a relationship but not between two people. It's more one person's relationship with a million people. In fact, that song's almost a little too obvious for me. That's why instead of a lyric sheet we put in an X-ray of my teeth from last January and they are all in very bad shape, which was analogous to my head at the time." Vedder and the band struck pay-dirt though - the song is arguably one of the greatest rock and roll songs of all time. "Corduroy" was born - and a million PJ fans would never be the same.

Ah, time will tell, as with everything... but yeah, that right there kind of says it all.