World Wide Suicide
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| “World Wide Suicide” | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Single by Pearl Jam from the album Pearl Jam |
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| B-side | "Unemployable" | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Released | March 14, 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Format | Digital download | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Recorded | November 2004–February 2006 at Studio X, Seattle, Washington | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre | Alternative rock | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 3:29 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Label | J Records | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Eddie Vedder | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Producer | Adam Kasper, Pearl Jam | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Pearl Jam singles chronology | |||||||||||||||||||||
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"World Wide Suicide" is the first single from Pearl Jam's eighth studio album, Pearl Jam (2006). It was released as a single through digital music stores on March 14, 2006.
Contents |
[edit] Composition
It was written by frontman Eddie Vedder. The song features a raw sound closer to the band's earlier material. On the song's intensity, Vedder said, "The times...the times kind of demand a little bit of intensity."[1]
[edit] Release and reception
In late February, the band made a 15-second clip of the song available on the Internet, which was then played on numerous North American radio stations. The snippet revealed a hard-rocking sound with a noted return to the dominant vocal styles of Vedder's earlier work. It was first played on US radio on March 3, 2006 on KNDD (Seattle). On March 6, 2006, "World Wide Suicide" was made available via the band's official site to download for free. It was released to general airplay on March 7. Between then and March 12, it was played over 1900 times on modern rock stations in the United States, meaning that it was one of the fastest-growing alternative rock songs of 2006 in the US. The single hit digital music stores on March 14 accompanied by the upbeat B-side "Unemployable", also on the new album.
It entered the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart at number three, making it one of the highest debuts of the last several years and becoming the band's first number one on that chart since "Who You Are" in 1996. "World Wide Suicide" was also the band's first number one single of any sort in eight years (since "Given to Fly" hit number one in 1998). The song spent a total of three weeks at number one on the Modern Rock chart. The song peaked at number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100, number two on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. Without selling any hard copies of the single or distributing CDs to radio programmers, consultants and industry contacts, "World Wide Suicide" became the first digitally delivered number one song in Canadian radio history.[2] On the song's radio success, Vedder stated, "I don't think two or three years ago you could even get a song called "World Wide Suicide" with the word soldier in it played on the radio. The fact that it's getting played a lot, maybe that means that the ocean that is freedom of speech is still healthy enough for a fish to survive in."[1]
In E! Online's review of the album the song was described as one that comes "close to recreating the hard rock thrills of the band's billion-selling debut, Ten."[3] In its review of Pearl Jam, The Guardian pointed out "World Wide Suicide" and stated, "Despite being over 40, [Vedder] musters absolute conviction in writing and singing lyrics of male teenage angst."[4] Jon Pareles of The New York Times called the song "a bitter, furious tirade about a soldier's death and the prospect of endless war."[5] Brian D. Schiller of Slant Magazine called the song "another perfectly serviceable single to add to their canon" and proclaimed it as one of "the band's best pure rock cuts since 'Spin the Black Circle'"[6] Jayson Greene of Stylus said, "There is real joy in hearing [Vedder] let it rip again, howling the title of "World Wide Suicide" with relish until it breaks into a screech."[7]
On April 19, 2006, "World Wide Suicide" was played during an episode of CSI: NY entitled "Run Silent, Run Deep". "World Wide Suicide" was also transcribed in the October 2006 issue of Guitar World. The song was named #11 in Rolling Stone's "The 100 Best Songs of the Year" for 2006[8] and was also named #54 in the New York Post's "206 best songs to download of 2006."[9]
[edit] Lyrical meaning
The lyrics depict anger against the war in Iraq, and criticize the US government in a subtle manner. Vedder has said that "World Wide Suicide" was written largely about Pat Tillman.
Eddie Vedder on the song:
It's about him and a bunch of the guys who didn't get as much coverage - the guys who barely got a paragraph instead of ten pages...The thing about Tillman was, he got ten pages but they were all lies. His family is being blocked by our government from finding out what happened...Where are the learders that are going to represent a galvanized view on what to do next?...Democracy might have a chance at working if people educate themselves on these issues and make their opinions known.[10]
[edit] Music video
A music video was made for the song directed by Danny Clinch. The video features footage shot in 2006 of the band performing the song in a studio interspersed with clips shot in 2005 of a Chilean street performer (Sebastián González, 24 years old) whom the band met while touring South America. The latter portions of the video were filmed in November 2005 in the bathrooms of the band's Chile concert location San Carlos de Apoquindo Stadium.[11] The video was released in April 2006.[12]
[edit] Live performances
On April 15, 2006, "World Wide Suicide" was premiered live on Saturday Night Live. This marked Pearl Jam's first appearance on SNL since 1994. The song was premiered live in concert at the band's April 20, 2006 concert in London, England.[13] Live performances of "World Wide Suicide" can be found on the Live at the Gorge 05/06 box set. A performance of the song mixed from various dates in Italy is also included on the DVD Immagine In Cornice.
[edit] Formats and track listing
- Digital Download
- "World Wide Suicide" (Eddie Vedder) – 3:29
- "Unemployable" (Matt Cameron, Mike McCready, Vedder) – 3:04
[edit] Chart positions
Information taken from various sources.[14][15][16]
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | US Billboard Hot 100 | 41 |
| US Modern Rock Tracks | 1 | |
| US Mainstream Rock Tracks | 2 | |
| US Hot Digital Songs | 29 | |
| US Pop 100 | 47 | |
| US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay | 75 |
[edit] References
- ^ a b Pastorek, Whitney. "Pearl Essence". Entertainment Weekly. May 4, 2006.
- ^ Pearl Jam: Timeline. Pearljam.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-27.
- ^ "Pearl Jam: Pearl Jam". E! Online. 2006.
- ^ Snow, Mat. "Pearl Jam: Pearl Jam". The Guardian. April 28, 2006.
- ^ Pareles, Jon. "Critic's Choice: New CD's". The New York Times. May 1, 2006.
- ^ Schiller, Brian D. Pearl Jam: Pearl Jam. Slant Magazine. 2006.
- ^ Greene, Jayson. Pearl Jam: Pearl Jam. Stylus. May 5, 2006.
- ^ "The 100 Best Songs of the Year". Rolling Stone. December 8, 2006.
- ^ "206 Best Songs to Download From 2006". New York Post. December 19, 2006.
- ^ "Men of the Hour". Relix. August 2006.
- ^ Jurgensen, Mauricio (2005-11-27). La secreta historia del malabarista que grabó para Pearl Jam en Chile (es). La Tercera. Retrieved on 2007-03-05.
- ^ Pearl Jam music videos. Music Video Database. Retrieved on 2008-02-22.
- ^ "Pearl Jam Songs: "World Wide Suicide"". pearljam.com.
- ^ Pearl Jam Artist Chart History. Billboard. Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
- ^ Pearl Jam – Billboard Singles. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-06-11.
- ^ Billboard.com / Pearl Jam / Longplay. Billboard.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-19.
[edit] External links
- Music video for "World Wide Suicide" on Three on the Tree Productions' homepage (QuickTime)
- Lyrics
| Preceded by "Every Day Is Exactly the Same" by Nine Inch Nails |
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single April 1, 2006 - April 21, 2006 |
Succeeded by "Dani California" by Red Hot Chili Peppers |
