“Change the Earth’s revolution”: The band Eddie Vedder thought changed the world
Rock and roll didn’t start out sounding like something that would change the world. Even though many artists wanted to write songs that might be able to get popular on the radio, the biggest names have stuck around because of what they did for the genre at large, either turning everything on its head or taking their style one step further than what anyone did before. Although grunge was more about knocking down the old guard of rock and roll, Eddie Vedder always thought that one particular band changed how everyone approached the genre afterwards.
Then again, Vedder has always been an avid student of all things rock and roll. From the moment that his heart skipped a beat listening to albums by The Who, the Pearl Jam frontman knew that there was something more to music than loud volume. It was a calling, but it didn’t seem all that attainable.
Because whenever Vedder was seen strumming a tennis racket in his room or belting to the rafters, there was no real sense that they could actually play in stadiums. That was practically a pipe dream, but the minute that punk rock started, things started to turn a corner in terms of raw musicianship.
Sure, people couldn’t play at the same intensity that Jimmy Page could in his prime, but looking at how Steve Jones played the guitar or Joe Strummer spat lyrics into the microphone, it was clear that you didn’t need to be a musical virtuoso. It was about the shape of your heart, and Ramones were more than happy to make the fastest music they could for anyone within earshot.
Even though the songs were lightning fast, seeing a bunch of anti-rockstars in leather jackets was enough to sell Vedder on them when he first watched them play. And while it wasn’t the most awe-inspiring performance from a technical perspective, Vedder knew that he was a changed man after first hearing them.
When inducting them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Vedder said that Ramones could make the entire world move along with them, saying, “They were visually aggressive. They were four working-class construction worker delinquents who were armed with two-minute songs that they’d rattle off like machine-gun fire, and it was enough to change the Earth’s revolution.”
And that love for Ramones wasn’t a simple love of the music. For Vedder, Ramones gave him a personal mission for behaving with integrity in the music business, and even if he and Johnny Ramone didn’t agree on everything, they remained lifelong friends until the punk guitarist passed away, with Vedder eventually writing ‘Life Wasted’ to commemorate him.
While even Ramones themselves wouldn’t tell you that every one of their songs had a specific meaning, what they did for rock at large can’t be overstated. John Lydon may have turned punk into a costume, but from one look at their debut album, these brats from Queens meant every single word of what they said.
