How MTV ruined Pearl Jam anthem ‘Jeremy’
For many grunge purists, MTV seemed like the common enemy of any band that wanted to take themselves seriously. It was all about the music as far as Seattle was concerned, so why bother having to do up your hair and make everything glamorous when a simple flannel shirt was all you needed? But MTV did have its artistic side as well, and when Pearl Jam tried to tap into that for their lead single ‘Jeremy’, the music channel messed them up so much that they refused to make videos for years.
Then again, it’s not like Pearl Jam’s videos were cutting-edge pieces of cinema when they got started. ‘Evenflow’ is just a simple performance clip, and for as serene a song as ‘Oceans’ is, it’s not like shots of Vedder surfing and cinematic shots of lapping waves were going to excite anyone, with the possible exception of every girl who was crushing on the vocalist.
If they were going to go whole hog on a video, though, it would have to have been ‘Jeremy’. Of all the tracks on Ten, this was the closest to reporting that they had ever come, telling the story of a real middle school kid who shot himself in front of his classmates. Subject matter like this can’t be taken lightly, and with director Mark Pellington, Pearl Jam created the kind of cinematic masterpiece ripped out of a nightmare.
While the video’s graphic imagery has a few things in common with something like ‘Losing My Religion’ by R.E.M., each shot has an intentional meaning when it comes to painting the picture inside the kid’s mind. From burning school paraphernalia like it’s an effigy to eventually turning the gun on himself, the video isn’t for the faint of heart, but it’s still probably the best way to tell this story.
At least, that’s what Pearl Jam wanted you to see. Because as soon as the higher-ups at MTV saw a video featuring a child actor sticking a gun in his mouth, they lost it and insisted that the group go back to the drawing board. And since they didn’t spend all this money just to throw it away, MTV just made an edited version of the video without the crucial shot.
The concerned moms may have been happy, but going along with the rest of the video, the edited version has a far worse message. The whole intention of the song was to bring awareness to mental health and depression within the school system, and since the closing shot features students turned to stone after Jeremy sticks the gun in his mouth, the “safe” version implies that Jeremy let loose and opened fire on his classmates.
And since the masses had such a problem with the video, Vedder was convinced that he had better things to do than worry about whether or not the parents of the world liked what he did. If he couldn’t get his message across with artsy videos, then he was going to have as much control over the music as he could.
Right as they were becoming megastars, Vedder officially cut ties with MTV, only playing at the MTV Awards with Neil Young and refusing to film any music videos in the future. Then again, it’s not like songs like ‘Better Man’ or ‘Dissident’ needed videos, either, usually getting their point across by just being well-constructed pieces of rock.
Even when they started to dip their toes back into the fold with ‘Do the Evolution’, they took a much different approach, making it entirely animated before returning to the performance clip-style video seen in ‘Alive’. ‘Jeremy’ may not have been known as the most delicate song in the world, but if it weren’t for MTV sticking their fingers into places they didn’t belong, kids might have been given a more serious look at how the school system affected those struggling with their day-to-day lives.
