"Jeremy" always struck me as a song aiming to be portentous but instead settled for overwrought. The video only emphasized this, most emblematic in the close-ups of Vedder emoting in aggrieved constipation.
It was basically a Heavy Metal song for the kids who thought they were too clever for Heavy Metal.
As a side note, I am not picking just on Pearl Jam: Alice in Chains brought Overwrought to sludgy depths. Heavy Metal for the clever kids who wanted to pretend to be in Heroin's thrall.
Interesting that Pearl Jam mutated from the superior Mother Love Bone. Many similarities musically, except with a singer who was not afraid to swagger (if ironic) in a rock star way, which also allowed for guitar solos. Of course, heroin got Andrew 'Landrew the Love Child' Wood, too...
If Love Bone had survived I think the kids would have got the 'new' rock star they secretly craved, undercutting Nirvana's arrival on the scene to some extent.
Ah, Nirvana. What separated them from the rest of Grunge was a knack for bubblegum melodies scuffed on the edges. Which means that maybe they weren't grunge at all, but a perfectly nice Pop Band...
Across the ocean Grunge did not take off to such extent: their bubblegum melodies and depressive emotions were already covered in their own way by the Smiths. Compare Morrissey and Cobain -- or, rather, compare their fans. The difference between England and the States, right there.
Jaltcoh includes Radiohead's "Creep" on the Grunge list, which does have sonic and emotional similarities. For Radiohead it was the first stop on a long twisting musical journey; would Cobain have done the same, or would he just become the American Elvis Costello, where everyone professes love but doesn't buy -- or even listen to -- the new music?
Or replace Elvis Costello in that sentence with Mudhoney...
I am Laslo.
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