Monday September 21, 2020 “Last Kiss” Pearl Jam

OK this is not a happy song.

 I had a good friend who told me he was driving in his car with his teenage daughter when the original version of this tune by J.Frank Wilson & the Cavaliers came on the radio.  His daughter was offended and immediately asked, “how could this cheesy group even think to record a Pearl Jam song?’.  When he stopped chuckling he told her the back story.

 It always struck me as an odd choice for a ‘progressive’ group like Pearl Jam to cover "Last Kiss" but I think it just suggests how deep and varied  many musicians' references might go and what is influential to them.  According to legend, Eddie Vedder, lead singer and primary songwriter for Pearl Jam, found the original version of this record in an antiques store (where else would you find records), bought it and spent the rest of the night listening to it. 

 Ironically “Last Kiss” was Pearl Jam’s highest charting single and although I enjoy the original, poppier version of this teen death saga the Pearl Jam version better captures the darkness of the story.

 Here’s a link to the original in case you have forgotten it.

 Stay safe and well...and drive carefully.

Oh where oh where can my baby be 

The Lord took her away from me 

She's gone to heaven so I got to be good 

So I can see my baby when I leave this world 

 We were out on a date in my daddy's car 

We hadn't driven very far 

There in the road straight up ahead 

A car was stalled the engine was dead 

I couldn't stop so I swerved to the right 

I'll never forget the sound that night 

The screaming tires the busting glass 

The painful scream that I heard last 

 [Chorus] 

 When I woke up the rain was pouring down 

There were people standing all around 

Something warm flowing through my eyes 

But somehow I found my baby that night 

I lifted her head she looked at me and said 

Hold me darling just a little while 

I held her close I kissed her our last kiss 

I found the love that I knew i have missed 

Well now she's gone even though I hold her tight 

I lost my love my life that night 

 [Chorus]

 Woah, woah, woah, woah 

 Ohh, ohh, ohh, ohh